The player productivity fluctuations within this season’s Tennessee basketball team have been quite plentiful.
Point guard Kennedy Chandler will dazzle in one game and earn a “He’s got to learn” quote from coach Rick Barnes after another. John Fulkerson and Olivier Nkamhoua have taken turns as the top inside threat for the Volunteers, with Uros Plavsic the latest to emerge in that role. And no two performances by Josiah-Jordan James have ever seemed the same.
Then there’s steady Santi.
The one clear-cut constant to Tennessee’s 13-5 season that continues Wednesday night against Florida inside Thompson-Boling Arena has been the play of junior guard Santiago Vescovi. The 6-foot-3, 191-pounder from Uruguay leads the Vols with 14.1 points per game, and his 57 assists nearly double his 30 turnovers.
“Santi has brought it every single night,” Barnes said in a news conference following Saturday night’s 64-50 downing of LSU in which Vescovi had a team-high 16 points. “He’s done it every night. He’s had one or two off nights, maybe, but his effort and his defense – he plays like he’s 6-7.