Tennessee guard Bishop Boswell is warming up pregame and is expected to be available for the Vols in their New Years Eve matchup against Norfolk State.
*Boswell failed to record a stat in three minutes of action.
Boswell suffered a shoulder injury playing ball screen defense in Tennessee’s win over Western Carolina on Dec. 16 before missing the Vols’ matchup against MTSU last week in Knoxville.
Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes expressed optimism that Boswell would be back available after the Christmas break and the freshman guard was a full participant in the Vols’ Monday practice ahead of the Norfolk State game.
However, Tennessee associate head coach Justin Gainey stated before practice that Boswell had not been a full participant in practice yet, implying that Monday was Boswell’s first time practicing full go since.
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Boswell has had a small role to this point in his freshman season, averaging just 0.6 points, 0.8 rebounds and 0.7 assists in 3.9 minutes per game. But after Cam Carr quit the team last week, Boswell is entrenched as Tennessee’s ninth man and will likely get minutes most games and could have an extended role in games while others battle foul trouble.
That was most evident in the Illinois game when he played six second half minutes while Zakai Zeigler and Chaz Lanier battled foul trouble, playing strong defense and grabbing three rebounds in the process.
Tennessee basketball enters its non conference finale against Norfolk State a perfect 12-0 and ranked No. 1 in the latest AP Poll. The Vols are 30.5-point favorites over Norfolk State according to FanDuel Sportsbook. The over/under is set at 140.5.
Tipoff between Tennessee and Norfolk State is at 3 p.m. ET on Tuesday afternoon. The SEC Network+ is streaming the game.