What Rick Barnes said after No. 4 Tennessee's 75-65 win over South Carolina

Everything Rick Barnes said after No. 4 Tennessee beat South Carolina 75-65 on Senior Day Saturday afternoon at Food City Center:

How crucial it was for Chaz Lanier to score 16 points in a little over five minutes in the second half to help Tennessee win the game

“It was (crucial). I told the team coming in that you could bet that South Carolina — Lamont (Paris) does a great job. I told him before the game how much admiration I have for him, just based on when you go through losing key guys with injuries and being so close, so early in the early-season, losing some tough games at home. Just the way his guys just kept fighting. 

“We showed our team a lot of clips about them all throughout the year, how hard they kept playing and getting better. And they played really complementary basketball where they put you in a long possession on both offense and defense and make it a possession game. And they’ve been so good inside in their wins. We really fought hard there. 

“I thought by being so gap heavy and trying to take away the lane, I think the first half they took maybe what, 14 threes or something. That’s not what they probably prefer to do. But we knew they’d make some of those at some point. And we still bogged down a little bit on offense. But it was the kind of game I thought (it would be). But if we make our free throws, it gives us a chance to get away from them a little bit. And we didn’t. And that’s part of it. 

“But I told our guys, you can almost understand that this is really the start of postseason play, the kind of game you’re going to be in. They’re going to be real grind type games. And it’s a great opponent for us to play against because of how they play. And we’re going to see some different things now. We tonight saw someone that really plays a different style than a lot of teams in the league. And we knew it would be hard and it was.”

The emotions of senior day, seeing Zakai Zeigler and Jahmai Mashack for the last time in a Tennessee home game

“Well, one, I really can’t thank of our fanbase, Vol Nation for staying after the game. This is something, to be quite honest, I’ve always kind of wanted to do, because when you do (the senior day ceremony) before the game, it kind of throws everything out rhythm. And again, it’s emotional. It’s an emotional time for those guys. When you have poured every fiber of your being into this program, the way Zakai and Jahmai have done that. And then you think about Jordan (Gainey) these last two years coming in. And the modern day, (with) the transfer portal and coming in here and buying in the way this group did, it’s special. But it is stuff, because you want them to have the best day ever. 

You hope it’s like that. But it really pales on the court to what they have done for this program since they’ve been here, both Jahmai and Zakai, especially.

“Yesterday, Jahmai Mashack won the Torchbearer Award, which was a great thing. And Chancellor (Donde) Plowman came over and had a great celebration in the locker room before the game. As you know, that’s the highest award a student can get here. And she started talking about all the things he has done off the court, along with Zakai and those guys. 

“They came in and, I think Jahmai said ti yesterday, but Zakai would’ve said the same thing. Their biggest thing was they wanted to come in and make their family proud and wanted to make Vol Nation proud. And they did that. Watching how far they have both come, it’s emotional, because I know how hard I’ve been on both of them from a coach’s standpoint. But I think they understand it’s out of my love and respect for them. And knowing that what they’re going after is a hard thing to get to. But our goal is to make sure that when it’s all said and done here, they know how much we care about them, love them. And hope that they know that we didn’t leave anything in our tank, that we want to pour all out to them. Those two guys serving for the four years have lived up to our motto, It’s Not About Me INAM, as well as any two players that have ever come through the program.

Using a lineup of Jordan Gainey, Chaz Lanier, Jahmai Mashack, Igor Milicic and Cade Phillips in the second half and going on a run

“Well, I mean we were searching for a couple different things there. Obviously we knew that we had a game plan to really be tight in those gaps. And it took a little bit of our aggression, the way we normally extend and play out there. But with that group we said we’re going to get aggressive. We need to continue to run. Obviously it’s a good offensive lineup and I thought he executed well at that point in time. But it was obviously a pivotal part of the game to try to get some separation. They’re a hard team to separate.And again, we had some chances earlier if we had made some key free throws at the time. But that was an important stretch for us, obviously.”

On finishing top four in the SEC, how they’ll approach the SEC Tournament

“Well, again, I think it speaks volumes. I mean, we go back, I heard Gregg Polinsky say last night we lost three road games by a combined five points. And that’s how fine a line winning and losing is. And we did that early and put us in a tough position. Our goal, like every team that starts out to try to win the regular season championship, now you go to the tournament, it’s a whole different than you’ve going through a two-month-and-half grind of the regular season. Now you’re going to maybe try to redo it all in a week, a weekend. 

And so it’s tough, and everybody talks about do you go or put everything into it? This time of year, you got to put everything into it, every single game you play. I don’t care what anybody thinks and you can look at whatever. I mean, I’ve never coached a team that didn’t go on the floor wanting to win that game. But right now there’s a lot of teams fighting for their lives to try and get to the NCAA Tournament. We’re fighting to get better and that’s what’s on our agenda that we have got to continue to grow. And otherwise, right now we’ve got two games left if we don’t get better. And so right now it’s up to us as a program to see how long of a run in terms of games that we want to make here.”

