Tennessee Vols head coach Rick Barnes sends message that some fans don't want to hear after tough loss to Kentucky Wildcats
The Tennessee Vols fell to 17-4 on the season after losing 78-73 to the Kentucky Wildcats in Knoxville on Tuesday night. Tennessee has now lost three of its last four games after starting the season 16-1. After the loss to Kentucky, Vols head coach Rick Barnes addressed Tennessee's recent struggles by pointing out that UT's […]
The Tennessee Vols fell to 17-4 on the season after losing 78-73 to the Kentucky Wildcats in Knoxville on Tuesday night.
Tennessee has now lost three of its last four games after starting the season 16-1.
After the loss to Kentucky, Vols head coach Rick Barnes addressed Tennessee's recent struggles by pointing out that UT's losses have come against good teams.
"We've lost four games, so we're not that bad," said Barnes on Tuesday night. "We're not doing that bad. We're in the best league in the country, against a team that has had big wins. There's no given that we're gonna win every game — even if we play well. We want to win every game, but that team we're playing, they want to win, too. And I think this league is such a fine line that the details matter a lot."
"I know our guys are disappointed," added Barnes. "I know how much they care. I know how much they all work. But again, we've lost four games against top-10 teams, so we can get better and we've gotta get better. And knowing what I know about these guys, I think we will get better because if it didn't hurt them, I'd be concerned, but I know how much it hurt them."
Barnes isn't wrong. It's not like the Vols have lost games to bad teams. The loss to Auburn, for example, is one that just didn't go Tennessee's way even though the Vols played well.
Tennessee's loss to Kentucky, however, is cause for concern.
The Vols had plenty of chances to beat the Wildcats, but teams that shoot 45 three-pointers and make just 24 percent of them don’t usually win close games.
Tennessee won the turnover battle (Vols had 5, Wildcats had 13) and they had 10 more offensive rebounds than Kentucky. The Vols had opportunities to win the game and they just couldn't come through. These are the types of games that Tennessee will have to find a way to win in March if they want to make a deep tournament run. So far this season, they're not showing they can consistently win those types of games.
Maybe these losses will make the Vols a better team come tourney time. But right now, UT fans are feeling more frustration than hope.
And with a tough game against No. 5 Florida coming up on Saturday, that feeling of frustration has the potential to linger on Rocky Top.
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