Tennessee basketball center Felix Okpara’s playing status is unclear.
He is considered day-to-day with a left calf injury as the Vols (15-6, 5-3 SEC) prepare to play Ole Miss (11-10, 3-5) at Food City Center on Feb. 3. (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2).
Okpara missed Tennessee’s 77-69 win over Auburn on Jan. 31. He appeared on the injury report the day of the game and was a game-time decision.
“I don’t know,” Tennessee basketball associate coach Justin Gainey said about Okpara’s availability. “I don’t know. We’d have to ask (director of men’s basketball sports medicine) Chad Newman on that. I hadn’t talked to him this morning.”
Coach Rick Barnes said Okpara was kicked in his left leg in the game against Georgia on Jan. 28. He finished the contest with six points and 11 rebounds in 35 minutes.
Freshman forward DeWayne Brown replaced Okpara in the starting lineup against Auburn and had arguably his best game in SEC play. He finished with 10 points, seven rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block. Junior Jaylen Carey came off the bench and was the Vols‘ second-leading scorer with 13 points, eight rebounds and an assist.
“I think both of those guys are confident guys,” Gainey said. “I think the entire team, entire program knows what they can do and what they’re capable of. I think they’re already confident in that. I think we learned that next man up mentality is real. Those guys stepped up in a major way because Felix is so important to everything we do offensively and a big part defensively… It does nothing but help our team when those two guys can bring that consistency to that level.”
Wynton Jackson covers high school sports for Knox News. Email: wynton.jackson@knoxnews.com
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Felix Okpara injury update for Tennessee basketball vs Ole Miss