Tennessee Volunteers Basketball

Tennessee Volunteers starting center Tamari Key had her senior season cut short after some unfortunate news on Thursday.

According to ESPN's Alexa Philippou, Tennessee announced that Key will miss the remainder of the season after blood clots were discovered in her lungs.

The school announced that Key is expected to make a full recovery. Per Philippou, she "will receive care under the guidance of the University of Tennessee Medical Center and Tennessee athletics team physicians."

A four-year starter for the Lady Vols, Key entered the 2022-23 season as a preseason All-SEC first-team selection and a member of the Naismith Trophy watch list. She averaged 10.5 points and 8.1 rebounds as a junior and was named a semifinalist for defensive player of the year as well as a finalist for the Lisa Leslie Award, which is given to the nation's best center.

Tennessee head coach Kellie Harper expressed her thoughts in a statement:

"My sole concern right now is that Tamari continues to get the medical care and guidance she needs and begins the gradual process of healing and returning to full strength. This is much bigger than basketball. We are so grateful that this medical condition was caught. Our entire program will be right beside Tamari during this process and welcomes prayers and positive thoughts from Lady Vol Nation and beyond."

Key's absence is another blow to a Tennessee team that entered the year with high aspirations. The Lady Vols entered the year ranked in the Top Five but has since fallen out of the poll after starting out with a 5-5 record. Leading scorer Rickea Jackson is also out indefinitely because of what Harper called a "coach's decision."

The Lady Vols have two games at home against unranked teams before a crucial nonconference showdown at No. 2 Stanford on Dec. 18.

The Tennessee Volunteers officially approved and promoted a GoFundMe fundraiser for freshman guard Zakai Zeigler after a fire destroyed his Queens home in New York City, according to Grant Ramey of 247Sports.com.

Just hours into the fundraiser, over $235,000 had already been raised for Zeigler's family. 

"We have been absolutely blown away by the outpouring of support and generosity!" Zeigler wrote on the GoFundMe page. "Any contributions above and beyond our final losses/expenses will be donated to charity. Thank you to everyone who has given."

"Our administration did a terrific job," Tennessee men's basketball head coach Rick Barnes added on Tuesday night. "Once they got the news they jumped on it and got after it. Been doing what they have to do to get things in order so that we can help."

The better the opponent, the better the victory looks to the NCAA men's basketball tournament selection committee.

Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes understands that and wants his team's fans to as well.

"Wherever I have been, when fans start doing that, I am like, 'Stop,'" Barnes said while explaining why he signaled for fans to stop chanting "overrated" during the closing moments of Saturday's 67-62 win over No. 3 Auburn, per Mike Wilson of the Knoxville News Sentinel. "Give us credit. Don't demean what we just did. We just beat an outstanding basketball team."

He continued: "You just had a great, quality win against a team that first of all is not (overrated). Your fans are acting like you beat nobody. Well, we did. We just beat a top-five team."

The win was part of a wild day in college basketball when No. 23 Saint Mary's defeated No. 1 Gonzaga, Colorado beat No. 2 Arizona, Michigan State won against No. 4 Purdue, No. 10 Baylor toppled No. 5 Kansas, No. 18 Arkansas outlasted No. 6 Kentucky and TCU handled No. 9 Texas Tech.

Santiago Vescovi led the way for the Volunteers with 14 points, five rebounds, two assists, two blocks and one steal.

They are now 7-1 in their last eight as they continue to play their way up the seed line with Selection Sunday approaching.

The penultimate Saturday of regular-season action in college basketball turned into a day of upsets across the country.

No. 3 Auburn suffered its fourth loss of the season with a 67-62 defeat at the hands of No. 17 Tennessee at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Jabari Smith didn't have an efficient scoring day with 27 points on 9-of-21 shooting (3-of-9 behind the arc) from the field.

Four Tennessee players scored in double figures, led by Santiago Vescovi's 14 points. He only went 3-of-9 from the field but made all six of his free-throw attempts.

The Vols only shot 32.8 percent in the game, but they had a 21-10 advantage in offensive rebounds. John Fulkerson had six of those boards off the bench.

Head coach Bruce Pearl's team is limping to the finish line after being one of the best teams in the nation for most of the year. The Tigers have lost two of their last three games, including a 63-62 defeat against Florida on Feb. 19.

Saturday's loss leaves the door open for the SEC regular-season title. Auburn still leads the pack with a 13-3 record in conference games, but Tennessee, Kentucky and Arkansas are all tied for second at 12-4.

The Volunteers are 2-1 against those three teams, with all three games coming in the past 11 days. They beat Kentucky on Feb. 15, lost at Arkansas on Feb. 19 and now hold a win over Auburn.

Each of Auburn's four losses this season have come on the road or at a neutral site.

The Vols outscored Auburn 42-31 in the second half after trailing by six points at halftime.

After Smith made two free throws to put the Tigers ahead 41-39 with 12:21 remaining, Tennessee took the lead for good on Kennedy Chandler's layup two minutes later.

