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Rick Barnes claims Tennessee got 'too emotional' late vs. Kentucky

IMG_6598by:Nick Kosko•02/12/25•

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Sam Upshaw Jr./Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Rick Barnes said Tennessee was “too emotional” late in the game against Kentucky, a 75-64 loss Tuesday night.

Trailing by seven at halftime, the Vols did battle back but let it slip in the end. Rather than playing sound and fundamental basketball, Tennessee made some uncharacteristic mistakes.

That’s the way Barnes saw it as his team fell to 20-6 on the season.

“Way, way, way too many defensive breakdowns on our part,” Barnes said. “Give Kentucky credit, they did it, but we had way too many defensive breakdowns on things that you can’t do there at the end of the game. And then I thought offensively we had a few guys that got too emotional, didn’t make really good decisions on the offensive end. But I don’t want to say anything to take away from Kentucky. Mark’s done a great job with this group. We were right where we needed to be and didn’t make enough winning plays on either end of the court.”

Rick Barnes chalks up Tennessee loss due to emotion

There have been plenty of ups and downs for Barnes and Tennessee, especially in SEC play. They’ve lost four SEC games, including two to Kentucky, in the last eight games.

“Well, it is what it is,” Barnes said. “And how you handle it is whether or not you judge yourself or whether you felt you played well. And I thought it was a kind of game, them playing well, doing what they’re doing, we were up I think 58-55, I think somewhere there. And then we didn’t finish the game well. And give them credit for that. But I don’t know how everybody else thinks, I mean, we go on a court, we expect to win. 

“But we know, like you said, it’s the best league in the country, maybe ever. I mean, it’s ridiculous, to be honest with you. But the good thing about it, everything is a Quad 1 game. And it helps you, obviously, if you win. And if you don’t, it probably doesn’t hurt you as badly as you can in some leagues when you lose games. But it’s an incredible league and I’m proud of it. Ten years ago it was awful. And where we are today is amazing and I think it’s a compliment to a lot of different people to get it to this point. And I don’t see it going backwards too much either.”