Rick Barnes made a big statement about the Tennessee Vols' win against the Florida Gators
Not many folks expected the Tennessee Vols to beat the Florida Gators on Saturday afternoon in Knoxville — mostly because Zakai Zeigler (knee) and Igor Milicic Jr (illness) were ruled out before the start of the game. The ESPN College GameDay crew, for example, all picked the Gators to beat the Volunteers. Tennessee, however, dominated […]
Not many folks expected the Tennessee Vols to beat the Florida Gators on Saturday afternoon in Knoxville — mostly because Zakai Zeigler (knee) and Igor Milicic Jr (illness) were ruled out before the start of the game.
The ESPN College GameDay crew, for example, all picked the Gators to beat the Volunteers.
Tennessee, however, dominated the game, cruising to a 64-44 victory over Florida.
After the win, Vols head coach Rick Barnes suggested that the win against Florida, because of the circumstances, was one of the best wins that Tennessee's had during his tenure on Rocky Top.
"I told them it was one of the great wins that we’ve ever had here because you think about the guys that were out there today…I just loved the way they handled the moment," said Barnes.
"From a coaching staff standpoint, this was a special one because of the way we were beaten down there and then came back with two starters out and played the way we did," added Barnes.
Tennessee's back was definitely against the wall on Saturday. The Vols had lost three of their previous four games (including tough back-to-back losses against Auburn and Kentucky). If Tennessee had lost to Florida, even with Zeigler and Milicic sidelined, there would've been a lot of analysts and opposing fans (and probably some UT fans) suggesting that the Vols just don't have what it takes this season to make a deep tournament run.
Those takes will have to be shelved after the Vols' convincing win against the Gators.
Considering the circumstances, it's hard to disagree with Barnes' take that the win against Florida on Saturday was one of the best wins the program's had over the last decade.
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