Rick Barnes credits Tennessee for winning amid shooting issues

Rick Barnes’ team got their eighth win of the season on Wednesday night with an 84-49 victory over Eastern Kentucky. However, the margin doesn’t tell the story of Tennessee’s offensive struggles, especially early, in this game. The Volunteers just found a way to win it and that’s exactly what Barnes is looking for.

Barnes spoke about his player’s resolve during his postgame press conference last night. He says games like what they had against the Colonels force the good teams to get creative in finding new ways to be victorious.

“People (say) to me, ‘Man, if that team shoots the ball? They can beat anybody’. (Well), that’s 200 teams in the country. You’re making shots and you can beat anybody,” said Barnes. “It’s on the nights when you can’t make shots. Can you find a way to win a game? You play Kansas, you turn it over 24 times, you find a way to win the game. That’s part of basketball.”

“I wish we could make them all,” Barnes said. “We like to think that guys can make shots and this and that. But when the shots aren’t going in? You’ve got to find a way to play just in a game like this. This was a game where you don’t run offense. You’ve got to play it. And when you’re open? Shoot it.”

Tennessee did lead by 11 points at halftime. That’s incredibly impressive, though, considering they shot 23.5% from the field in the first half and 13.3% from deep. They found their shots in the second half but, in the end, it comes back to their defense for Barnes. Regardless of their success on the offensive end, Barnes says they have confidence in the fact that they can win if they defend, rebound, and come with an attitude.

“The first thing we talked about again was our defense,” said Barnes. “Are we rebounding the ball? We believe that if we can be tough, hard-nosed on the defensive end and rebound the ball on both ends that we’ll find a way…(In) the second half we certainly did that.”

Tennessee will need to find some level of consistency on the offensive end to compete at a high level the rest of the way and in the postseason. With that said, their Top-3 overall defense is going to give them a chance in every matchup they compete in. Being able to win, even when the offense isn’t there, is a sign of a quality team that can go win anywhere against anyone, which has been the Vol’s M.O. under Barnes.