Tennessee Not Taking Anything For Granted This Time Around In Indianapolis

INDIANAPOLIS -- If there is one thing this Tennessee basketball team won't do this time around, it's take anything for granted, not even the opening round win. The Vols went on an SEC Tournament title run last week and have since transferred their focus from Tampa to Indianapolis.

They could've come out a bit sluggish in their game on Thursday, but they never did. Maybe this team has a different mentality than previous teams or maybe they have turned the corner and matured together. But for Josiah-Jordan James and his teammates, this year's team has learned from the past.

"I feel like learning from what happened last year. We were one of those teams who just thought things were going to happen. We weren't really playing desperate. We just talked this week leading up to this game, being the more desperate team and knowing that every team in this Tournament is a championship team, and so you can't take anything for granted. I felt like we did a good job in preparing for that."

They were on a quick turnaround too. They didn't really have the time to focus on celebrating their SEC Championship. They immediately had to turn their attention toward Longwood. The quick shift in focus paid off.

Santiago Vescovi, for one, rattled off 18 points in the win, finishing the game 6-8 from three-point range. After the game, Vescovi discussed the team emphasis of keeping everything out in front of them and not looking back or too far ahead.