NASHVILLE, Tn. — Tennessee basketball picked up one of its best wins of the season Saturday afternoon, knocking off rival Vanderbilt 69-65 in front of a sold out crowd at Memorial Gymnasium.
Following the game, Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes discussed the growth of his team, young players emerging and much more. Here’s everything Barnes said.
More From RTI: Three Quick Takeaways As Tennessee Basketball Picks Up Crucial Win At Vanderbilt
On where that kind of effort ranked for Tennessee this season
“It was a great one. It took it because Mark and his staff have done a great job with his program the last two years, obviously, since he’s been here. And I thought both teams played every possession with everything he had. And at the end, some things fell our way. And defensively, we stayed locked in against a team that’s as hard to defend as any team that you play against. And when we had to make a couple plays, we (made them), unscripted plays. And just proud of the effort that our guys put in. Again, a great college basketball game. And I would say that even if we lost because I just saw how hard every guy on the court played.”
On Nate Ament’s contested midrange jump shot with 56 seconds left to give Tennessee the lead
“Well, I just told Mike Keith it reminded me of the old Meadowlark Lemon trick where he hid it in his shirt. I didn’t know where the ball was and all at once, it comes popping out of there. He struggled, but they had a lot to do with that, obviously. And he made that one when it counted. He stayed with it. But I thought our second line was really good today. The guys coming off the bench, we got a lot of good on both ends of the court. Both ends, those guys were really helpful to us.”
On Tennessee playing small midway through the second half and going on an 11-2 run to take the lead
“Well, we knew with Nate — (Vanderbilt is) going to stay home with shooters — that they’d have a chance for a couple of guys maybe to drive the ball, whether it be Ja’Kobi (Gillespie) or Ethan (Burg). Ethan is quick. Amari (Evans) gets there a different way. But those guys made some good plays there. But it opened the court up a little bit more for us.”
On if Tennessee went small because he liked the matchup in that situation or because of foul trouble with the forwards
“More foul trouble. But we’ve been doing it a little bit more in practice, because of thinking if we got in foul trouble, we wanted to have some things and with that lineup, And it helped us. It did. It helped us at that point time in the game.”
On freshman Amari Evans getting a big rebound and making free throws in the final minute to preserve the lead
“Well, it’s big. I look out there one time, we had three freshmen, a sophomore, and Felix (Okpara) on the floor. And I’m like, ‘You know, these guys, they’re fighting, they’re competing.” But Amari is not afraid of the moment. He really isn’t. And after getting out to a pretty good start, and he hit the wall a little bit, but he’s bounced back the last couple of weeks and has a great future. He really does. We’re excited about him and certainly glad that he’s wearing our uniform.”
On how Jaylen Carey handled the pressure of being back at Vanderbilt
“I think that where we are in today’s world, that we’re going to see a lot more of that when the guys are going to transfer in the league and all that. But I think he did okay. I don’t know what he expected really, but he’s fine.”
On if Tennessee wins that game a month or two ago, if they’re becoming tougher
“To answer the first part, no, I don’t think we would have won it a month ago. When you talk about toughness, it’s not just the physicality part of it, it’s the mental toughness part. That’s where we’ve improved the most. Two games in a row now, back to back, where we’ve had less than 10 turnovers. Early into conference play, we were throwing everything all over the place, having no purpose, what we were doing on offense. We’ve gotten better with that, but we still, like every team right now, we still got to get better, and that’s been our thought process all year. But proud of the way we hung in there, and at the end, some things fell our way.”
On how much DeWayne Brown and Amari Evans are growing up
“DeWayne was really good. He played a lot of minutes. What did he play tonight?
SID: “DeWayne played 30 and Amari played 19.”
“Wow. Yeah, DeWayne’s good. The more he’s out there, the better he’s going to be. And again, he’s been the biggest surprise on this team this year. We’ve talked about it early in the year, when you get everybody together for the first time, somebody’s going to surprise you, somebody’s going to disappoint you. No question, DeWayne Brown has been the biggest surprise on our team this year, and he’s only going to get better and better. Really knows how to play. Great hands, sees the floor and the more he’s in the game, the more he gets a great feel for it.”
On Bishop Boswell’s big baskets late in the game
“Well it was important because I do think that Ja’Kobi and Nate were getting winded because Vanderbilt did a great job of guarding them all night long. We tried to guard their guys, and just trying to get the ball in itself is tough sometimes, and it’s going to come back to where those other three guys have to be able to be willing to go make plays. And at some point in time, I mean, the steals on the other end that, we had were important to get us back into the game. But Ethan had a great— where he drove it out of a spread offense, and Amari and Bishop, those were key. Those guys were the key to the game today. They really were.”
On where Tennessee’s defensive effort against Vanderbilt ranks this season
“I don’t know. I know this: our guys, during timeouts — when we talk about the growth — they’re talking about what’s going on out there. Like, we knew at the end, we had — and they really do execute. They really execute. They know what they’re doing at a high level, and they set up a ball screen, back screen, and got guys that’ll make the pass where it needs to be. Just hearing them talk about it, say, ‘Hey, Bishop, I don’t need help here, but I need help here.’ That’s when you feel like you’re on to something good.”
If he feels like this was one of the most physical games Tennessee has played in this season
“Pretty physical, you know? I think they get more physical as the year goes on, I do, I think from the beginning to the end, from where we started. But, yeah, it was a pretty physical game. I mean, they play really hard, too. They’re so well-coached, and they screen. They do all the things that — I mean, they wouldn’t be where they are if they weren’t well-coached and understand each other. But you expect the games to get more physical as the year goes on.”
On how he feels Tennessee is ready for March with a road win like this
“I don’t know. You know, I’m not a person that thinks about that. Because you can have a great win and it mean nothing if you don’t put it behind you. Enjoy it for a little bit, get ready for the next game, because it’s gonna be hard Tuesday night in Missouri. Another great home crowd. Dennis Gates has done a terrific job. So you just build experience and hope that when you need it, and you call on it, it’s gonna be there for you, and hope some of these games build you to that.”
On the rematch with Vanderbilt in two weeks
“Again, when you play as many games, and the atmosphere obviously was great. It always is great here. But, you know, they beat us here last year, came in and really should have won the game last year in Knoxville. They were better prepared all the way around, so we got — I don’t know who we play after Missouri, but we’ll worry about that when that one comes up.”
On the passing of Tennessee sportswriter Wes Rucker
“Before we leave, again, I’d like to ask you all to remember Wes Rucker and his family. I would encourage you all to encourage people to go to the GoFundMe account. We know that Wes wasn’t able to get life insurance due to a stroke he had years ago, and leaving behind a beautiful wife, a son and a daughter on the way. Wes was a special person. We’re all colleagues in this, and I would just encourage you to get people to go help the family right now. They need it, and certainly tonight, before you close your eyes, say a prayer for him and his family. God bless.”
