KNOXVILLE, Tenn — Tennessee men's basketball has been impressive in both of their preseason exhibition games ahead of the regular season.
This past Sunday, the Vols beat preseason No. 4 Michigan State 89-88 on the road. They followed that up with a 90-48 win against Lenoir-Rhyne on Tuesday night.
Both opposing head coaches are all in on No. 9 Tennessee. Their expectations of what the Vols can accomplish are sky-high.
"That's a Final Four team, I really believe that," Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo said. "I think [Rick Barnes] feels really good about that too. You got to be good, you have to be lucky, you have to be all of those things. Tennessee is a team that's going to beat a lot of people."
Lenoir-Rhyne's head coach had the same thoughts.
"I think these guys definitely have a chance to make it to the Final Four," Everick Sullivan said. "This may be the year that I really hope Coach Barnes gets a national championship. Because for them to be that talented and to score the ball like that without two of their best scorers says a lot about them now."
Tennessee played both exhibitions without starters Zakai Zeigler and Santiago Vescovi. Zeigler is still working to get to 100% following his torn ACL from last season. Vescovi was in Uruguay as his grandmother was not doing well.
Zeigler's return is still to be decided. Vescovi returns to campus on Wednesday and will continue his preparation for the regular season, which begins on Nov. 6 against Tennessee Tech for the Vols.
In their absence, the new transfers have stepped up in a big way. Dalton Knecht finished with 28 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists against Michigan State. Jordan Gainey scored 20 points and was a flamethrower shooting the ball early in that game.
They both scored 13 points in the second game against Lenoir-Rhyne.
