Tennessee defeated Colorado at home in what was its NCAA debut. In those of Knoxville, the performance of Santiago Vescovi stood out, who finished as the scorer and maximum assistant of his team.
The University of Tennessee made its debut in the 2020/21 NCAA season facing its counterpart from Colorado. Those from Knoxville presented cases of Covid-19 in their team, therefore they could not play any match in the first two weeks of competition, while their rival on duty arrived undefeated, after having obtained victories in their two presentations of the Bell. Those led by Rick Barnes presented a quintet made up of Santiago Vescovi, Josiah-Jordan James, Victor Bailey Jr, Yves Pons and John Fulkerson. For their part, those commanded by Tad Boyle took to the field with McKinley Wright IV, Keeshawn Barthelemy, Maddox Daniels, Evan Battey and Dallas Walton.
The match played at the Thompson-Boling Arena had a clearly favorable start to the home team, who with the outside scoring of Santiago Vescovi and the presence in the paint of John Fulkerson, managed to open a premature advantage of ten units (12-2). The visiting cast had a start to oblivion, in which they missed seven of their first eight shots from the field, to which they added six turnovers, when they had not reached the halfway point of the initial stage. The good entry from the bench by EJ Anosike, coupled with the scoring ability of Josiah-Jordan James, gave the Volunteers the possibility to continue increasing the difference in the electronic. Two consecutive pumps by junior Victor Bailey, allowed Tennessee to get an income of 16 points (26-10). At the end of the first half, with the contribution of their second unit, especially through Jabari Walker and Jeriah Horne, those from Boulder put up a 12-2 run, which narrowed the gap in the scoreboard for the long rest .
At the beginning of the complement the local was in front in figures of 31 to 24, with Bailey Jr being the scorer of the match with eight goals. In the first bars of the second half, a very closed procedure could be observed, where the defenses far outweighed the attacks. Those led by Tad Boyle tried to finalize the reaction, having Horne as the main standard bearer. Nevertheless, Vescovi’s 3s, plus a couple of penetrations from freshman Keon Johnson, kept the homeowner safe. With just over two minutes remaining in the game, the Colorado Buffaloes were within five points, adding some excitement to the match’s epilogue. However, free of Fulkerson and Vescovi ended up tipping the balance in favor of those commanded by Rick Barnes. Finally, Tennessee took the victory 56-47 and thus started the 2020/21 NCAA season on the right foot.
In the winner, the performance of Uruguayan Santiago Vescovi stood out, who spent 32 minutes on the court, in which he contributed 11 points (3/4 triples, 0/1 doubles and 2/2 free), 2 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals , for a rating of 15, the highest of his team. The former Bohemios was well accompanied by center John Fulkerson, who scored 11 points. On the loser’s side, Jeriah Horne finished as the scorer with 15 points.
The next commitment of the Volunteers will be on Saturday, when in local condition they have to face the University of Cincinnati.
Foto: Twitter Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops)
