Tennessee basketball coach Rick Barnes could see the makings of a poor offensive performance coming together early as the Vols faced Tennessee State.
“We didn’t execute the very first play of the game tonight. We come out of a timeout, got a play on for a player, he’s got the ball in his hands and calls a whole different play,” Barnes said. “That’s the issue we’re dealing with right now.”
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In the 17 turnovers committed, 24 offensive rebounds surrendered, 13 free throws missed and countless assignments that went poorly executed in the No. 9 Vols (3-0) 83-78 win over Tennessee State (2-2) at Food City Center on Nov. 13, Barnes saw one common denominator: Sub-par effort.
“Our goal tonight was to play as hard as we ever played before but we weren’t the hardest playing team tonight,” Barnes said. “They played harder. I thought they were better coached. I thought they executed better. And our guys don’t understand yet that we’re not good enough if we can’t compete first.”
Barnes spent most of his postgame press conference ripping the Vols for their lack of focus and commitment to the game plan.
He called out his guards for not rebounding and executing the offense. He called out his frontcourt for lacking discipline and falling into early foul trouble that allowed the Tigers to stay within range. And Barnes credited Tennessee State for playing harder.
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Barnes also said the Vols currently lack the kind of on-court leadership necessary to keep the team focused on what it needs to do.
“We can talk about technique and all that — it’s a want to,” Barnes said. “It’s a mindset. That’s it. I like these guys. It’s our job to keep coaching them. … But somewhere along the line, it’s got to come from within. We’ve got to get some leadership. We haven’t gotten that yet the way we need it.”
Tennessee State won rebounding 45-43 and scored 24 points off Tennessee turnovers. The Tigers shot only 32% from the field, but drew fouls with their aggressive play on both ends of the court.
The Vols, meanwhile, have won despite allowing so many extra possessions. Through three games, their opponents have created 43 turnovers and grabbed 50 offensive rebounds. To Barnes, those are mistakes born from poor effort, ones that are easily correctable if players decide to.
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Barnes said he’s seen better play in practice. But, despite winning their first three games to open the 2026-27 season, Tennessee has failed to translate practice habits to gameday on either end of the court.
“If you can’t close the possession out with rebounding the ball, you’re an average team at best,” Barnes said. “… We haven’t been able to learn how to finish plays defensively yet. Offensively, we don’t do enough. What we do, we don’t know if it works or not because we never get to it.”
This time, it didn’t cost the Vols. Tennessee State outrebounded them but scored just 24 combined points on second chances and turnovers. But No. 5 Michigan State, which visits Food City Center on Nov. 17, is sure to be less forgiving.
After taking a drubbing from Duke in the preseason, Barnes thought any issues with effort would be behind him.
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Instead, he’ll spend the next three days hoping his team shows up with the right mindset for its first big test of the regular season.
“If we get a group of guys that will listen, then we’ll be OK,” Barnes said. “It’s really pretty simple, to be quite honest with you. Or I think it is because I’ve seen us do it so often in practice. Then you come out in a game and you don’t do it. It’s disappointing.”
Stephen Thompson covers Tennessee Volunteers men’s basketball. Email him at stephen.thompson@knoxnews.com and follow him on X @stephenethom.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Why Rick Barnes is still looking for leadership from Tennessee basketball players
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