The whispers began in the afternoon, and they turned out to be true. Tennessee was forced to open SEC play without their two best players, Kennedy Chandler and John Fulkerson, after both tested positive for COVID-19.
The timing was less than ideal, with a trip to Tuscaloosa on the schedule to open things up in conference play. However, the short-handed Volunteers came out ready to fight.
Santiago Vescovi stepped up to the plate early, making things happen for Tennessee. The Vols were missing their sparkplug with Chandler out, but early on Vescovi and Zakai Zeigler filled in nicely.