Tennessee guard Troy Henderson is “questionable” with a left shoulder injury for the Vols’ rivalry matchup against Alabama on Saturday night according to the SEC Availability Report.
It’s unclear when Henderson suffered the injury but there was no point where he appeared to hurt it against Kentucky. The freshman guard was a partial participant in Tennessee’s practice Friday afternoon but did do some five-on-five team work during the practice.
Henderson was wearing the same brace on his entire left shoulder and arm that Cade Phillips wore earlier this season.
The 6-foot-1 guard has had an ever changing role during his freshman season, averaging 2.5 points and 1.6 assists in 15 games played. However, Henderson’s role has increased in recent games as he’s grabbed the reigns of Tennessee’s backup point guard position from Ethan Burg.
Henderson scored eight points in 22 minutes in Tennessee’s win over Texas A&M and also scored six points in six minutes play in the Vols’ blowout loss at Florida.
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Both Tennessee and Alabama are off during the midweek ahead of Saturday’s matchup in Tuscaloosa. It’s an important game for Tennessee (12-6, 2-3 SEC) who is looking to bounce back from its home loss against Kentucky with its first true road win of the season.
Alabama has also been shaky in SEC play so far, entering the matchup 13-5 (3-2 SEC) and coming off narrow road wins over Mississippi State and Oklahoma.
The Crimson Tide boast one of the nation’s best backcourts with Labaron Philon, Aden Holloway and Latrell Wrightsell but has lacked an inside presence this season. The Crimson Tide is one of the SEC’s worst defensive rebounding teams with a number of their losses coming due to heavy losses on the backboard. Bediako will help mitigate those concerns in the short term.
Alabama is 4.5-point favorites over Tennessee according to the DraftKings Sportsbook with the over/under set at 166.5. KenPom predicts Alabama to earn an 85-80 victory.
Tipoff between Tennessee and Alabama is at 8:30 p.m. ET at Coleman Coliseum on Saturday night. Dave Neal and former Alabama forward Richard Hendrix are on the call for ESPN.
