Tennessee has to get its defense under control in the NCAA Tournament, before it's too late

Rick Barnes earlier this week laid out the concern that every college basketball coach, himself included, fears this time of year: A team going cold at the worst time possible. Shots not falling in March, when it’s win or go home.

“I really think if you ask every coach,” Barnes said on Wednesday, “honestly, they’d say make shots. Make shots.” 

Little did he know that No. 5 Tennessee (24-8) only two days later would go to Bridgestone Arena in Nashville and shoot a season-low 30.6% from the field in the 73-56 loss to Mississippi State in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals.

The Vols went just 8-for-33 from the 3-point line, shooting the second-lowest percentage of the season from three at 24.2, and trailed by as many as 23 points in the second half. 

It was a chilling reminder of what happens when shots don’t drop. And a wake-up call for what Tennessee has to get back to on the defensive end.

‘I feel like defense, that’s how you’re going to lose games’

After Kentucky shot 45.8% from the field and made 15 of 29 3-point shots in the 85-81 win to spoil Tennessee’s Senior Day at Thompson-Boling Arena last Saturday, the Vols got worked inside by Mississippi State.

The Bulldogs shot 47.6% from the field, scored 42 points in the paint and went 22-for-37 on 2-point attempts.

Tennessee showed all season this is a different team on the offensive end. Dalton Knecht is one of the best scorers in college basketball, leading an offense that ranks 28th nationally in KenPom.com‘s adjusted offensive efficiency and scored 80 or more points 18 times during the regular season, after doing so just 19 times the last two years.

The improved offense didn’t mean a drop in defense, though. Tennessee is ranked No. 3 in adjusted defensive efficiency after finishing No. 1 last season and No. 3 in 2021-22. 

But the Vols didn’t look the part on that end against Kentucky or Mississippi State.

“I feel like defense,” junior guard Jahmai Mashack said, “that’s how you’re going to lose games. You can control defense, you can always control defense.

“ …. With us,” Mashack added, “we’ve just got to settle down and play good defense. I think that will get us in transition, get us some easy looks. We’re a good team when we’re out and running.”

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Shots not falling can’t stop Tennessee’s defense from living up to its reputation. The offense can’t affect the defense like it did Friday afternoon.

“It shouldn’t at all,” Mashack said. “It shouldn’t. Defense is the one thing that you can control. You can control defense. You can control rebounding. If you can control those two things, whether your shots are falling or not, you’re getting stops on the other end. You’re going to make layups, wide-open layups. That’s what you get in transition.”

Barnes said after the Mississippi State loss that Tennessee’s one-on-one defense wasn’t where it needed to be. And added that the Bulldogs weren’t the first team that tried to drive straight at the Vols. 

“We just got really spaced out,” Barnes said. “Why? I can’t tell you. We harped on it so much. Every loss we’ve had this year, that’s been the case, where we have gotten away from our defensive principles and allowed teams to do what they wanted to do. We didn’t have an answer for it.”

Now Tennessee has to find an answer, whether shots are falling or not, before it’s too late.

“I think it got to our heads,” Mashack said. “That can’t happen in basketball, man. You can’t be perfect. But defense, you can do whatever you can to stop them from scoring the ball.”