Tennessee freshman forward Julian Phillips exited the Vols’ loss against Missouri with a hip flexer strain. The former five-star recruit originally suffered the injury in Tennessee’s Friday practice before trying to tough it out against the Tigers.
“Julian (Phillips), I’m proud of him too,” Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said. “He hurt himself in practice yesterday and he did everything since practice and today trying to get himself ready. Came out and just gave us what he could.”
What he could was 10 minutes of action in the first half where he tallied four points and two rebounds. Phillips grabbed both rebounds on the offensive end and had a putback score on the first one.
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Phillips injury status is particularly critical due to Josiah-Jordan James’ current absence with a left ankle sprain. James is “day-to-day” but did not dress out for the Missouri game.
Tennessee has been looking for more offensive production from Phillips as its offense has been inconsistent in recent weeks. Phillips scored 10 points on four-of-five shooting from the field against Vanderbilt Wednesday night before being active in his action early in the loss against Missouri.
The Vols return to the court Wednesday night when they host Alabama to Thompson-Boling Arena. Tip-off between Tennessee and the Crimson Tide is at 7 p.m. ET. ESPN2 is broadcasting the game.
