LAS VEGAS — Rick Barnes found Tennessee Director of Athletics Danny White after walking off the court at Lucas Oil Stadium when Houston ended Tennessee’s 2025 season one game short of the Final Four with a singular takeaway from the game.
“I said, ‘we’re going to have to get an inside game,'” Barnes told local media Tuesday.
Finding that interior presence was a key part of Tennessee’s offseason roster building. Its first true test of the season came against that same Houston program and the Vols aced it, flexing their interior size and outlasting the third-ranked Cougars 76-72 at the Players Era Festival.
“Where Rick and his staff have done a good job, too, is their front-line bench,” Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson said. “(Jaylen) Carey and (JP) Estrella are starters, so give them credit for building that kind of roster.”
A season ago in the Elite Eight, Houston out-scored Tennessee in the paint 30-14. The Cougars also posted an offensive rebound rate 5% higher than Tennessee, controlling the glass with a berth in the Final Four on the line. Barnes said he’s watched the game four or five times in the offseason and knew Tennessee needed more “of a presence in the lane.”
Interior size was a serious point of emphasis for Barnes and his staff over the offseason. They retained the front court pieces with remaining eligibility which could have been enough. Instead, the Vols went and landed Jaylen Carey from Vanderbilt.
The Vols front court helped flip the script from last season’s game. Houston is year-in, year-out one of the most physical and best interior teams in the country. Tennessee out-scored them in the paint 38-30. The Vols posted an offensive rebound rate 3% higher than the Cougars.
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Tennessee’s front court scored six points in the Elite Eight loss a season ago. The quartet of Carey, Estrella, Cade Phillips and Felix Okpara combined for 32 points on an efficient 13-of-21 shooting from the field.
“All of them made a big time contribution,” Barnes said.
Carey played his best game as a Vol. He scored a season-high 13 points to go along with seven rebounds. The 6-foot-8 junior scored six points in the final six minutes of the first half, playing a two-man game with Ja’Kobi Gillespie. Houston delivered a knockout punch early in the Elite Eight a season ago. The Cougars led by 11 in the first half and were on the verge of doing it again before Carey and Gillespie sparked a 9-4 run to end the half that pulled Tennessee within four points at halftime.
“We kind of do it a lot in practice,” Carey said. “Just doing it in practice translated out there. He just waited for me to get going and get there.”
Carey’s performance illustrates the strength in numbers aspect of Tennessee’s front line. Carey had been the Vols’ fourth best big man early in the season but stepped up in the biggest game. There’s no All-Americans in the group but there’s four good players capable of stepping up on any given night. The physicality and rebounding they bring should show up every night.
There were signs through the offseason and early season that this could be a strong group. Tennessee’s front court proved it against the program that led to its construction eight months ago in Indianapolis.
“We are the best front court in the country. I truly believe so,” Carey said. “I truly believe we’re the best front court in the country.”
