Rick Barnes opens up on Tennessee winning games in multiple ways

Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes was pretty satisfied to see his team win in different ways on both ends of the floor.

In the Volunteers’ 91-71 win over Alabama, Barnes’ crew did just that. In order to go far in the postseason in March, Tennessee will have to play in a variety of ways.

That could be winning ugly, fluidly, etc. Whatever works right?

“You’re going have to be able to do that, (win in) different ways,” Barnes said postgame. “Different teams are going to do different (things), but we went through that some in the preseason. And again, I go back to our preseason, non-league schedule, a lot of thought went into it.

“Coach Polinksy did a great job getting us different styles, knowing that we were going to play against some teams that would try to put us in long offensive possessions and shorten the game. So, yeah, you do have to do that. You got to be able to play differently.”

Barnes noted how big Jordan Gainey was in Tennessee’s win over a conference foe.

“And make no bones about it, Jordan Gainey was a huge factor in the game,” Barnes said. “A huge factor. I mean, we knew it was just a matter of time.  I mean, he came in went, what, 4-for-7 from 3, perfect at the line. Took care of the ball, really. And defensively, he’s working at it really hard. But that’s something that we’ve watched him practice.

“And I do think he went through a couple games there where obviously he was pressing and we kept on him to shoot it and because we watched him in practice every day.” 

That’s where Barnes mentioned how Gainey’s performance Saturday was teased in an earlier game in conference play.

“But he actually, the other night against Florida, I thought he looked really comfortable and he’s had a couple that went in and out and we just felt, again, from the coaching staff, and I think his teammates told it too, if he could just get one to go down, it would open up for him and for us,” Barnes said. “Of course it came today because he was definitely a major factor in the game.”

Tennessee improved to 14-4 with the win over Alabama and Barnes’ crew kept pace with the top five teams in the country. If the Volunteers can keep winning like that, perhaps this team is a national title contender after all.