What Rick Barnes said about No. 4 Tennessee's game at Oklahoma on Saturday

What head coach Rick Barnes said before practice Friday morning at Food City Center, previewing No. 4 Tennessee (19-4, 6-4 SEC) at Oklahoma (16-6, 3-6) on Saturday (Noon Eastern Time, ESPN) at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman:

His reaction to the Tennessee Lady Vols beating UConn Thursday night

“Man, I tell you what, my wife was so excited. She was in another room for me because I was watching that and obviously watching what I need to do for this weekend and she kept calling me. She said, what’s going on here? And I’m like, when you come in here, we can talk about it. But it’s so exciting because they’ve been so close in some of those games, and just a great win over obviously a great program. And the rivalry there with UConn and Tennessee has been special. 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. And really happy for her. And I loved her comment at the end of the game that she just wanted to get home and see her baby boy. So I’m sure that was a special way to cap off a great win for her.”

What stands out about Oklahoma

“Well again, a lot of respect for Porter Moser. When he was at Loyola, they knocked us out of the NCAA Tournament. But I’ve known Porter and certainly about him and he’s done a great job everywhere he has been. And you go back, I mean, out of nowhere early in the year they go to Battle of Atlantis, against a great field there, come out as champions of that tournament. And we all know once you get into this league every night, it can be just a different battle. But his teams, they guard, they do some different things. They’ll show you some pressure in the back court, change their ball screen coverage at times. But they work hard. I’m sure they’ll play personnel like everyone does. But just a lot of respect for him and his team and again, for this league. I mean, they’re like us. Every time you turn around you’re playing against a ranked team and they’ve been right there all year with everybody. And no doubt in my mind they’re as competitive as anybody that we will play this year.” 

Jahmai Mashack’s lack of second half minutes against Missouri

“Just the fact that I thought that the group got going, you know, they got going and Jordan kept the floor spread and that’s what was working, that’s what we stayed with.”

What they need to do to get off to better starts offensively

“Well I told our guys, I mean, I thought we’ve done a good job, you know, following our game plan from a defensive standpoint. But all that we talked about from an offensive standpoint, game plan, we didn’t do any of it. It was there for us, but we didn’t, for whatever reason. And again, when it doesn’t work you can look at your opponent knowing that they might have something to do with it or have a lot to do with it. But the fact that we looked at it at halftime, it was there, we just didn’t take advantage of it. And if we would have, they would’ve adjusted obviously. But I think it’s the focus in terms of on both ends being ready. And we talked about where we wanted certain guys after missed baskets and we didn’t get them there. And second half we were much more together in terms of execution.”

Oklahoma’s Jeremiah Fears

“Well he has good size, sees the floor well. And, again, I look at the coaching staff and they’ve done a really good job putting him in  positions he needs to be in to be effective.”

The key for Igor Milicic to find consistency

“Just focus. I think it’s understanding he plays with a, obviously, I think a high motor. But I think that what it gets about is can you focus for the two and a half, three hours you’re out there. But I think it starts long before that. I think it started way back in the summer and I talked about that with our team yesterday. Being at a high level is really hard to do. Very few people can do it. That’s why there’s very few guys that have long outstanding careers at the highest level. You know, you can talk about— I think most coaches will say they like to have a guy with a high motor, which to me translates to a competitive spirit. But to do that at the highest level is really, really, really hard. And it’s something that has to be worked on every day. Every time you go out on a practice court, you got to be able to say I got to go right now. I’m gonna win it or lose it right here. And it’s a habit that you try to form, which is really hard to form. And then when the lights come on, you’ve got to be ready to go knowing that the guy on the other side wants it just as badly as you do. And let’s see whose habits went out right now?”

Four of Tennessee’s next five games being on the road

“Yeah, I don’t think about it. I just think about the next one. I couldn’t even tell you who four of the five are. I wouldn’t have known the next one except I just did a TV show with Bob (Kesling) and he told me, and I said, ‘we can talk about what you wanna talk about, but our mindset has to be on Oklahoma right now.’ And that’s how you approach it.”

If Igor Milicic’s play in his last two games has taken pressure off Tennessee fifth-year guard Chaz Lanier

“I think when Igor plays well, it takes pressure off everybody. I don’t think it’s just him. I think that’s why we need consistency outta (Darlinstone Dubar). We need that from him. We need to know what we’re gonna get there ’cause Igor, hopefully can continue to build and (do) what he does, but we need D-Stone to do what we know he’s capable of consistently. Those guys, and Cade (Phillips), and really Felix (Okpara), I think when they’re playing well, doing what we need them to do, I think it takes pressure off all the perimeter players.”

What changes when Zakai Zeigler is playing off the ball and Jordan Gainey is running point guard

“Well I think Zakai, that was what he naturally was when he got here. I thought Zakai was — I knew he was good during the game — but after watching the game, I thought he played one of his best games of the year in terms of managing the game for us and getting us settled in and doing what we needed to do. Now he was one of those guys at the start of the game I thought was locked in, but waiting to do what he needed to do. But his teammates weren’t doing what they needed to do. But I thought he stayed poised and confident. When we really got going, he made some just terrific passes, but really controlled the flow for us. 

“We like him off the ball because we think that those inside-out threes for him are when he’s really at his best, where he can shoot it or drive the ball from the triple-threat position.”

What he remembers most about Tennessee’s loss in the NCAA Tournament to Loyola Chicago, who was coached by current Oklahoma coach Porter Moser

“An uncontested shot at the elbow by Jordan Bone. That’s what I remember. You know, they got the elbow jumper, we didn’t contest it.”

His favorite Tennessee Lady Vols player of all time

“Candace Parker. I mean, she and I were at the John Wooden Award (banquet) back when she won it. We were at the head table and it was a four-hour banquet and she was sitting beside me, and we hadn’t known each other, and just outta the blue, I started playing hangman with her. We started doing the box game and we literally did that for four hours, you know, and I think I won most of it.”