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Rick Barnes shuts down questions about Tennessee's confidence during Missouri loss

Chandler Vesselsby:Chandler Vessels•03/11/23•

ChandlerVessels

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Bryan Lynn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Tennessee coach Rick Barnes isn’t concerned about his team’s confidence level heading into the NCAA Tournament. Following a 79-71 loss to Missouri in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals on Friday, Barnes was asked whether he was worried about his team’s trust in itself in the final minutes.

The game was tied at 69 with 2:11 remaining, but Tennessee made just one field goal from that point on. Missouri made back-to-back 3-pointers from Nick Honor and D’Moi Hodge, while the Volunteers missed a pair of triples in the final 30 seconds. Still, Barnes believes it was more about the little plays that cost his team the win and reaffirmed his belief in them going forward.

“I think they’ll learn from it,” he said. “Again, they stepped back and made a couple threes. Olivier, he had a great look at a three. Again, Olivier can shoot the ball. That shot goes in… Again, it’s the little small plays that add up, again, that we’ve got to eliminate. Teams can make some threes, but you can’t give up the little ones at the rim. You can’t give up dribble penetration.

“…Again, I think our guys are confident. I really do. I can only tell you, I’ve been around them, I know their body languages, and it was not a lack of confidence.”

The Volunteers led for most of the game, but ultimately let things get away from themselves in the final five minutes. Still, five different Tennessee players scored in double figures in the loss. However, their defense left much to be desired as it allowed the Tigers to shoot 30-of-57 (52.6%) from the floor, including 60% in the second half.

The Volunteers finished with a record of 23-10 (11-7 SEC) this season and is projected to be a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi. Although the early exit from the SEC Tournament was certainly disappointing, they’ll hope to enter March Madness with a new mindset.

Rick Barnes and Tennessee will find out their seed line and first round matchup at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday when the NCAA Tournament bracket is revealed on CBS.