Tyreke Key embracing role as two-way spark off the bench

ANDREW PETERS Sports Editor

Tyreke Key checked into Tennessee’s game against LSU Saturday a few minutes in and hit two threes and grabbed four boards.

The graduate transfer was in a new role coming off the bench for the Vols – a role he needed no time getting adjusted to.

“He really was the guy that I think brough that initial thrust because they were doing a good job early, keeping us off the glass,” head coach Rick Barnes said. “When he came in the game he really got aggressive, getting to the glass and did some things.”

With sickness and injury running through Tennessee across its two-game road stretch last week, the Vols played around with lineups. The one that seemed to work well came on Saturday.

Zakai Zeigler, Santiago Vescovi, Julian Phillips, Josiah-Jordan James and Oliver Nkamhoau made up the starting five against LSU.

Key was in the sixth man spot after spending most of the season as a starter, but he was more than willing to sit to start the game if it meant the best lineup for the team. His spark of the bench was also huge for the Vols. While Key is obviously a scoring threat, his size makes him an elite defender and solid rebounder at the guard spot.

“I embrace anything. Whatever role, I’m here to do,” Key said. “I’m going to play it to the best of my abilities. Whatever I can do to impact winning, whether that’s rebounding, scoring, defending, anything like that, I’m just going to do that role.”

Zeigler – who got the start in Key’s place –said early in the season that he prefers coming off the bench, but the sophomore guard’s competitive fire is something Barnes wants on the court from the opening tip.

“He’s going to fight with whatever he’s got to get through screens and he’s a high-level competitor. He’s going to do whatever he can,”

Zeigler has had his moments this season – like a game of poor shot selection and turnovers against Kentucky – but Barnes believes he has grown tremendously over the course of the season.

“Sometimes when he’s not playing well it hurts him because he wants to fix it right then and there,” Barnes said. “And that’s where I think he’s gotten better with his poise, knowing that he’s not going to make every shot, not going to make every play, he can’t go to the rim when he’s upset and throw up a contested shot. That’s where he’s getting so much better with his overall game.”

While Saturday’s lineup worked well, it may not be permanent. As players get healthy, Barnes expects to continue tweaking his lineups, but with all the depth he has, he doesn’t think a lack of a solid starting five will ever be a problem.

“The way we look at it, we’ve got six or seven starters,” Barnes said. “I think our guys’ maturity shows that. It’s a really unselfish group of guys.”

Now the Vols prepare for another challenging week. No. 4 Tennessee (16-3, 6-1 SEC) prepares for Georgia (13-6, 3-3) on Wednesday. The Bulldogs are off to a decent start behind first-year head coach Mike White.

“Mike’s teams, defensively, they’re going to guard you,” Barnes said. “They’re going to make you work on every possession and being the coach that he is, he’ll find a way to do what he needs to do with his team offensively.”