Vols enter postseason knowing they can win games on either end of the floor

Rick Barnes went back to last March on Monday night. During his weekly appearance on The Vol Network’s Vol Calls, he said what was obvious of last season’s Tennessee basketball team. The Vols struggled to score.

“It was well documented,” Barnes said. 

The Vols made a run to the Sweet Sixteen after winning what Barnes described as “a grinder” in the NCAA Tournament’s first round against Louisiana. Olivier Nkamhoua went off against Duke in the second round, scoring 27 points to carry the Vols to a 65-52 win.

“We strictly won games last year on our defense,” Barnes said, “and we just hoped one guy would step up and play great offensively and find a way to grind through it.”

“But it was still our defense that won those games,” Barnes added. 

This year, though? The dynamics are different, as Barnes put it. Tennessee went to the NCAA Transfer Portal to get Dalton Knecht, who quickly morphed into the SEC Player of the Year and the best scorer in college basketball, averaging 21.4 points per game during the regular season on 47.4% shooting from the field and 40.5% from the 3-point line.

The Vols added shooting guard Jordan Gainey, too, who has given them 7.1 points per game off the bench. Junior center Jonas Aidoo’s production has more than doubled, averaging 12.1 points per game after averaging 5.1 last season. Point guard Zakai Zeigler is averaging a career-high 11.6 points per game, a year removed from tearing his ACL in the final home game last season.

“A year ago this time we didn’t have Zakai,” Barnes said. “We didn’t have Dalton Knecht and didn’t have Jordan Gainey.”

That’s why Barnes might be sleeping better this March. 

Vols enter postseason ranked 25th in KenPom adjusted offensive efficiency

Tennessee, which had KenPom.com‘s top-ranked defense in adjusted efficiency last season, was ranked just 64th in adjusted offensive efficiency. The Vols are currently ranked No. 3 in defensive efficiency entering the postseason and ranked 25th on offense, after climbing as high as No. 10 earlier this season. 

“I think if you ask every coach before a game,” Barnes said on Wednesday, “if there’s one thing you’d like, you say, ‘Hey, what would you like to see done today?’ I really think if you ask every coach, honestly, they’d say make shots. Make shots.” 

“Because there’s a lot of things as coaches you think you can control through time with your players, but the one thing you can’t control is the fact that we can’t make the ball go in the basket,” Barnes continued.

“And you know your players want to make them. I’ve seen some of the very best of the best struggle, as we’ve seen with this team and teams in the past.”

Up Next: SEC Tournament, Friday, 1 p.m. ET, ESPN

The offensive struggles haven’t stuck around long this season. Tennessee has scored 80 or more points 19 times in 31 games, after doing so just 18 times in 71 games over the last two season. 

The Vols are averaging 80.2 points per game this season after averaging 70.8 a year ago and 73.5 in 2021-22. 

“I think we’ve got multiple guys who I think if they play to their ability, they’ve got a chance to make shots,” Barnes said. “But one of the tough feelings … is when you know you’re going to struggle to score. It’s tough knowing, can we defend well enough? Can we find a way to score enough points to win the game?”

Tennessee has won different kind of games this season. Like the 103-92 win at Kentucky that featured nonstop offense in February. Or the 66-59 slug fest at South Carolina last week to clinch the SEC regular-season championship.

The Vols go into the postseason this time around knowing they can win games on either end of the floor.

“We do want to play fast ourselves,” Barnes said, “but when we are playing against teams that are wanting to slow us down, I think that we can settle in and play that way. 

“And because of our versatility we have with our team and we’ve got, we got a multitude of ways we can play this team (in) different lineups, so whatever comes our way, I think we have a chance to adapt it.”