Tennessee basketball: Rick Barnes crumbles in another big game this season

The ending

The ending of the game will haunt you for years.

The Vols were up two points. Most teams would drive the length of the court and take a three-point shot to when the game. Tennessee is one of those teams. Remember Lamonte Turner’s shot against LSU?

But, not Purdue, not a well-coached team.

Edwards took the ball the length of the court in five seconds right to the rim. Luckily Williams made a fantastic defensive play to block the shot. Just so I’m clear, that play came after Painter called a timeout. I’m betting he told his players to get to the rim. That’s a good in-game coach.

After the outstanding block from Williams, there was 2.5 second left in the game. Guess what came next? Another excellent play that Painter drew up to get his best player the basketball in the corner for a game-winning three.

Staying in the closing seconds of regulation, Edwards was at the line with Purdue down two points and a chance to win the game.

He misses the first one. With a timeout in Barnes’ pocket, he keeps it. Keep in mind as good as Edwards was playing he was just 2-for-6 from the free throw line.

Edwards nails the second free throw. Again, with a timeout in his pocket, Barnes sits there. I’m okay with Barnes calling a timeout after either shot. Instead, he calls it after a double pass to get the ball at half court.

Fans can complain all they want that the refs didn’t call the timeout in time. However, surely everyone knew two passes would take at least one second off the clock, so what is 0.7? I would have rather Barnes run the same play as they did against LSU that got Grant a wide open look.