Tennessee basketball: Injury updates on Santiago Vescovi and Tyreke Key

The Tennessee Volunteers ran through Mississippi State without any problems in yesterday’s SEC showdown. Although being down two key starters, Tennessee basketball showed tremendous grit and perseverance to come up with a huge SEC road victory. The Volunteers are now heading to Baton Rouge to take on LSU on Saturday. However, lingering questions continue to arise on the status of Santiago Vescovi and Tyreke Key.

Vescovi is the Volunteer’s best 3-point shooter and leads the team in total points this year. He is a key piece to the Tennessee offense and will be needed more than ever as the Vols continue into conference play.

Head coach Rick Barnes said in a press conference:

"“He [Vescovi] got fouled in the game against Kentucky. They yanked his shoulder. That one loose ball there where he came off the screen. You could see on tape where the guy grabbed him. And that arm that was sore, it reaggravated it. He tried to get ready, he just couldn’t pick it up the way he needed to.”"

Vescovi is currently listed as questionable for the game against LSU on Saturday, and will likely remain a game-time decision.

Tyreke Key is another important piece to the Vols’ offense. Key leads the team in 3-point percentage and is an important role player in Rick Barnes’s system. He was unable to play on Tuesday night due to an illness.

Barnes continued,

"“Tyreke did go through our shoot around and we thought he was going to play, then once we got back to the hotel he got a temperature and it kept going up. A couple of the coaches have been under the weather a little bit too.”"

From what I have heard, Key should be geared up and ready to go come game time on Saturday.

Tennessee basketball will hopefully continue this momentum from last night into the weekend against the LSU Tigers. Catch the game Saturday at 4 p.m. EST.