Rick Barnes updates Tennessee injury report for Arkansas game

There wasn’t a change to the injury report for No. 12 Tennessee before practice Monday afternoon. The status of both five-star freshman Julian Phillips (hip) and graduate-transfer guard Tyreke Key (ankle) will be decided Tuesday night before the Vols (21-8, 10-6 SEC) host Arkansas (19-10, 8-8) in a 9 p.m. Eastern Time start (TV: ESPN2) on Senior Night at Thompson-Boling Arena. 

“I think they’ll be game-time decisions,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said.

Phillips missed his fourth straight game with a hip flexor injury when Tennessee blitzed South Carolina 85-45 on Saturday night in Knoxville. Key missed the game after his ankle swelled earlier in the day on Saturday.

Phillips went through pregame warmups against both South Carolina and Texas A&M last week before being ruled out. He suffered the hip injury in practice on February 10, attempted to play through the pain the following day against Missouri, but stayed on the floor for only 10 minutes in the 86-85 loss at home, scoring four points and grabbing two rebounds before being shut down at halftime. 

Julian Phillips has missed four straight games with hip flexor injury

Phillips averages 9.0 points and 4.9 rebounds in 24.9 minutes per game this season, starting all 25 games he’s played in.

Key, who averages 8.1 points and 2.6 rebounds in 24.1 minutes per game, scored a season-high 23 points in loss to Missouri. He scored 21 in the second half of that game, helping the Vols rally from down 17 points before losing a second straight game on a buzzer-beater.

In three games that followed, Key had just nine points on 2-for-21 shooting, going 1-for-13 from the 3-point line. Barnes said Saturday night that it was unclear exactly when Key aggravated the injury and reiterated it again on Monday.

“You know what, he’s had some issues from the past,” Barnes said. “Tyreke is very tough-minded person. He’s a guy that if he’s hurt, he pretty much keeps it to himself. And he would tell you he has no idea what made it swell up on him the way it did when he walked in here on Saturday. But he is doing everything. And obviously (team trainer) Chad (Newman) and (strength coach) Garrett (Medenwald) are doing everything they can from their part.”

The injury bug has bitten the Vols often this season.

Josiah-Jordan James returned against South Carolina after missing four games with a sprained left ankle. He missed eight games earlier in the season due to knee soreness. Senior shooting guard Santiago Vescovi missed three games earlier this season due to a shoulder injury. 

Up Next: No. 12 Tennessee vs. Arkansas, Tuesday, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN2

James scored 18 points in 21 minutes off the bench against South Carolina, making his first three shots of the night and finishing 7-for-11 from the field, including 4-for-7 from the 3-point line.

“I thought he was very poised,” Barnes said of James. “Certainly his presence really does help Santi and Zakai (Zeigler) and those guys are playing, because he’s been in a lot of big situations, big moments with us. I thought his demeanor was terrific. 

“He is certainly not in the physical shape that he wants to be in, but he’ll get himself back there. Because I think this couple weeks, when you talk about an ankle injury he’s had, it’s hard to keep your conditioning up. 

“I don’t think you can get out of shape at this time of year,” Barnes added, “with the work that he’s done, but it will take a little bit, a couple days, to get it back where he wants to be. Overall, his presence made a big difference.”