Tennessee basketball’s Troy Henderson (left shoulder) and Jaylen Carey (left leg) are off the injury report and good to go for the Vols in their Saturday night matchup against Auburn. The Vols did get bad injury news with starting center Felix Okpara now a game-time decision with a left calf injury.
Henderson suffered the left shoulder injury in practice the week between Tennessee basketball’s matchups against Kentucky and Alabama. He’s missed the Vols’ last two games but seems on track to return against Auburn and was not wearing the shoulder brace he’d been donning as of late.
The 6-foot-1 freshman has had an inconsistent 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 weeks as he’s grabbed the reigns of Tennessee’s backup point guard position from Ethan Burg.
Carey suffered a left leg injury against Alabama that caused him to miss the final 10 minutes of the game. The Vanderbilt transfer missed the remainder of Tennessee’s win in Tuscaloosa before returning to the court against Georgia. Carey struggled against the Bulldogs, totaling just one point and three rebounds in 11 minutes.
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“I think he was limited some,” Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said of Carey’s performance against Georgia. “There was a little bit of swelling there, but, you know, he felt like he still wanted to go. Of course we didn’t do a lot (Thursday). We’ll see where he is today.”
The junior power forward enters the Auburn game averaging 8.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. Carey being available could be especially important if Okpara is unable to go.
Both Tennessee and Auburn come into Saturday night’s matchup playing well. Auburn has won four straight including an impressive road win at Florida. The Vols have won two straight on the road against Alabama and then Georgia. Tennessee is a 5.5-point favorite against the Tigers according to the DraftKings Sportsbook at the time of publication. The over/under is at at 148.5. KenPom predicts Tennessee to earn a 78-72 victory.
Tipoff between the Vols and Tigers is at 8:30 p.m. ET on Saturday night. Dave Neal and Dane Bradshaw are on the call for ESPN.
