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Tennessee Basketball: Why Kansas State was Vols’ Biggest Win of the Year

By Caleb Calhoun

Jan 28, 2017; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers guard Robert Hubbs III (3) grabs a rebound during the second half against the Kansas State Wildcats at Thompson-Boling Arena. Tennessee won 70 to 58. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 28, 2017; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers guard Robert Hubbs III (3) grabs a rebound during the second half against the Kansas State Wildcats at Thompson-Boling Arena. Tennessee won 70 to 58. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports /
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Tennessee basketball’s huge victory over the Kansas State Wildcats on Saturday was the most important win of the year for the Volunteers. Here’s why.

This was the best week for Tennessee basketball since Rick Barnes took over as head coach of the Vols.

On Tuesday, they got their best quality win of the season, beating the SEC foe and Top 10 Kentucky Wildcats. It was perfect for their NCAA Tournament resume.

However, while that was their best quality win of the year, the Vols’ most important win of the year came on Saturday, when they dominated the Kansas State Wildcats.

It wasn’t a win over a Top 10 team, and it wasn’t an SEC victory.

But it signified a huge step that the young Vols had taken. As they move slowly onto the NCAA Tournament bubble, they have to beat the quality teams they are capable of beating.

As a Top 50 RPI team, Kansas State was one of those teams.

However, Tennessee basketball has had a bad habit of following up a great performance with a terrible one because they can’t deal with success.

The exact opposite happened on Saturday.

Against a team much bigger than them, the Vols beat Kansas State at their own game, dominating from start to finish.

They never trailed and won the game 70-58.

This game was crucial. If Tennessee had lost, the Kentucky win would have been meaningless. They would have fallen out of the NCAA Tournament race.

But now, hanging on with their 12-9 record, they were able to score a huge quality win and follow it up with a solid win that they needed to have.

Rick Barnes’s young team is learning to stay humble after great performances, and that can only bode well for the future.

Doing that is what makes this game the most important win of the season for Tennessee basketball.

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