Rick Barnes discusses halftime thoughts against Kentucky

Rick Barnes and Tennessee took a 33-22 lead into the locker room at halftime against Kentucky in the SEC Semifinals. The Volunteers jumped ahead early in one of the weekend’s most anticipated matchups behind nine points from Kennedy Chandler and eight points from Josiah-Jordan James.

The Volunteers also benefitted from early foul trouble for Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe, which head coach Rick Barnes touched on among other things during a halftime interview with ESPN’s Marty Smith.

“I do think we were playing hard,” said Barnes. “They went to that hard dribble-drive game – we knew they would do that – and some ball-screen action. I would’ve liked to see us push it out a bit more with Tschiebwe on the bench, but obviously they turned their defense up too. They really made it hard.

“We’re starting to get down hill a little bit more. But a long way to go.”

The winner of Saturday’s second semifinal will face Texas A&M, who knocked off Arkansas one day after upsetting Auburn in the SEC Tournament, in the SEC Championship on Sunday. The Aggies continue fighting for their spot in the NCAA Tournament and can seal the deal with an automatic bid tomorrow.

Both teams playing also having NCAA Tournament seeding implications on the line over the next two days. Kentucky could climb to the 1-seed line or Tennessee could climb to the 2-seed line with a win today and tomorrow.

Rick Barnes explains Kennedy Chandler injury

When Tennessee guard Kennedy Chandler went down with an injury in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament on Friday, head coach Rick Barnes gave him a choice.

“It was up to (Chandler). I said to him, ‘How do you feel?’” Barnes said, after Tennessee ran away with a 72-59 win over Mississippi State. “He said, I’m fine. We have to trust him on that.

“In Kennedy’s situation, I said to him, ‘If I see you limping, you’re coming out of the game.’ (Chandler) said, ‘I’m not limping,’” Barnes added.

Barnes consulted with the training staff, which ultimately decided the injury was minor; minor enough that Barnes could give Chandler the option to return to play, if he felt up to the task. He did, and despite leaving two more times, Barnes remained confident that Chandler will be back to his normal self on Saturday.

Chandler appeared to play a normal role with the team throughout the first half of Saturday’s game.