Rick Barnes on Tennessee's struggling offense: 'We've got to continue to take our shots'

There was no comfort of home for No. 2 Tennessee at Thompson-Boling Arena. After going 19-for-68 from the field in the 67-54 road loss at Florida on Wednesday, the Vols came back to Knoxville and missed their first seven shots Saturday afternoon as No. 25 Auburn jumped out to an 8-0 lead.

Of the first 17 shots taken against Bruce Pearl’s Tigers, 15 missed.

But Rick Barnes issued a reminder to his team Friday, coming off the dismal 27.9-percent shooting performance at Florida. Tennessee is good enough — elite enough on the defensive end and tough enough on the glass — to win games when shots aren’t falling.

“We said hey, if we will just play great defense and rebound the ball on both ends, we’ll give ourself a chance,” Barnes said. “(We) reminded them that we beat Maryland and shot 29 percent.”

That was in December in Brooklyn, a 56-53 win.

Now Barnes has a new stat he can reference. The Vols shot 27.0 percent on Saturday but still found a way to beat Auburn 46-43, holding the Tigers to just 23.6 percent shooting.

“Thought we had some good looks at the basket,” Barnes said after his tea went 17-for-63 from the floor and just 2-for 21 from the 3-point line. “Sometimes they go in, sometimes they don’t.”

Lately it’s only been the latter. Tennessee’s offense — inconsistent at best this season and now down to 60th in KenPom.com‘s adjusted offensive efficiency rating — has been ice cold for two straight games. 

“We’ve got to continue to take our shots,” Barnes said. “Whether they’re going in or not. Trust our court balance. Trust the fact that we’ve got guys that are going to make the effort to go try and rebound it. But we’ve got to take open shots.”

Vols dropped to 64th in KenPom offensive efficiency ratings after win over Auburn

Tennessee can’t turn down open shots, which has been a problem. Sometimes passing up a good look for a great one turns into a turnover later in the possession.

The Vols have to score more consistently in the post, too, with opposing teams focusing on taking away the 3-point line. A defense that doesn’t collapse on the post doesn’t leave any kick-out opportunities on the arc.

“It is February,” Barnes said. “You look around the country. There’s a lot of teams that struggle this time of year, especially in conference play because you know each other so well. Baskets are hard to come by. 

“I am sure Bruce will look at his tape and think we got the shots we wanted and didn’t make it. We will certainly do the same thing. It is a players’ game. Always has been and always will be. We’ve just got to try to continue on the things we’ve to to improve on.”

Josiah-Jordan James led Tennessee with 15 points and 14 rebounds Saturday, going 5-for-11 from the field. Olivier Nkamhoua had nine points, but needed 16 shots to get there. Santiago Vescovi finished with seven points on 2-for-7 shooting, scoring four points on one possession with 2:33 left, hitting a three and getting fouled to build Tennessee’s lead to eight points. 

Auburn had the deficit down to three on its last possession, but the Vols forced a long 3-point attempt from Wendell Green Jr. in the final seconds. 

“We have a lot of confidence in our defense,” Vescovi said, “even if we’re not making shots. That’s something coach says all the time. We’re confident that if we play defense and rebound the ball that’s where our main focus is. We’re going to be able to create enough points to win a game.”

There’s reason to be confident on that end of the floor. Tennessee’s defense has been ranked No. 1 in the KenPom efficiency ratings for 10 straight weeks. 

But the Vols trailed by 13 in the first half at Florida Wednesday, after the Gators went on a 15-0 run early in the game. Tennessee rallied to lead by six midway through the second half, only to see Florida rip off another 13-0 run to retake the lead for good. 

The defensive rebound prevented Auburn any such luxury on Saturday.

“I think a game like that shows a lot of character,” James said, “how you respond when you’re not making shots. I feel like we responded really well on the defensive end unlike what we did against Florida when shots weren’t falling.”

Lesson No. 1: You should never be out of a game with the No. 1 defense. 

“We think we are the best defensive team in the country,” James said. “Whether we are scoring or not, we always have to be able to rely on our defense. On Wednesday when we played (Florida), we weren’t that team. 

“We sat down in the film room. We had to look ourselves in the mirror individually and collectively as a team and learn from our mistakes. I feel like we did.”

Up Next: No. 2 Tennessee at Vanderbilt, Wednesday, 7 p.m. ET, SEC Network

Now the Vols just have to make shots. Barnes had another stat for that, too.

“The shots that we took (at Florida), we make 70 percent of the time,” he said. “I think you guys would agree. I think our players would agree. We had some shots tonight we need to make.”

Vescovi said his team has to just keep thinking about the next shot.

“As a shooter, you just have to have a short term memory,” he said. “You can’t be thinking about all the shots that you missed or if you went 0-for-5, 0-for-6 or whatever you went for. You just can’t be thinking about that. You’ve got to think about the next shot and think it’s going to go in because if not you’re going to get in a hole. 

“I had that conversation with a couple of our guys. You just can’t be thinking back to that. You just have to think about the next shot and if you’re open you have to take it. We all expect you to take it. They all expect me to take it so that’s what we have to do every time we’re open.”