What went wrong for Tennessee in final four minutes in the loss at Kentucky

Tennessee had erased the nine-point deficit in the second half Tuesday night against Kentucky when Cade Phillips made two free throws with 8:20 left, tying the game at 54-54.

Jordan Gainey gave the Vols the lead 50 seconds later — their first lead since 9-8 in the first half — on a layup. A minute later it was Zakai Zeigler with his own layup to make it a 58-55 lead, Tennessee’s biggest of the game. 

From there, though, the Vols missed seven of its final nine shots while Kentucky went on a 12-2 run to take the game over for good, closing with 17 of the game’s final 21 points in the 75-64 win at Rupp Arena. 

“Way, way, way too many defensive breakdowns on our part,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said during his postgame press conference. “Give Kentucky credit, they did it, but we had way too many defensive breakdowns on things that you can’t do there at the end of the game. 

“And then I thought offensively we had a few guys that got too emotional, didn’t make really good decisions on the offensive end.” 

‘We were right where we needed to be and didn’t make enough winning plays’

Tennessee (20-5, 7-5 SEC) missed its final four shots from the field, and five of its final six, after Zeigler scored with 2:32 left to put the Vols up 60-58.

Kentucky (17-6, 6-5) got a go-ahead 3-pointer from Koby Brea on the other end, then quickly forced a Tennessee turnover. Brea’s three was the second in a run of five straight made shots for the Wildcats over the final six minutes. 

“We were right where we needed to be,” Barnes said, “and didn’t make enough winning plays on either end of the court.”

Barnes didn’t name names during his postgame press conference, but twice referenced Tennessee players being too “emotional” offensively when the game was on the line in the closing minutes.

“Some of it is some of these guys haven’t been in situations like this,” Barnes said, “a little bit of it. But by now, with as many games as we’ve played, I don’t buy that to be honest with you. 

“I think it goes back to individual guys. We know our guys and we know we got some guys that are pretty cool, calm. Some guys we know get a little bit too emotional and kind of zone out at the wrong times.”

Up Next: No. 5 Tennessee vs. Vanderbilt, Saturday, 1 p.m. ET, SEC Network

Igor Milcic Jr. scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half, but all 13 were scored in the first 10 minutes, 46 seconds after halftime. After making a three to pull Tennessee within two with 9:14 left, he sat for nearly five minutes, then missed his only other shot, another three with 1:45 left and the Vols trailing 65-62.

Milicic was 3-for-4 from the 3-point line while his teammates combined to go 0-15. 

Chaz Lanier scored 10 points but went 0-for-7 from the 3-point line, including three misses in the final minute. Zeigler was 0-for-2 and Gainey was 0-for-4. 

Barnes said the emotional problem is a mental one. And one the Vols have to solve, especially on the road.

“I think every team I’ve coached, there’s been different personalities like that,” Barnes said, “but it can’t happen at that time. I can only tell you that. I mean, when you work hard enough to get yourself in position to win on the road against anybody in this league, the mental part of it, you’ve got to take care of it. And that’s on both the offensive end and the defensive end. 

“The breakdowns that we had in the last 10 points they scored, it can’t (happen). I mean, they made a couple shots, but it was our execution, really.”