Tennessee did lead by as many as 10 points with 2:48 left in regulation, but Auburn went on a 9-2 run that cut the deficit to 63-60. Smith's four-point play was the exclamation point on that drive to put pressure back on the Vols.

Chandler responded on Tennessee's ensuing possession to get the lead back to 65-60. Wendell Green Jr.'s missed three-pointer for the Tigers, followed by Vescovi making two free throws, sealed the win.

Auburn is one of three teams ranked in the Top 10 of the current Associated Press Top 25 poll that lost Saturday afternoon. Unranked Michigan State upset No. 4 Purdue 68-65. No. 6 Kentucky lost 75-73 to No. 18 Arkansas.

Since a 107-79 loss to Kentucky on Jan. 15 that dropped its record to 11-5, Tennessee has won 10 of its last 12 games.

Auburn is just 3-3 in its past six games after winning 22 of its first 23 games to start the season.

The Vols will wrap up the regular season at Georgia on Tuesday before hosting No. 18 Arkansas on March 5. Auburn plays at Mississippi State on Wednesday and returns home to take on South Carolina on March 5.    

The No. 4 Kentucky men's basketball team suffered a 76-63 upset loss to No. 16 Tennessee on Tuesday. The Wildcats fell to 21-5 and 10-3 in the SEC after their six-game win streak came to an end.

The Volunteers earned their fifth straight victory to improve to 19-6 and 10-3 against conference opponents. They haven't lost to Kentucky twice in the same season since 2012.

Tennessee was led by junior guard Santiago Vescovi's 18 points. Kennedy Chandler added 17 points and six assists, while John Fulkerson and Zakai Zeigler scored 14 points apiece off the bench.

It was a combination of strong defense and efficient shooting that did the job for the Volunteers. Tennessee jumped out to a 46-32 lead at halftime and never looked back. When the Wildcats cut the lead to eight in the second half, Tennessee went on a 15-3 run to push its advantage to 20 and put the game away.

The Volunteers shot 47.1 percent from beyond the arc and played a clean game with just eight turnovers, a sharp improvement from their first meeting earlier this season. Meanwhile, Kentucky was held to 34.3 percent from the field and 31.3 percent from three-point range. The Wildcats also had a hard time taking care of the ball, posting 14 turnovers against 11 assists.

Oscar Tshiebwe led Kentucky with 13 points and 15 rebounds but shot 5-of-15 from the field. Jacob Toppin and Davion Mintz were the only other players on the team to score in double figures at 11 points apiece.

The Volunteers will go for another win against a ranked opponent when they travel to take on No. 23 Arkansas in a road matchup Saturday. The Wildcats will look to bounce back that same day at home against No. 25 Alabama.

Only five undefeated teams remain in NCAA Division I men's basketball after the No. 19 Tennessee Volunteers dispatched the visiting No. 6 Arizona Wildcats 77-73 on Wednesday in Knoxville's Thompson-Boling Arena.

John Fulkerson's 24-point, 10-rebound double-double paced the Vols, who also got 15 points from Santiago Vescovi and 12 more via Josiah-Jordan James.

Fulkerson dominated after the second half's under-four timeout, scoring six straight Vols points en route to seven total.

The super senior hit a short jumper to give Tennessee a 69-67 lead before adding a pair of free throws for a four-point advantage following an Arizona turnover.

Azuolas Tubelis then cut the Tennessee lead to 71-69 with a two-pointer, but Fulkerson responded with a putback layup for a 73-69 edge with 56 seconds remaining.

Tubelis made two more layups in the final minutes, but the Vols iced the game with four made free throws around those shots for the win.

Bennedict Mathurin scored a game-high 28 points alongside eight rebounds and five assists for Arizona, which also got 11 points from Kerr Kriisa.

Tennessee looked like it was going to run away with this game in the first half after opening up a 16-2 first-half lead en route to a 34-21 halftime advantage.

However, Arizona chipped away at the Tennessee lead thanks to 14 second-half points from Mathurin, who finished the game 8-of-16 shooting and 9-of-11 from the free-throw line.

Ultimately, Arizona fell largely because of 17 turnovers and foul trouble that affected the entire starting lineup. 

Mathurin, Kriisa and Christian Koloko all fouled out, while Tubelis and Dalen Terry each had four. Tennessee ended up going 18-of-27 from the line, while Arizona was 12-of-18.

The Wildcats fell to 11-1 with the defeat. Baylor, Iowa State, USC, LSU and Colorado State are left among the unbeaten following Arizona's loss.

Tennessee improved to 9-2.

The University of Memphis announced Saturday's men's basketball game against the University of Tennessee has been canceled because of COVID-19 issues within its program.

The matchup between the Tigers and the 18th-ranked Volunteers, dubbed the Nashville Showcase, was scheduled to take place at Bridgestone Arena.

