‘I don’t know what you’re looking at’ – Rick Barnes didn’t agree with one specific post-game take after Tennessee’s loss to Alabama

The Tennessee Vols lost a tough one to the Alabama Crimson Tide in Knoxville on Saturday.

Zach Ragan — Tennessee Volunteers News Writer
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The Tennessee Vols lost a heartbreaker to the Alabama Crimson Tide in Knoxville on Saturday evening.

Tennessee, playing in front of a crowd that included VFLs such as Peyton Manning, Trey Smith, and Darnell Wright, led Alabama for almost the entire game. The Crimson Tide, however, closed the game on a 10-2 run, allowing Bama to escape with a 71-69 win.

“I don’t know how long we led this game, but not for very long, maybe 30 seconds or less,” said Alabama head coach Nate Oats after the game. “I’ve got to give a lot of credit to our players just for having an attitude that they never gave up. When you think about some of these guys, none of these guys have ever beaten Tennessee. They were on a five-game losing streak, and to beat them — that’s why they’re so fired up after the game. They knew what struggles we had against these guys.”

Reporter asks Rick Barnes about being out-physicaled by Alabama

While meeting with the media after the game, Barnes was asked by a reporter if the Vols were “out-physicaled” by Alabama.

Barnes did not agree that his team was “out-physicaled”.

“No,” said Barnes while shaking his head. “Where are you seeing that we got out-physicaled? I don’t know what you’re looking at.

“I think the game inside has been like that all year. I mean, it was physical at Missouri. It’ll be physical at [South Carolina]. It is. But I don’t think we got out-physicaled. I don’t think that at all.”

Alabama forward Aiden Sherrell certainly made an impact on the defensive end of the floor in the second half, but Tennessee still dominated the offensive glass — the Vols finished with 25 offensive rebounds compared to 9 for Alabama (Tennessee out-rebounded Bama 47-30).

“We got destroyed on the glass, and that’s what this team does,” said Oats after the game. “They get 25 [offensive rebounds] and we only have 21 defensive boards. So when they’re getting more of their misses than we’re getting, it makes it extremely hard to win the game.”

Ultimately, Tennessee lost the game because they couldn’t make enough shots. The Vols took 22 more shots than Alabama on Saturday night. Anytime a team takes that many more shots than its opponent and loses by two points, it’s pretty easy to diagnose what went wrong.

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