Josiah-Jordan James, Julian Phillips out for No. 10 Tennessee at Kentucky
Both Josiah-Jordan James and Julian Phillips are out for No. 10 Tennessee’s game at Kentucky on Saturday. The Vols and Wildcats are scheduled for 1 p.m. Eastern Time at Rupp Arena. The game will be broadcast on CBS.
Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said before practice Friday morning that both players would be game-time decisions.
James, the senior wing for the Vols who is dealing with a sprained left ankle, will miss his third straight game, after missing the 68-59 win over No. 1 Alabama on Wednesday and the 86-85 loss to Missouri on Saturday night. Phillips, who suffered a hip flexor injury in practice eight days ago, also missed the Alabama game after not playing in the second half of the Missouri game.
Tennessee (20-6, 9-4 SEC) has back-to-back road games next on the schedule, starting at Kentucky (17-9, 8-5) on Saturday then at Texas A&M on Tuesday. The Vols return home to host South Carolina on February 25 and Arkansas on February 28 before closing the regular-season schedule at Auburn on March 4.
Vols looking to avoid regular-season sweep against Kentucky
James injured his left ankle with 17 seconds left in the 66-65 loss at Vanderbilt Wednesday at Memorial Gymnasium. Phillips had four points and two rebounds in the first half against Missouri before being held out the rest of the game.
“I was really impressed with Julian,” Barnes said on Monday. “He was hurt, he had hurt his hip flexor prior to that. His minutes, he was there, he was productive. But I could tell when we were walking off the court at halftime he was painfully hurting. But he wanted to play, but just no way.”
Tennessee beat No. 1 Alabama 68-59 on Wednesday at Thompson-Boling Arena with an eight-player rotation while James and Phillips were sidelined.
Zakai Zeigler scored 15 points and had eight assists, Santiago Vescovi scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half and added eight rebounds and three steals. Sophomore center Jonas Aidoo had his first career double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Uros Plavsic and Olivier Nkamhoua combined for 19 points and eight rebounds.
Up Next: No. 10 Tennessee at Kentucky, Saturday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS
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.
“When someone goes down,” Barnes said earlier this week, “it gives someone the chance to play and they wouldn’t be here if they weren’t good players. It will give them the opportunity to see what they can do.”
