Rick Barnes evaluates Tennessee's explosive offensive output against Kentucky

Tennessee had their way in Lexington this weekend as they scored their most points in over three years with 103. While much of that can be attributed to the Vols’ offensive success against Kentucky’s significant woes on that end, Rick Barnes thinks a lot of it came down to the pace of play.

Barnes spoke about his team’s success on offense during his postgame press conference following the 103-92 win over the Wildcats on Saturday. With the style that both teams run with, he knew it was going to be a fast game with plenty of opportunities. They took advantage of those extra possessions too en route to cracking the century mark inside Rupp Arena.

“It goes back to this is a high-possession game,” explained Barnes. “Kentucky? They’re lethal when they get out and run. They get down the floor, they really attack. I’m really kind of surprised when I was on the pregame radio show and Bob (Kesling) asked me about their speed. I said let’s talk about our speed. We play fast. That’s what we talk about. We play fast.”

“I knew it was going to be a high-possession game. I knew that. There was no question,” Barnes continued. “It goes back where I’ve said it many times that each game takes on its own personality. The last two games that we played with Vanderbilt and South Carolina were more of a lower-possession game. But we knew, coming in here, that it would be up and down, a lot of shots.”

Tennessee and Kentucky combined to take 143 field-goal attempts on the night in the Top-10 matchup. In comparison, the Volunteers’ last two games, which Barnes referenced, featured 113 total shots in the game with the Commodores and 114 shots in their contest with the Gamecocks. Those 25-plus shots led to the 60 or so extra points that they saw in this game compared to the previous two.

Both teams shot it well too as each finished about 48% from the field and 40% from three. The game also saw eight players, all five starters for the orange and three in blue, score double figures, including four total with 21 points or more.

Tennessee did a few extra things, though, to add even more possessions to their total. They got six steals as part of UK’s nine turnovers and grabbed 18 offensive boards for 22 second chance points. The Vols also made seven more at the charity stripe off of seven more attempts in the end.

Tennessee’s offense earned and Kentucky’s defense allowed that season-high of 103 points. Still, to Barnes, the tempo that they played at all game had as much to do with the explosion as anything else.

“That’s the reason. It really is,” said Barnes. “There’s just so many possessions in this game compared to the last two.”