Rick Barnes gives initial thoughts on Duke matchup after narrowly escaping Round of 64

Tennessee survived on Thursday, escaping with a three-point win against Louisiana. There are plenty of questions facing the Volunteers, even after the win. At the moment, the most pressing one is the next matchup on Saturday, going up against the Duke Blue Devils.

Head coach Rick Barnes admitted he has not thought too much about the Round of 32 game. However, he does know how well Duke is playing at the moment, having one of the longest winning streaks in the country. Plus, coaches from around the league are backing Jon Scheyer’s squad.

“I haven’t thought a lot about it,” Barnes said. “They’re playing great basketball. I think they’ve won 10, 11, 12. 18 out of 19. Jim Boeheim has already said they’re going to go all the way. So, we got a big matchup.”

Duke and Tennessee have not shared a basketball court since the 2011-2012 season. History does not favor the Vols, currently down in the all-time series 77-67.

However, Saturday’s game will be the most important one. Winner will get to advance to the Sweet Sixteen and play in the world’s most famous arena, Madison Square Garden. In what should be a good one, Barnes will likely get brushed up on Duke sooner rather than later.

Rick Barnes reveals message to team while wrapping up Louisiana win

Tennessee got the win but not without sweating. Barnes revealed the message to his team down the stretch, admitting there have been tough times at different points this season. But as the Volunteers made their free throws, the win was secured with just a few seconds left.

“Get it in and make some free throws,” Barnes said. “Kind of how we’ve been at times this year — not very pretty but we found a way to get it done. Defensively, we were really good against a team that can really score the basketball.”

Louisiana was one of the best offensive teams in the country this past season. Tennessee made sure to never count them out of the game. There will be things to fix heading into Saturday but Barnes is satisfied with the result for now.

“I don’t think they were ever going to go away,” Barnes said. “You don’t win as many games as they did. You don’t expect them to go away. We made a couple blunders that we can’t make. Fact is, we found a way to finish it.”