Gonzaga and Tennessee to hold preseason game in Texas

The Gonzaga Bulldogs will tackle the Tennessee Volunteers in a preseason scrimmage in Frisco, Texas, on Oct. 28, in accordance with Mike Wilson of the Knoxville Information Sentinel. The sport is reportedly open to the general public.

The NCAA permits applications to schedule as much as two preseason video games both within the type of closed-door scrimmages or exhibition bouts, just like the matchup with the Vols. In earlier years, the Zags have held scrimmages in opposition to Michigan State like in 2019 once they upended the presumptive No. 1 Spartans in Denver. In keeping with Rocky High Insider, the Vols and MSU will maintain an identical scrimmage earlier than the 2022-23 season begins.

Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes and Mark Few scheduled scrimmages again when Barnes was the pinnacle coach at Texas, and it seems the connection nonetheless runs deep.

Each groups will come into the matchup after disappointing finishes to the 2021-22 season. The Vols entered the NCAA Event as a No. 3 seed earlier than shedding to No. 11 Michigan within the second spherical, whereas the Zags have been bested by Arkansas within the Candy Sixteen. With impactful gamers returning on each side, the preseason recreation will probably be a extremely aggressive tune-up bout between two legit applications.

Regardless of shedding Kennedy Chandler and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, the Vols nonetheless return 4 of their 5 main scorers from a season in the past and ought to be stable defensively as soon as once more. All-SEC first crew member Santiago Vescovi is heading into his senior season after averaging 13.3 factors per recreation on environment friendly taking pictures clips. He’ll lead a squad that options two-way gamers Josiah-Jordan James and Oliver Nkamhou to assist the Vols reclaim their spot among the many nation’s high 25 applications.

The Zags, who claimed the No. 1 spot in CBS Sports activities’ most up-to-date preseason ballot, return six of their high eight scorers led by Drew Timme. The additions of Malachi Smith and Efton Reid make this one of many deepest teams within the nation. And with 5 upperclassmen anticipated to play vital minutes, the preseason tune-up recreation helps the Zags get that a lot nearer to the place they have to be by the beginning of the common season.