Josiah-Jordan James (knee) out again for No. 13 Tennessee
Josiah-Jordan James will miss a fourth straight game for No. 13 Tennessee as the Vols host McNeese State Wednesday night (7:15 p.m. Eastern Time; TV: SEC Network) at Thompson-Boling Arena.
James, the senior wing who leads Tennessee (5-1) in scoring (13.7 points per game) and rebounding (6.0), missed all three games last week in the Battle 4 Atlantis due to knee soreness.
His status is day-to-day according to head coach Rick Barnes, who said before practice on Tuesday that James will return to the floor when he feels he’s ready to do so.
“It’s really up to him,” Barnes said. “We want him to be 100 percent healthy when he’s ready to play. He did do a little bit yesterday, but only he knows where he really is. Mentally I think he’s got to feel good about it, when he’s ready to go.”
The Vols won three games in three days in the Bahamas without James, beating Butler, USC and Kansas. James did not dress for the Butler game. He warmed up before both the USC and Kansas games before he was held out.
“We’re leaving it up to him,” Barnes said of James. “Again, it’s been made clear to him, we want him to feel comfortable. Certainly we’re not going to ask anybody to play when they don’t feel (comfortable).
“We just want him to feel good about himself. As much as he’s put into the program, he’ll know when he’s ready.”
Josiah-Jordan James missed all three games in Battle 4 Atlantis
James underwent a knee scope in the spring and had three injections done — one per week for three straight weeks — in October. He averaged 23.7 minutes per game while playing in Tennessee’s first three games of the season.
James missed the preseason while coming back from offseason knee surgery. He returned to the court in the season-opening win over Tennessee Tech and has played in all three games this season.
He scored 18 points and had six rebounds against Florida Gulf Coast two weeks ago at Thompson-Boling Arena. He had 15 points and eight rebounds in the 78-66 loss to Colorado in Nashville on November 13 and scored eight points against Tennessee Tech.
Tennessee outscored Butler by 21 points in the second half of a 71-45 win over Butler in the first round of the eight-team tournament.
It was a 73-66 overtime win against Southern Cal on Thursday, with five-star freshman wing Julian Phillips erupting for a career-high 25 points to go with eight rebounds.
Santiago Vescovi scored 20 points to lead Tennessee to a 64-50 win over then-No. 3 Kansas in the championship game Friday night.
Up Next: No. 13 Tennessee vs. McNeese State, Wednesday, 7:15 p.m. ET, SEC Network
Vescovi was named the Battle 4 Atlantis MVP after scoring 40 points to go with 13 rebounds, 10 assists and five steals over the three games.
Sophomore point guard Zakai Zeigler scored 30 points and had 11 assists, 10 rebounds and nine steals in the Bahamas. Phillips helped fill the void on the wing with 40 points of his own over the three games. He added 20 rebounds and five assists.
Senior forward Olivier Nkamhoua was the most productive big man for Tennessee in the tournament, scoring 28 points while grabbing 14 rebounds.
The Vols left the tournament ranked No. 1 in adjusted defensive efficiency — points allowed per 100 possessions — at 83.6, per KenPom.com. On Monday they climbed nine spots in the Associated Press Top 25, going from No. 22 to No. 13.
