Tennessee 80 Kansas 61 Jan. 30, 2021 | Thompson-Boling Arena | Knoxville, Tenn
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Tennessee 80 Kansas 61 Jan. 30, 2021 | Thompson-Boling Arena | Knoxville, Tenn. Tennessee Head Coach Rick Barnes On the rebounding tonight and Josiah rebounding like he usually does: “We talked about it the last couple of days. We’re either going to get tough enough and do it or we’re going to struggle and lose games because of it. We’ve just allowed people to play harder and be more aggressive and not go at it the way we need to; we said sooner or later we have to rebound the basketball. I thought early we were able to do that and now we’ll see if we’re tough enough to continue doing that.” On Yves Pons’ health after he landed awkwardly on his ankle: “I don’t know. I saw him before the timeout before he turned his ankle on that one drive and he had something on his knee. I think he might’ve gotten hit on his knee, I’m not sure. They told me if we wanted him to play, we better get him out there before he tightens up and he went back in and played well. When he drove baseline, that was an ankle turn. At the end of the game they did tell me I could play him if I wanted to but I thought he played well today. He carried himself well in terms of his body language and was in control of what he wanted to do. I can say the same about (John Fulkerson) because he played the best he did in a long time. The reason people thought we would be good was because of those guys and the reason we were good tonight was because of those guys and they did their jobs.” On not allowing any second chance points: “We are proud, the only thing that bothers me on that stat sheet is the turnovers. They had 19 points off turnovers and some of it is because they switched aggressively and we weren’t being as aggressive as we needed to be driving the ball because we knew we were going to have to do that. But the fact that we could take those other buckets away from them was good for us. Overall defensively, we were really solid. I would be shocked if everyone wasn’t on the positive on the defensive end.” On Keon Johnson and Jaden Springer starting tonight for the first time and Josiah Jordan-James coming off the bench: “I thought it played out well. A couple of weeks back we thought we were moving in that direction because when Jaden got hurt it slowed him down. This week in practice they got practice together but I thought Josiah, Olivier Nkamhoua and Victor Bailey all played well off the bench. I would say it worked and they combined for 21 points. I’m not sure about how many turnovers they had combined, maybe five or six but that’s what they have to cut down on.” On the three-point shooting tonight: “We got a situation where we were not looking to shoot the ball a few weeks back and we weren’t taking open shots and forcing ourselves into late clock situations and turnovers. Having 18 turnovers in back-to-back games was because guys didn’t take open shots. Last game we took shots that didn’t go in but tonight we took shots that did go in. The key is now guys know they have to take open shots. I think we have guys that can make shots, but we want them shooting uncontested shots and if we move the ball around like we're capable of we'll make our fair share of shots.” On preventing Kansas from getting in the paint and what he liked about Victor Bailey Jr: “Well again, we talked about our defense. We played them last year out there and it was a close game. I think we learned something from that game. We knew that if we guarded the way we would like to guard our sets, that they would get the weave going and get going downhill, hard drives basically right. Depending on where they put players and it gets down to our scouting report. We were really concerned about their ball support and ball screen action because (David) McCormack is a terrific player. They do a lot of neat things to get him the ball with their ball screens or rolling him in there and posting him up. We told VJ all along that he had his best practice of his career here two days ago. He stayed with the second team. I have said to him all along, your goal should be to make the second team the most competitive team here, but you need to understand the change in mentality of playing like a combination guard instead of a guy that wants to be a volume shooter. He was terrific. Defensively, I do think he is getting better and better with that. We need great defensive effort from all over guards. We need our guards to score. More than anything, we need our team to understand roles and understand that to a high degree. If we can continue to build on everybody's role, we have a chance to get better.” On the SEC winning the challenge against the Big 12: “I've had more people today that I've seen tell me today that it felt like an NCAA weekend. This is where ESPN wanted to put this Challenge to create what they tried to create with it. The fact that we were able to win it for the second time, everybody thinks that our league is down. I do not know what league is up and what league is down. I really don't. I just know that the Big 12 has some terrific teams. I know that we've got some terrific teams. There's so much balance right now in college basketball. I think there's still so much uncertainty because you have teams that might have time off. Some teams can get better during that time off if they can practice. I am glad we won the Challenge, I really am. If there is enough talk about our league not being very good and people talking arguably the Big 12 or the Big 10 being the best league. The fact is we were able to win 5-4 and yes I think it's great for our league.” On Tennessee offensive efficiency: “I think guys are taking shots. I think that's a big key when guys take open shots. I think it's really important. I think we have too many guys that work hard at shooting, that have been turning down shots that lead to turnovers. Tonight, when we weren't playing great basketball and again, you’re playing the clock a little bit. We were stagnant with the ball and just not doing what we needed to do. We will learn from that. We are a very unselfish team, sometimes to a fault to be quite honest with you. We get good looks, we feel good about it. When we're clicking and playing together, we feel like we're an inside-out team. That's not just throwing the ball into the post guys, driving the ball, trying to work hard to get into the high-percentage area, kick out, but the key is that you got to take open shots. If we do that, it takes care of a lot of things. Even if we are missing them because it gives us a chance to keep the four balanced. It keeps us from turning the ball over and letting a team get 19 points because of turnovers and gives us a chance to offensive rebound.” On what led to Olivier Nkamhoua’s increased confidence on the offensive end: “I think Olivier is getting better. Moreso, I think it’s the way he seems to be a little bit more relaxed. I talked to him last night about his job is to play defense thorough. We want him to take open shots. Now, the first one he took was not a very good shot, then it came right back to him and he shot it quick and they were backing off, which we knew they would. We talked about that. The reason I took him out I said ‘hey, you’re supposed to be a defensive guy. You’re taking too many shots, but you’ve given up some baskets. (David) McCormack’s scored on you twice.’ He came back in and he can score. Believe me we think he can. We just think he’s got to not put his weight on thinking that’s what he’s got to do for us. We need him to be a defender, a rebounder, and just instinctively like he did tonight, he’ll score buckets.” On how important it is for John Fulkerson to play physically: “We’ve been on him all along. We don’t mind if he gets physical. He’s not the kind of guy that’s going to get physical from start to finish. We don’t expect that from him, but we do expect him—if he’s going to drive it hard to drive it with force and know that there’s going to be some bumping going on. You can’t be flopping and flailing around. You’ve got to apply the force, because they are entitled to their position as much as you are yours.