Memphis snapped a four-game losing streak Tuesday with an impressive 92-78 upset over No. 6 Alabama. It was an important resume-building win for head coach Penny Hardaway's group.

The Tigers' matchup with the Vols was one of just three games against ranked opponents left on their schedule. Without it, they only have their two conference matchups with No. 14 Houston remaining, unless another team makes a surge from The American.

Depending how the rest of their season plays out following a 6-4 start, not getting an opportunity to take down the Volunteers could prove costly in their efforts to earn an NCAA tournament bid.

Meanwhile, UT was already on the court warming up for Saturday's game when word came down of the cancellation:

The Vols are off to a promising 8-2 start highlighted by a win over then-No. 18 North Carolina in late November.

Tennessee's schedule gets tougher over the next few weeks as it prepares to host No. 8 Arizona on Wednesday before traveling to face the aforementioned Crimson Tide on Dec. 29.

With Saturday's cancellation, the Volunteers will continue to hold a 15-12 advantage in the all-time series between the in-state rivals.

Tennessee received a marquee commitment Thursday from 5-star power forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield.

High school and college basketball recruiting reporter Joe Tipton reported that Huntley-Hatfield told him he had committed to the Volunteers and is reclassifying from the 2022 class to 2021.  

Prior to reclassifying, Huntley-Hatfield was ranked as the No. 6 overall player in 247Sports' composite rankings for 2022. He was also listed as the top power forward and the best player out of the state of Pennsylvania.

The 6'9", 230-pound post player is a high-energy, two-way contributor who should be one of the best rebounders in the class. His offensive versatility has grown to include an outside shot, and he sports the length and athleticism to guard multiple positions defensively.

Huntley-Hatfield, who transferred from the famed IMG Academy to the Scotland Performance Institute in the middle of his high school career, generated interest from several top programs.

In August, he explained in a Sports Illustrated blog he wanted to take his time making the right choice.

"It's a big decision to pick a school to spend at least nine months of your life, and in that time it could determine whether or not you achieve your ultimate goal," Huntley-Hatfield wrote.

As his comments suggest, if his development continues at its current rate, he'll likely be a one-and-done college player before heading for the NBA draft.

Huntley-Hatfield should be an instant-impact performer for head coach Rick Barnes and the Vols. It's too early to say whether that'll be as a starter or the first player off the bench, but he should still see plenty of minutes as a freshman in either role.

Either way, it's a major pickup for Tennessee that will help provide hype ahead of the 2021-22 season.

Tennessee has qualified for the NCAA tournament in each of the past three years it has been held, and with Huntley-Hatfield in the fold, the Volunteers could be in line to go on a deep run next season if he is as good as advertised.

Tennessee first-year guard Keon Johnson has announced his intention to file as an early-entry candidate for the 2021 NBA draft.   

"The NBA has always been my goal, but I never expected it to come this soon," Johnson told Jonathan Givony of ESPN. "I really don't care what number I get drafted at. I just want to go somewhere I fit in that organization. Where I can keep developing and find my niche."

Johnson was ranked as the No. 19 overall prospect in 247Sports' class of 2020 men's high school basketball composite rankings. The Bell Buckle, Tennessee, native was also fourth among shooting guards.

Jerry Meyer, 247Sports' director of basketball scouting, compared the 19-year-old to Minnesota Timberwolves shooting guard Malik Beasley and offered this write-up on his game:

"A well-built, physical and explosive athlete. A well-rounded and versatile offensive player. Primarily a slasher who can both finish and find open teammates. Capable and improving outside shooter. Room for improvement as a full-court ball handler. Quality rebounder for position and versatile defender. Should hear his name called in the first round of the NBA draft whenever he declares."

Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman placed Johnson seventh to the Washington Wizards in his March 11 NBA mock draft and seventh in his March 2 big board.

He wrote in the big-board piece:

"Keon Johnson averaged 14.0 points in February and looked more confident in his skills and less reliant on athleticism and effort. 

"Early as an NBA pro, he still projects as more of an energizer and defender, but the flashes of ball-handling and shot-making create optimism over his potential to become a tougher half-court scoring and playmaking threat.

"Johnson started the season at No. 7—outside the top five because of a lack of offensive polish but top-10 based on long-term upside fueled by physicality, explosion, aggression and room to improve his off-the-dribble game and shot. Nothing has changed in his scouting report or projection with March Madness looming."

Johnson played an integral role for a Vols team that improved after going 17-14 overall and 9-9 in the SEC last year. Those marks jumped to 18-9 overall and 10-7 in conference play this year, with the team sitting in the top 25 of the Associated Press poll all year.

However, the Vols did fall short in the first round of the NCAA tournament, losing to a scorching-hot Oregon State team that rolled into March Madness after winning the Pac-12 title.

For the season, Johnson averaged 11.3 points on 44.9 percent shooting, 3.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.

It's no surprise that Johnson will be heading to the NBA draft, and it won't be a shock if he safely lands in the lottery portion of the first round, either.