Rick Barnes explains why he was confident entering Alabama game

Tennessee picked up a huge win this week, toppling No. 1 Alabama at home on Wednesday. And despite entering the game on a two-game skid, head coach Rick Barnes was always confident in the way his team was playing.

Barnes was confident in large part because he didn’t think his team really played that poorly in the two losses — by a point each — particularly the loss to Missouri on a buzzer-beating heave. It was just a matter of defending at a high level and stacking enough points to outpace their opponent.

“But just really proud of an incredible defensive effort. And offensively, we found a way. Weren’t great there by any stretch of the imagination, but we had the same idea. We’ll play defense, rebound, and we’ll find a way to, hopefully, score enough points,” Barnes said.

Barnes also reflected on the pair of one-point losses leading in to Wednesday’s win, and how he was ultimately proud of the way his team played despite the outcome.

With a stretch run of the schedule that features any number of talented teams playing for their NCAA Tournament future or seed — Arkansas, Kentucky, Auburn, Texas A&M — Barnes knows Tennessee needs to keep it cranked up. Plus, a win against the No. 1 team in the country is always a nice addition to any NCAA Tournament resume.

“But you know what, I thought about it, I was extremely proud of the effort. We’ll continue to do that, we’ll find a way. And I said, ‘Hey, it’s about us. And as long we’ll stay together.’ But it was just incredible effort and the way that they fought and the way they did tonight is really what we’re going to have to do from here on out. Because you look at our schedule, it’s pretty backloaded heavy,” Barnes said.