DETROIT − Santiago Vescovi is out with the flu as Tennessee basketball faces Creighton in the Sweet 16 on Friday.
Vescovi did not practice Thursday with the Vols at Little Caesars Arena. Vols coach Rick Barnes indicated Vescovi was ill but he expected that Vescovi would play when No. 2-seeded Tennessee (26-8) faces No. 3 seed Creighton (25-9) on Friday (10:15 p.m. ET, TBS/truTV) in March Madness.
Vescovi is averaging 6.5 points and 3.7 rebounds per game this season. It is the fourth game Vescovi has missed in his five-year career. UT had started the same lineup in 28 straight games. He is day-to-day moving forward and will be reevaluated Saturday.
Junior guard Jahmai Mashack is starting in Vescovi’s place.
Santiago Vescovi out for Tennessee basketball vs Creighton
Vescovi had started every game this season for Tennessee. He has started 144 of the 148 games in his career, which is a Tennessee record. The fifth-year senior returned to UT this season. He is averaging 10.4 points per game in his career and shooting 37.3% on 3-pointers.
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Vescovi became the Tennessee leader in career steals with 212 after he tallied three against Texas in UT’s 62-58 win in the second round in Charlotte. He is one of two players to make more than 100 3-pointers in a season. He hit 102 as a junior in 2021-22. Chris Lofton did it three times. He also ranks third in school history in 3-pointers with 325, trailing Lofton’s 431 and Allan Houston’s 346.
The Uruguayan guard is one of two players in Tennessee history with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 400 assists.
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Tennessee basketball had avoided injury, health issues this season before March Madness
Tobe Awaka was the only player in Tennessee’s top eight in the rotation that missed a game this season entering the Sweet 16. He did not play against North Carolina on Nov. 29 due to an ankle injury suffered in the Maui Invitational a week prior.
UT had started the same starting lineup in every game since that North Carolina loss. Guard Zakai Zeigler entered the lineup against the Tar Heels after coming off the bench in the first six games of the season following ACL surgery in March 2023.
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.
First appeared on www.knoxnews.com