Rick Barnes discusses Tennessee's defensive capability to slow down Longwood

Rick Barnes is hoping for a deep NCAA Tournament run for Tennessee. It all starts with the No. 14 seed Longwood Lancers on Thursday afternoon.

Prior to the opening game of the tournament for the Volunteers, Barnes discussed Tennessee’s defensive capability to slow down Longwood.

“We’re going to be challenged at a high level,” stated Barnes. “They shoot the ball extremely well. Assist each other on their shots. They have good player movement. Do a really good job of offensive rebounding. Even though people would say they’re smaller, but they play much bigger with their speed and quickness.

“Defensively they do a really good job with their gap defense and blocking out there. For us, we will have to have really good offense. And on the other end, we’ve got to get back and get our defense set.”

It’d be a huge letdown for the SEC Tournament victors to be bounced in their first opportunity during the NCAA Tournament. Rick Barnes and the Volunteers will attempt to avoid disaster come tip-off on Thursday.

Rick Barnes explains the difficult aspect of NCAA tournament play

Fresh of an SEC Tournament championship, head coach Rick Barnes and the Tennessee Volunteers are preparing for an NCAA Tournament run. Controversially earning a three-seed, they will face off against the Longwood Lancers in the Round of 64 on Thursday afternoon,

Before the matchup, Barnes discussed some of the difficult aspects of playing in March Madness. He said not knowing your opponent as well as you do during conference play but thanks to the Volunteers’ run in the SEC Tournament, Barnes thinks his team will be prepared for the changing scouting reports.

“Longwood, I don’t know a lot about them right now but I do know they’re a guard-heavy team, experienced players,” Barnes said. “I know how hard it is to go through a league where you only lose one game and you win a championship. We also know how the transfer portal works too. So, every game is going to be a hard game. But the scouting report in all three games this past weekend were different. I think our guys have learned how to adapt quickly but we’ll get busy with it.”

Tennessee faced off against three different teams in three days while in Tampa Bay, playing South Carolina, Kentucky, and then Texas A&M. In the NCAA Tournament, they will have an extra day to prepare for the next round, if they were to advance, compared to back to back to back games in the conference.

Playing the winner of Colorado State and Michigan, Barnes will have his coaching staff already scouting the two opponents to prepare for a potential Saturday matchup.