Rick Barnes gives takeaways from film of Illinois win
After their closest game of the season so far, Rick Barnes has assessed how the Volunteers played this weekend in Champaign.
While speaking to the media on Monday, Barnes broke down what he saw on the tape from No. 1 Tennessee’s 66-64 win at Illinois on Saturday. If nothing else, he could tell just how intense the matchup was between the Vols and Fighting Illini.
“You know, I thought we really played really, really hard. I thought both teams did,” Barnes said. “I mean that was a real, high-level – I mean it was hard. Both teams played hard.”
“Both teams made plays and we just really had the ball at the end of the game in the last one. But both teams played hard,” said Barnes. “I mean, it’s obviously the hardest, the most physical game we’ve been in all year and it was a good one.”
That then led to a poor shooting night for both teams. Neither one of them shot better than 33% from the field that evening with Tennessee posting a percentage at 32.3% overall while Illinois was at 29.4%. The same applied to the three-point shooting at 25% and 17.4% respectively.
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“No wonder the shooting on both sides weren’t very good because there weren’t a lot of easy ones,” said Barnes. “I mean, just trying to get away and get some space to try to get into a rhythm of the shot.”
As for moments that stood out to him, Barnes noted a shot by Darlinstone Dubar in limited action to bring them back within four, a defensive play from Igor Milicic leading to a dunk that took the game, and obviously the game-winning layup at the buzzer by Jordan Gainey. All three came with them trailing or tied each came from players who have transferred to Rocky Top with two of them coming in this past offseason.
“But, really, I thought some key plays? I thought D-Stone’s little floater was a huge play in the game. That was a big one. Igor’s steal was a big one. Obviously, Jordan’s there at the end,” Barnes recalled
Tennessee survived on the road to remain undefeated this season at 10-0. They’ll now move on from this one to close non-conference play with three more games this month, including one tonight against Western Carolina.