Volunteer Country

Santiago Vescovi Steps Up in Auburn Loss

Despite a tough 79-70 loss in Auburn, Santiago Vescovi took a larger role with the limited guards on Tennessee now.

Alfred Ezman

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In Tennessee's first game without Zakai Zeigler, the No. 12 Volunteers (22-9, 11-7 SEC) lost to the Auburn Tigers (20-11, 10-8 SEC) on Saturday 79-70. The loss means the Vols ended the months of February and March 4-6 heading into the SEC Tournament.

Senior guard Santiago Vescovi was one bright spot to come out of yesterday's defeat. He finished with 21 points on 8-13 (61.5%) from the field and 5-9 (55.6%) from three-point land.

He also had five rebounds and four assists in arguably his most efficient game of the season. He was big in keeping the Vols in the game throughout Saturday afternoon. On Vescovi's outing, Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said, "I thought he played as hard as you can possibly play. We had some good things there."

The Volunteers would love to continue to see this kind of performance out of Vescovi. With a hot three-point shot and consistent shooting all around, it is exactly what the Vols need in place of Zakai Zeigler.

Zeigler provided Tennessee with a lot of assists. With four today, Vescovi has 4+ assists in each of the past four games. The senior from Montevideo, Uruguay, may have just solidified himself as the Volunteers' guy going forward into postseason play.

The Vols lost the chance at a quarterfinal bye and will play on March 9th with a first-round bye. They will play the winner of the tournament's first game between Ole Miss and South Carolina. The Vols are 3-0 against those two teams this season. 

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Alfred Ezman
ALFRED EZMAN