Vols serve notice with exhibition rout of Gonzaga

Tennessee Athletics photo / Tennessee guard Tyreke Key, a graduate transfer from Indiana State, scored 26 points late Friday night to lead the Volunteers to a 99-80 exhibition thumping of Gonzaga.
Tennessee Athletics photo / Tennessee guard Tyreke Key, a graduate transfer from Indiana State, scored 26 points late Friday night to lead the Volunteers to a 99-80 exhibition thumping of Gonzaga.

It was only an exhibition game, but it certainly was eye-opening.

Tennessee, ranked No. 11 in the Associated Press men's college basketball preseason poll, used a closing 34-16 run to whip No. 2 Gonzaga 99-80 late Friday night before 2,738 fans at the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas. Proceeds from the exhibition, which was available on a pay-per-view basis, are benefiting the McLendon Foundation and its mission to expand opportunities for underrepresented communities in the sports industry.

Tyreke Key, a 6-foot-2, 211-pound graduate transfer guard from Indiana State, led the Volunteers with 26 points, connecting on 8-of-12 shots.

"He looked very relaxed tonight," Tennessee coach Rick Barnes told reporters. "We knew he has this ability to get going. We've watched him do it all summer."

Key, who went 4-of-7 from 3-point range, is back in the Volunteer State after playing at Clay County High in Celina. He is among the top six scorers in ISU history but sat out last season after undergoing shoulder surgery in November 2021.

"It was my first game in a year-and-a-half," Key said, "and the last game I played was in the COVID year. It felt good to be out there and in front of people."

Five Vols finished in double figures, with sophomore point guard Zakai Zeigler and fifth-year senior forward Uros Plavsic tallying 13 points apiece. Plavsic, the former Hamilton Heights standout, was 6-of-6 from the floor.

Freshman forward Julian Phillips and senior forward Olivier Nkamhoua scored 12 and 11 points, respectively, with Nkamhoua racking up 14 rebounds. The Vols won without the services of Josiah-Jordan James, who underwent an offseason knee procedure, but the senior guard is expected to play in the Nov. 7 season opener against Tennessee Tech inside Thompson-Boling Arena.

"This really just shows the hard work we put in during practice every day," Zeigler said. "Gonzaga is a really good team, but we showed what we do in practice."

Malachi Smith, the former UTC guard who was the Southern Conference player of the year last season, came off the bench to score five points and grab four rebounds in more than 17 minutes for the Bulldogs.

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.

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