Rick Barnes hammers ‘ridiculous’ defensive mistakes from veterans vs. Vanderbilt

Rick Barnes didn’t mince words about No. 6 Tennessee‘s costly defensive lapses in Saturday’s 76-75 upset loss vs. unranked Vanderbilt inside Nashville’s Memorial Gymnasium.

Especially when the culprits of those lapses are two of the Volunteers’ most veteran players.

Most egregious among those, from Barnes’ perspective, were a pair of first-half fouls on 3-pointers, the last coming with 3 seconds left before halftime when Tennessee senior guard Jahmal Mashack crashed into Vanderbilt’s Tyler Nickel to turn a 3 into a four-point play to go into the break trailing 41-35.

And in a contest that was ultimately decided by a single point in which the the ‘Dores (15-3, 3-2 SEC) didn’t score over the game’s final 3:47, Nickel’s free throw was effectively the difference in the game.

That Mashack foul followed an even more “ridiculous” 3-point foul by fellow senior guard Zakai Zeigler on Vanderbilt sharpshooter Jason Edwards, who made all three free throws, that sent the Vols’ leader to the bench over the final 7:10 of the first half with two fouls.

Rick Barnes: ‘We can’t foul 3-point shooters … we can’t do that’

“We could’ve stayed right there with them, but it was just a simple defensive play that we didn’t handle. There’s just no reason for it. And there’s never a reason to foul a 3 (pointer),” Barnes said during Saturday’s postgame press conference. “I thought Zakai’s 3-point foul was ridiculous, that he’d put himself in that situation. He fouled. He can’t do that.

“You’re talking about two seniors, and I love them to death, but we can’t foul 3-point shooters. And we’ve done it too much this year, and again today we did it. And those four points were huge. We can’t do that.”

Edwards led all scorers with 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting while Nickel added 13 as the Commordores tandem combined to shoot 7-of-13 from 3-point range in the game. Meanwhile, Chaz Lanier led Tennessee with 17 points, while Felix Okpara, Igor Milicic Jr. and Zeigler each added 16 points apiece.

It was Vanderbilt’s first win over a ranked opponent since the 2022-23 season, when the Commodores knocked off No. 23 Kentucky, 80-73, on March 23, 2023.

It was also the second time this season the defensive-minded Volunteers (16-2, 3-2 SEC) allowed more than 70 points, both ending in losses. Tennessee also lost to then-No. 8 Florida, 73-43, on Jan. 7.

The Vols return home for a Top-15 matchup vs. No. 15 Mississippi State on Tuesday night from Knoxville, while Vanderbilt hits the road to play No. 4 Alabama that same night.