Rick Barnes on Tennessee's win over UConn: 'Just a great win for the Lady Vols'
Rick Barnes on Thursday night had one eye on Oklahoma, No. 4 Tennessee’s opponent on Saturday in Norman, and one eye on the Lady Vols against UConn.
“Man, I tell you what, my wife was so excited,” Barnes said before practice Friday morning, referencing the 80-76 Tennessee win over the Huskies. “She was in another room from me because I was watching that and obviously watching what I need to do for this weekend.”
Zee Spearman led four Lady Vols in double-figures, scoring 16 points and grabbing seven rebounds to lead Tennessee to its first win over UConn since 2007.
Samara Spencer had 14 points, Talaysia Cooper had 11 points, eight rebounds and four assists and Jewel Spear had 12 points and four boards.
Rick Barnes: ‘Just a great win over obviously a great program’
“It’s so exciting,” Barnes said, “because they’ve been so close in some of those games. And (it’s) just a great win over obviously a great program.”
Tennessee had lost four straight to UConn after the rivalry was renewed in January 2020, played for the first time since 2007. UConn won 60-45 at home in 2020, 67-61 in Knoxville in 2021, 75-56 at home in 2022 and 84-67 in Knoxville two years ago.
“The rivalry there with UConn and Tennessee has been special,” Barnes said, “but to keep it going you need to win, and I think they had beaten us four times in a row. But just a great win for the Lady Vols and for us.”
Kim Caldwell in her first season as Tennessee’s head coach has the Lady Vols at 17-5 and ranked No. 19.
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On Thursday Tennessee out-rebounded UConn 46-34, scored 42 points in the paint and had 12 second-chance points off of 17 offensive rebounds. The Lady Vols shot 45.7% from the floor and made seven 3-pointers.
“We played really hard,” Caldwell said after the win. “So proud of our group. That’s a really good team and we needed to outwork them.”
Up Next: No. 4 Tennessee at Oklahoma, Saturday, Noon ET, ESPN
Before knocking off UConn, Tennessee had lost by one point to No. 9 Oklahoma at Food City Center on January 5, lost 89-87 at No. 6 LSU days later and lost 70-63 at home against No. 2 South Carolina last week.
“That’s a level of play I knew we could achieve,” Caldwell said, “we just had failed to achieve it.”
Barnes loved the outcome, but he loved what Caldwell said in her on-court interview with ESPN after the win.
“Really happy for her,” he said. “And I loved her comment at the end of the game that she just wanted to get home and see her baby boy.”
A little over two weeks ago, Caldwell and her husband Justin, the player development coordinator for the Tennessee men’s basketball program, welcomed their first child, Conor Scott Caldwell.
“I’m sure that was a special way to cap off a great win for her,” Barnes said.
