There are still plenty of upset people following the rough loss for No. 4 Tennessee on Wednesday night. Yes, any road SEC game is going to be tough, but how in the world did the Vols suffer a loss to Ole Miss after taking down Alabama over the weekend?
This was a game that Tennessee 100 percent let slip away late. Whenever it looked like UT was going to pull away, Ole Miss was there for an answer and the Rebels came up with the clutch plays down the stretch and Rick Barnes' players didn't.
Losing is one thing, but Barnes is never going to tolerate things when his guys lose focus and get out-hustled. This is exactly what happened in this latest defeat to Ole Miss, which is likely going to cost Tennessee a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. As you could have guessed, Barnes was not happy with his players.
Rick Barnes didn't hold back in calling out Tennessee after loss to Ole Miss
"We didn't deserve to win this basketball game," Barnes said after the loss. "When you make those kind of mental mistakes, you don't deserve to play against the team that is well-coached and played as hard as they played. And they made shots on us. But again, you let a team get comfortable and you're not as aggressive and you're not playing smart. Offensive rebounding can just take the wind out of your sail. And they did a great job getting there and, I mean, think, 46 points in the paint. I don't know what else I can say."
For Tennessee to lose focus in the way it did was just so frustrating. The Vols were indeed well on their way to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, but the team is now projected to land a No. 2 seed. Should they lose to South Carolina this weekend, they could slip even more.
Chaz Lanier, Zakai Zeigler and the other upperclassmen on this team need to wake everyone up and make sure the entire locker room regroups and realizes that this is the time of year where no one can take a single play off. This can still prove to be a memorable season for the Vols and Barnes, but the loss to the Rebels was a reminder that there's still a lot to be cleaned up.