Tennessee basketball had a terrible first half in its Saturday game against Vanderbilt. The Vols lost its first matchup against the in-state rival, and it looked like Tennessee was about to be embarrassed again at home.
The Vols only scored 31 points in the first half but turned things around to score 50 points in the second half. The tale of two halves came down to one thing: execution.
Zakai Zeigler and Rick Barnes acknowledged that postgame. Zeigler went scoreless in the first half but scored 22 points in the second half to lead the team in scoring and secure the win.
"Coach Rod and Coach Gainey came in [at the half]and [said] execute whatever," Zeigler said after the game. "If we make the call, our coaches spend a lot of time scouting for us and pretty much giving the formula out there when we go out on the court. It was really just us executing not just on offense but on defense too."
While Tennessee's second-half offensive explosion jumps out, Tennessee's defense also did a much better job executing and locking down Vanderbilt's offense with only 32 second-half points.
"Mark (Byington) has done a great job with [Vanderbilt], but we were awful," Barnes said postgame. "I can't remember how many times I heard our guys on the bench yelling, 'We've gone over that. We've gone over that.' I can't explain it. I wish I could. We weren't good."
Everyone knew Tennessee's first-half performance was disappointing. However, a change in mindset at halftime corrected the course and changed the outcome of the game.
"But the second half just proves to you that how important a mindset is because that's what the message was at halftime. Playing more aggressive, playing quicker, doing things that we talk about."
Tennessee's second-half team can rival any basketball team in the country. If Barnes and Zeigler can figure out how to execute at the level they did in the second half, Tennessee has the potential to be the best team in the country.
The Vols will have to bring the same energy and execution as their schedule doesn't get any easier. Tennessee's next game is on the road against No. 8 Texas A&M in another top-ten matchup.