Yet another 7:30am wake up call from Mickey and Minnie put another unpleasant end to a great night’s sleep. Breakfast was served promptly at 8am, the standard team pre-game meal. Following breakfast we had an hour to rest before we left for the Milk House. Leaving the Coronado Springs at 9:45, we arrived at the arena by 10 and the players began their pre-game routines.

The training room had a line longer than the line at Space Mountain. Players were waiting to get taped up by Greg “The Hammer” Dashnaw, the Head Athletic Trainer, and stretched out by Dan Taylor, the Strength and Conditioning Coach. At 11am, the court became available to the players and the balls were put out allow the teams time to warm up. Tennessee ran through a series of drills and stretching routines while Siena did their usual pre-game work out. The guys looked loose and as game time approached they seemed poised and ready for action.

After tip-off, we built a quick 4 point lead to open the game. Tennessee, however, was able to respond and the game was close for much of the first half. Towards the end of the half, Tennessee had a long streak that gave them a 20 point lead by half time. Coming out in the second half, Siena was able to cut the lead to just nine points. A couple quick Tennessee turnovers and a big “and-one” shot and free throw by Alex Franklin had the Saints right on the Vols’ tails. As the half progressed, Tennessee was able to pull away and by the four minute mark, they had a comfortable lead. Although the score may not reflect it, Siena played a tough game. Tennessee is a tremendous team.

We stayed and watched the Wichita State/Georgetown game knowing that whoever lost would be our opponent on Friday. This game was nail-biter, however, Georgetown was able to come away with the victory. We left the Milk House following that game and returned to the hotel where many of us made it a point to catch up on some much-needed sleep. We went to the Lone Star Steakhouse in Orlando for dinner which was great. To no one’s dismay lights out was at 11 by David Matturro, the director of basketball operations. You could tell the guys were taking Wichita State very seriously and were excited to get back on the court tomorrow.