We get our first real look at the 2023-24 Tennessee basketball team in its first of two exhibition games Sunday afternoon in East Lansing.
It’s a strong first test for the ninth-ranked Vols as they face No. 4 Michigan State at the Breslin Center. Tennessee and Michigan State’s season ended in the same building within hours of one another a season ago when Kansas State knocked off the Spartans and FAU knocked off the Vols in the Sweet 16.
Tennessee is without All-SEC shooting guard Santiago Vescovi as he travels home to Uruguay to be with his family due to his grandmother’s illness. Junior point guard Zakai Zeigler is questionable as he continues to work back from a torn ACL.
Here’s everything to know about the matchup.
More From RTI: Stats and Notes From Tennessee Basketball Intersquad Scrimmage
How to Watch – No. 9 Tennessee (0-0) vs No. 4 Michigan State (0-0
- Start Time: 3:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. CT
- Location: Breslin Center
- TV: Big 10 Network. PxP: Connor Onion, CC: Bill Raftery
2022-23 Team Statistics (via Sports Reference)
Tennessee
Michigan State
What Rick Barnes Said About The Spartans
On how Tennessee will treat the exhibition game Sunday at Michigan State
“I think we’re looking to see how many guys we can get with a sustained effort. Obviously you would expect your older guys to be able to go out and play through cardio fatigue more. I think the young guys will be a little bit anxious. I think we’re all ready to play outside competition, but hoping to see that we can do some of the things that do a lot of things that we practice. But we’ll play hard because we know Michigan State’s gonna play hard. I think they have an exhibition tonight. And then from there, we’ll go out and we want to give everybody a look, but we’re going to, from our point of view, we want to execute. Every time you go out, you want to win a basketball game, whether you’re it’s an exhibition game or not, but we want to see the effort and the concentration that we’re trying to build to.”
On the importance of exhibition games
“So moving forward, if you have a cause like we’re playing for this year with the Maui Classic (Invitational) and doing this for the Maui Fund, I appreciate what Michigan State’s done because I know their fanbase. They love their basketball team or basketball program and Tom. He jumped on it right away. He thought it was a great idea. With it being on the Big 10 Network and I know they’re going to do a great production or they’re gonna do different things throughout the game. He and I are gonna talk, I guess, during the game at some point. It’s gonna be a different kind of production which all that stuff’s gonna be good for TV going forward. I like the exhibition games and I’ve always thought that we need a couple of those. And especially if in college basketball, if you think about it, if everybody decided we want to help one cause whatever it may be, if everybody could play two exhibition games and the funds could go towards something like that, I think it would be great. Not only for the teams, but for officials and for college basketball in general.”
On if he and Tom Izzo are going to talk on the broadcast
“I think. Yeah, I think we’re gonna be mic’d up and it’s kind of what we did with Gonzaga. Remember a year ago, I think they, Fran (Fraschilla) interviewed me a little bit during the game. I think it’s gonna be the same kind of deal like that where they’re going to do some different things. And honestly, when they called to ask, I just simply said, ‘hey, if Tom wants to do it, I’m, I’m all for it.’ because I’ve got so much respect for him and the kind of person he is and the way he’s built his program and the way he’s sustained his program. And he’s been a model of what coaching should be about. Again, we’re gonna go play it like, we’re not going up there just to say we’re going to play basketball. We’re gonna go up and try to play the best we can play and try to win a basketball game. And I know his teams are gonna do the same thing, but we both know we’ve got things we’ve gotta see and get done. But I know both teams are gonna play extremely hard.”
Probable Starters
Tennessee (via UT Sports)
Michigan State (via MSU Game Notes)
Returning Stat Leaders (2022-23 Stats)
Tennessee:
- Points: Santiago Vescovi – 12.5 PPG, 39.6 FG%, 37 3PT%
- Points of definitive active player: Josiah-Jordan James — 10 PPG, 37.2 FG%, 31.3 3PT%
- Rebounds: Jonas Aidoo – 4.9 RPG
- Assists: Zakai Zeigler – 5.4 APG, 2.3 TOPG, 28.7 MPG
- Assists of definitive active player: Josiah-Jordan James – 1.8 APG, 1.0 TOPG 25.3 MPG
Michigan State:
- Points: Tyson Walker — 14.8 PPG, 45.9 FG%, 41.5 3PT%
- Rebounds: Maddy Sissoko — 6.1 RPG
- Assists: A.J. Hoggard — 5.9 APG, 2.6 TOPG, 30.6 APG
Last Season Results
Tennessee
- Record: 25-11 (11-7 SEC)
- Sweet 16 loss
Michigan State
- Record: 21-13 (11-8 Big 10)
- Sweet 16 loss
Prediction
I’ll spare a long explanation for my estimated guess prediction of an exhibition game. Michigan State played its first exhibition game earlier this week and Tennessee played three games in Italy in August but this is our first true look at either team this season.
There’s a lot of similarities between these two teams. Very old, experienced teams who are looking to break in a few new pieces that have high upside. But after Michigan State had a number of key players injured for a large part of last season, it’s Tennessee that’s down at least one if not two key players. The Vols’ preseason All-SEC backcourt duo of Santiago Vescovi and Zakai Zeigler might not be available for Tennessee. Vescovi definitively won’t be in action while Zeigler is questionable and likely won’t play a ton even if he does go.
For me, I’m looking more at how Tennessee’s newcomers mesh with the rest of the team and how the Vols’ backcourt options who will play increased minutes in this one.
Between Tennessee missing perhaps its two best starters and the game taking place in front of what’s expected to be a strong crowd at the Breslin Center, I’ll take the Spartans in a close one.
Michigan State 68, Tennessee 65