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No. 9 Tennessee is the media’s preseason choice to win the Southeastern Conference championship, coming off a 25-win season and a Sweet 16 appearance. But the Volunteers could be counting on newcomers when they open the regular season against visiting Tennessee Tech on Monday in Knoxville. Tennessee tuned up with an 89-88 win at No. 4 Michigan State in an Oct. 29 exhibition game to help raise money for a Maui wildfire relief fund. Northern Colorado transfer Dalton Knecht led the Volunteers with 28 points and USC Upstate transfer Jordan Gainey added 20, including the decisive free throw in the closing seconds. Tennessee played without fifth-year guard Santiago Vescovi and junior point guard Zakai Zeigler. Vescovi, a preseason All-SEC first-team selection, was at home in Uruguay with his ailing grandmother. Zeigler, who made the preseason second team, is still working his way back from a torn ACL last February. Their status for the opener is uncertain. “When you’re talking about Santi and Zakai, you’re talking about two guys that are elite defenders, two guys that know what we want, two guys that bring speed to the court when they’re there,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said.
“They change the court. But we know last year, when Zakai got hurt, the one thing we wanted to do is get our depth right.” Tennessee Tech is in its fifth season under coach John Pelphrey, the former Kentucky star who coached at Arkansas for four seasons (2007-11). Following a 16-17 finish last season, the Golden Eagles were picked to finish sixth in the Ohio Valley Conference preseason poll. Senior guard Jayvis Harvey made the preseason All-OVC team after averaging 12.0 points on 43.9 percent 3-point shooting in 2022-23. Pelphrey’s squad features 10 newcomers, including transfers Josiah Davis (West Virginia) and 7-foot-2 David Craig (Mercer) of South Africa. “I think it’s exciting to put together a team and try to get them to mesh together as quickly as possible … ” Pelphrey said. “This is kind of the new norm now, really, and there are challenges that come with that, especially trying to get your team on the same page in terms of being cohesive, understanding that winning sets the rules, and that everyone has to buy into those things on a daily basis.” The Volunteers hold a 27-1 lead in the series and have swept the past 11 meetings since their lone defeat in 1996. Tennessee opened last season with a 75-43 win at home over the Golden Eagles on Nov. 7, 2022. Tennessee follows Monday’s game with a trip to Madison to face Wisconsin of the Big Ten on Nov. 10. The nonconference slate also includes dates with the ACC’s Syracuse, No. 19 North Carolina and NC State, and No. 25 Illinois of the Big Ten. Tennessee Tech heads to Murray State on Nov. 10 before facing Lipscomb in its Nov. 14 home opener in Cookeville, Tenn. –Field Level Media