Rick Barnes needs to figure it out sooner rather than later. Tennessee had one of the worst second halves of the Rick Barnes era on Saturday.
Tennessee basketball has had an absolute roller coaster of a year so far. Last week summed it up perfectly. The Vols showed real toughness by clawing their way back to beat a good Texas A&M team. But it all fell apart on Saturday. The Vols followed it up with a gut-punch loss at home to Kentucky after blowing a 17-point lead. Tennessee ended up falling 80–78 in a game that felt like it was right there for the taking, and one that should’ve been a second win on the week.
The latest AP Poll voters have taken note of this loss, and the once 13th-ranked Vols are now completely out of the latest poll. Tennessee had been ranked for 90 straight weeks.
Tennessee has got to figure it out
Rick Barnes called out Tennessee in Saturday's post-game media session, saying, “We don't lose this game with those guys." (In reference to former Vols Zakai Zeigler and Jahmai Mashack). While Barnes does have a point, it's also on his hands, too. He recruited this team and built this roster. The poor defense in the second half falls on him. Accountability starts at the top for this team.
In regard to the second half collapse, Barnes said, "And the things that we did in the first half, the question is why didn't we do it? I don't know why. I don't. You think about it, two guys in the first half had just four or five shots. At the end of the game, we were guarding their sets, they were just putting their heads down, driving the ball and putting us in rotation. That allows them to get some offensive rebounds, too. We didn't guard the ball well enough. We didn't defend well enough to win the game."
Tennessee will look to get back on track versus Alabama next Saturday. The Vols take on a very good Crimson Tide team who are a prototypical Nate Oats squad. They play with a very high pace and are great offensively.