Tennessee defeated Colorado, 56-47, to open its 2020-21 men’s basketball season.
Sophomore guard Santiago Vescovi finished the contest with 11 points, five assists and two rebounds.
Following the Vols’ win, Vescovi met with media to discuss the first game.
On what UT needs to improve on when playing against a zone:
“I think we did a really good job when the game started, then they went to a zone. I think we need to be more aggressive against it. I know we can be, but it is our first game—we knew there would be some things we would struggle with, but we’ll get it done. We’ll work on it every day and I think we’re going to get better at it.”
On how the Vols were able to guard so well at the guard position:
“Thinking about how deep our team is, I think that’s one of the main things that kept us in a good defensive position. We have a lot of really athletic guys and I think we’re doing a good job every week in practice defending against each other. Also, knowing that you can give 100 percent on every possession knowing that the guy who’s coming in on the next play is going to give his 100 percent effort—just being that deep on our bench is what kept us in a good defensive position.”
On how much different it feels compared to last year knowing there are five or six guys that can come off the bench and play at a high level:
“It feels really different with the depth we have in the team right now knowing that you can go 100 percent every possession on offense or defense and know that the guy coming in will give their all and play at a high level. I mean, it’s really fun, because they can all score the ball, they can all play defense. It’s just fun and it all comes from trusting each other and I think we have a really great group this year.”
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