Rick Barnes on the timeline for Josiah-Jordan James and Julian Phillips to return: 'It's on them'
No. 11 Tennessee trailed No. 25 by Texas A&M by three points with just under six minutes left Tuesday night at Reed Arena in College Station when ESPN analyst Jimmy Dykes attempted to provide some context of who the Vols were missing on the floor.
“It’s so hard to win a game on the road against a really good team, Texas A&M,” Dykes said, “when you’re shorthanded. It’s part of the game, but no Josiah-Jordan James, who is a double-figure guy when he’s playing. Julian Phillips, a driving freshman.”
Both Phillips (hip) and James (ankle) were listed as day-to-day and game-time decisions before Tennessee’s 68-63 loss to the Aggies.
Rick Barnes on Josiah-Jordan James, Julian Phillips: ‘We don’t want them to play unless they’re healthy’
James, the senior wing for the Vols who is dealing with a sprained left ankle, has now missed four straight games, after knee soreness kept him out eight games earlier this season. Phillips, who suffered a hip flexor injury in practice on February 10, has missed the last three games.
“(We) watched shoot around,” ESPN play-by-play man Karl Ravech said on the game broadcast, responding to Dykes, “and I thought there was an opportunity for Josiah-Jordan James to play tonight.”
Dykes agreed without hesitation.
“I saw nothing from (James),” Dykes said, “that told me he couldn’t play tonight, just to be brutally honest about it.”
Head coach Rick Barnes didn’t have an update for the timeline moving forward for either player.
“It’s on them,” Barnes said. “I have to believe they are doing everything they can to get back. I believe that. I have to believe it with all my heart because they’re competitive.
“They want to play but, again, no one is working any harder than what (trainer) Chad (Newman) and (strength coach) Garrett (Medenwald) are.”
Santiago Vescovi didn’t practice Monday at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville due to illness. Still, he started and played a team-high 36 minutes while finishing with 14 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and three steals.
“I was pretty sick yesterday,” Vescovi said Tuesday night. “It was not so cold in the gym, I had a winter jacket and I was still cold. But I said it earlier on radio, I don’t really like to talk about myself.
“I’m just really proud of how the guys fought today, all the effort they put into the game.”
Zakai Zeigler scored 14 points and had four assists in 34 minutes. Olivier Nkamhoua scored 13 points and had four rebounds and Tobe Awaka had 10 points and seven boards.
Up Next: No. 11 Tennessee vs. South Carolina, Saturday, 6 p.m. ET, ESPN
James is averaging 9.5 points and 5.3 rebounds, shooting 37.5 percent from the field and 30.1 percent from the 3-point line. He’s started eight times in 16 games, averaging 23.9 minutes per game. He missed eight games earlier this season due to knee soreness.
Phillips averages 4.7 points and 4.9 rebounds in 24.9 minutes per game this season, starting all 25 games so far.
“They’re doing what we ask them to do,” Barnes said, “but we don’t want them to play unless they’re healthy.”
