Tennessee Opens "High-Expectations" Season Against Tennessee Tech
Another Tennessee Basketball season is upon us and the expectations could not be higher. The Vols enter the season with plenty of experience and talent as they have a good mix of returners and newcomers. Currently, Tennessee is listed as a 32.5-point favorite against in-state foe Tennessee Tech. The Vols and Golden Eagles also played to open last season in a game that ended in a 75-43 win for the Vols.
The storyline of this game is easily that Zakai Zeigler is expected to return from his torn ACL. Tennessee Basketball announced the news on their Instagram last night and Zeigler's tweet certainly indicated he was going to be out there for the game tonight.
Also back in action for Tennessee will be Santiago Vescovi who missed both exhibition games to be back home in Uruguay with his family. Vescovi's grandmother is sick, so it was important for him to be home, but he was back on in Knoxville last Wednesday.
In terms of the actual opponent tonight, Tennessee should be able to cruise and get the younger guys some minutes like they did against Lenoir-Rhyne. Tennessee Tech finished last season at 288 in KenPom and starts this season at 321. They lost their top 3 scorers in Jaylen Sebree, Brett Thompson and Ty Perry from a team that nearly went to the NCAA Tournament.
This year, they'll be relying a lot on senior guard Jayvis Harvey who averaged 12 points and shot nearly 44% from 3 last year. Diante Wood also returns as a key player for the Golden Eagles. Wood came back from a scary injury last year and nearly willed Tennessee Tech to an OVC Championship with 24 points in the final against Southeast Missouri State.
Elsewhere, watch out for West Virginia transfer Josiah Davis to play a big role. Davis didn't get on the floor much last year in Morgantown, but should get a much better opportunity this season. The Golden Eagles also return role players Erik Oliver, Grant Slatten and Grant Strong to go with 7'2 Mercer Transfer David Craig. Craig averaged 5.5 points and 4.2 rebounds in just 13 minutes per game as a freshman.
Overall, if Tennessee can take firm control early, we might see Rick Barnes try a handful of different lineup combinations especially because Zeigler and Vescovi haven't played together in a game with Dalton Knecht and Jordan Gainey yet. What will be important to watch for is how Zeigler is moving in his first game back from injury and also just seeing how crisp the offense is.
The Vols should handle business before heading up to Wisconsin on Friday.
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