Rick Barnes explains defensive game plan, difference in second half vs. Maryland

The No. 6 Tennessee basketball team ripped off its eighth straight win on Sunday in the Basketball Hall of Fame Invitational, holding on and fending off a furious rally in the second half vs. Maryland for a 56-53 win.

Volunteers coach Rick Barnes was absolutely thrilled with the team’s defense in the first half, when Tennessee built a 34-17 lead, but he knew a run was coming.

“Second half they didn’t do a lot different,” Barnes said. “They just started running really basically two sets, and we were not doing a very good job. Some of it was fatigue. We were fatigued but we were switching our coverage and we just weren’t as sharp as we needed to be.

“But you’ve got to give them credit. It was a good, hard-fought fight both ways. Kevin (Willard’s) done a great job with his team, and they got going downhill. They obviously shoot the ball better. At the start of the game I thought we had defended personnel the way we asked our players to do it.”

Maryland made only three field goal attempts in the first half, with only one coming from inside the 3-point line.

Things evened out a bit in the second half, when the Terrapins managed to shoot 50% (14-of-28 from the floor), but even then Maryland came up empty from 3-point range (0-for-8). It was enough for Tennessee to survive.

“We knew they would pressure us at some time,” Barnes said. “I thought Kevin waited until the end and when he needed it. I’m not sure we got out of rhythm with the press. It maybe looked frantic, but I thought our guys, for the most part, handled it pretty well.”

Tennessee finally got stops in second half vs. Maryland

The good news for the Volunteers is they escaped the game against the Terrapins with only a scare.

The win was still secured.

“At halftime, we talked about it,” Barnes said. “I don’t care who you play, they’re going to make a push in the second half. And we bogged down in the second half. Missed too many layps. We had some point-blank layups that we’ve got to make. Couple big shots.

“I thought obviously Jahmai Mashack‘s three was a big play for us, because we were teetering right there. Certainly Tyreke (Key‘s) three was a big play. Olivier (Nkamhoua‘s) in the last minute, we said, ‘Hey, we came in the game talking about defensive rebounding, we’ve got to leave the game talking about defensive rebounding.’ We were able to get; we had much better position. We were getting blown by. We were opening our hips up, just showing the rim to them. The last two possessions we didn’t do that, and then Olivier came up with a really big rebound down there. It was a big one.

With the win in the bag, Tennessee will look to take the lessons it can from the second half vs. Maryland and move forward.

“Again, it was a good, hard-fought game both ways,” Barnes said.

Tennessee will return to action on Friday night at No. 9 Arizona. That game will tip off at 10:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2.