What type of coach he thinks Tennessee senior walk-on Grant Hurst can be

“He’s a special guy and I’m not saying this one way or the other, but he reminds me of some of the young players I’ve been around that have gone on to be really successful in coaching. He’s involved in every game. You’ll hear him talking during the timeout. His teammates have such great respect for him. He’s been a big part, great basketball mind. He really sees the game in a really good way. He’s been able to talk to our team in times that I get really upset with him and he’s got calming way to go over and make sure that they understand, you know, listen to what he said as opposed to maybe the delivery. He’s great at that, but he’s gonna be a terrific coach because he’s a great people person. He loves the Lord, which I think is so important. He’s well-grounded. He’s gonna be a good one. There’s no doubt. He’s gonna be a good one.”

The importance of getting the double bye due to physical conference, quick turnaround to NCAA Tournament

“Well, I mean we know that it’s important right now because we still like every team, Collin Murray-Boyles was banged up a little bit, so everybody’s got some bang ups with their team we’ve got that we have dealt with like everybody all year and just one or two days make a huge difference in terms of just getting some guys a little bit of rest. And some of it won’t get better totally until the season is over with. But a day or two here does make a difference.”

What he was thinking when Zakai Zeigler picked him up while giving him a hug during the senior day ceremony

“That I should be picking him up, you know? Zakai is special. I just, again, I think about him, I go back to his first year here when he came in and remember we’re in the Sweet 16 game (Round of 32) I think we had he and Kennedy and Santi on the floor even at that point in time in the game. But I almost remember, he had had an incredible freshman year and hadn’t had a bad game all year and has played well. (I) Had never seen him show any emotion whatsoever, ever. And we were in Georgia and that was a day or so after, remember his house caught on fire in New York and when his mom walked into the game, he lost it. And played his first bad game I ever saw him play. But I’ve talked about in front of his teammates, if you really know his background and where he is, you can’t help but love him in more ways than you can imagine. Because what he has been able to do for his family, and that’s where the NIL has been a wonderful thing.

“He has done so much to make it easier and better for his family. It’s just gonna be different, because he’s been a guy that every day in practice, I knew what he was gonna do for us. He and Jahmai. That’s gonna be something that — coaches don’t want to coach effort. You’d like to think that every guy comes out there with a max effort, but the fact is they don’t. But we have two of ’em that pretty much did that for four years.

“And again, I can say this past year, Jordan (Gainey) took it to that level. I wish that Igor (Milicic Jr.) and D-Stone (Darlinstone Dubar) and Chaz (Lanier), we could have had just one more year with them because they’re such great kids, but it’s just a big jump from where they were here to here, but there’s no doubt, a little more time they would’ve fallen right into that group as well.”

How important Cade Phillips’ performance was against South Carolina heading into the SEC Tournament

“Well, it’s huge because he knows that I wasn’t real happy with his performance at Ole Miss. I didn’t think he was locked in, in a number of different areas and he knows how I felt. I let him know during the game, halftime, after the game, all of it. And he came back and got focused and I thought his minutes were key today, I thought they were key minutes. Obviously missed some free throws, but those were all big plays and his defense. We need him. He delivered for us today.”

How much a player’s mom crying during senior day festivities reflects how much that play has poured into the program

“Well, again, I’ve been so blessed and I’m so thankful. Obviously when you get to your last home game, I was spending some quiet time with the word today and thinking about how blessed I am and how thankful I should be for just having the opportunity to spend time in this game, but also these players. And even a better benefit is getting to know their families. And if you all knew the loyalty that Jahmai’s family have given to me and our staff, and Zakai’s. Obviously the Gainey’s didn’t have a choice, you know? But the fact is, those two families have been as loyal to us as any two families I’ve ever been around. In an era when it’s easy to say, ‘hey, we’re gonna go try something else.’ They never wavered with that. They wanted to be here. And I can’t tell you again how proud we are as a program that Jahmai Mashack got the Torchbearer Award. That’s an incredible accomplishment for anybody, but for it to come from our program, represent us.

“And I mentioned out there, one of the greatest compliments that I’ve gotten this year was, we were leaving an opposing arena. And the last thing I say to Mary-Carter (Eggert) when I leave the building, ‘have we taken care of the locker room?’ Because we pride ourselves for making the way we walked into the locker room better. And when I was walking out, I said it to Mary-Carter, and I heard the person that was waiting to go in, he said, ‘coach, you guys always leave it great.’ No one’s ever said that to me. And it goes back to our support staff, our managers, everyone (in) the program that we want to represent the University of Tennessee in a first class way. But I think that comment speaks highly of our program and the support people that no one knows about.

“But again, going back to Jahmai and Z, it is emotional. You know, I got emotional with ’em because I know how hard I’ve been on them and I know there’s days they walk out of this building, probably don’t want to see me again. But they never showed that side. I know how they had to feel because I was tough on them. But I love ’em. And I also know this, when they went back and they called their parents, their parents had my back, too, which I appreciate.”

How much he’s looking forward to the SEC Tournament being at a neutral-site given how touch it has been to play on the road in the SEC this season

“Well, I hope it’s not a neutral-site. I hope Nashville is all Volunteers when we’re there. Again, I want to thank our fan base for today. I didn’t know how it would turn out going into the game. Our fan base showed their support again. It was just really unbelievable. But I shouldn’t be surprised because we’ve got the best fan base in the country.

“You get to tournament play, you hope that — we expect our fans to be with us and we want to play and certainly we don’t want to disappoint.”