Everything Rick Barnes said after No. 6 Vols lose to No. 19 Missouri

On the performance of sophomore guard Santiago Vescovi:

“Honestly, he’s not 100 percent. He’s not. I watched him in shoot-around today and I could tell he was going. But he’s such a tough, competitive guy. He said coach, I want to try it. He’s struggling a little bit there, but he’ll be back. I’m not worrying about it. I’m really not. I’m just impressed with the fact that he said I want to play. He said I’ve got to help my teammates. He’s not as quick as he normally is but he’ll be fine, because he’ll do all the things with our medical people to get right.”

On the injury that Vescovi is dealing with:

“He got hurt in the Florida game early. It’s a hip. He got hit in the hip area. It’s painful, obviously, when he tries to slide, do this or do that. He has not practiced since the Florida game. He came out today and it was the first time he’s been able (to practice), he did go through our shoot-around. He understood what was going on. It’s hard not to practice (and then play). We all admire him for just trying to play.”

On when freshman guard Jaden Springer (left ankle) could return from injury:

“There’s no doubt he helps you in games like this. Timeline, it’s on his timeline. He’s got to be the guy that knows when he’s ready to go, when he feels like he can give everything he’s got. There’s no doubt where we felt we would get better with he and Keon (Johnson) on the perimeter in games like this, where they can do some of that. Jaden is missing it. Keon is still finding, both of them, they’re still learning while they’re on the job here. Wit h that said, again, it’s on his time.”

On how concerned he is with the defense:

“I’m not as concerned with our defense as I am with our offense, because those two are married together. If we run good offense, we’ll be better on the defensive end. There’s no doubt about it. We’re putting all the pressure on our defense. We did a nice job on Jeremiah Tilmon tonight. But the fact is, (Xavier) Pinson controlled the game. He was terrific. And they’re playing really well. I don’t want to take anything away from (Missouri), I think Cuonzo (Martin) does a terrific job. We’ve had back-to-back games against two teams we had beaten I think four times in a row. This is one of the older teams in the league and I think they came out tonight like, you know, we’re going to go at it. I said it in the pregame, I said Jeremiah Tilmon had one of the great lines I’ve heard from an older guy. They had lost a game and they asked him about, will you learn something, and he said we’re too old. We don’t need to lose a game to learn something. And I thought they played like a veteran team. I think they knew exactly what they wanted to do and Cuonzo made really nice adjustments. He saw what his team was doing well and he kept feeding it.”

On if Tennessee is still learning how to win:

“I do think that we’ve been pretty good with it. I think we got them to shoot a tough shot, but we gave up a rebound at a time and then we ran a good out-of-bounds play and got Yves a wide-open look and he missed it, but we got it back out and VJ hit it. We actually executed some things in special situations that we haven’t had to use up until this point. Definitely, there is some learning going on, and I don’t think it’s just the younger guys. I think John Fulkerson and Yves Pons, again, are getting game planed heavily. If Yves will continue to down this way, and Josiah will get consistent with that. We need everybody. I think Ticket came in and gave us some energy. At times, we need to get scoring on the floor, and I think Keon will continue to learn that if he goes in there and starts pinning back that people are going to attack and go get the ball. The fact is, I do think there is still some learning going on in terms of when you’re behind, but tonight I didn’t think there was any panic. I thought the other night at Florida we were just terrible. We had glazed-over eyes like, ‘What happened?’ and it was from the beginning. I was surprised we turned the ball over the way we did because we knew they were going to come in and be aggressive. All you had to do is watch the film to know they would do that. I’m just surprised the way we turned it over in the first half, knowing that they were going to do.”

On how physical teams are being with John Fulkerson:

“I’ll tell you this: He should have gotten the ball a few more times tonight. He was open when we had a little cross-screen action there, and that’s where the guards have to deliver the ball to him. I thought he worked hard a few times to really get the ball, and our guards don’t understand yet, even in a game where people are pressing up and doing that, yeah, do we need to get by them and drive, we do, but that doesn’t mean we can’t throw the ball inside. We should really be able to do it more because there is more space when people are playing 35 feet from the basket, but it is a matter of being poised with the ball. With Fulky, we’re trying to move him around as much as we can to get him in space because he’s a good player who knows how to pass and knows how to play. He’s missed a few shots that a year ago he was making — all those little shots around the rim. I have to believe that he’ll get it back before we’re done, and we need him to obviously. He is having to learn to make some adjustments himself.”

On the difference of this team from the last time the two teams played earlier this month:

“When you think about it, we came out the exact opposite up there. I think we opened up the game with seven straight field goals, driving the ball. Jaden was very effective in that game. Keon, you go back, they both drove the ball well and got in there and made some plays. Tonight, as time goes on, people will adjust, and they won’t just adjust with what you’re doing, they’ll adjust personnel. As time goes on, people see what guys do. It will change a little bit now that he banged some of those 3s, but they were just backing off Keon and letting him shoot all he wants trying to take away his drive.

“Santi, pressure, try to get him going to his right. Once he puts it on the floor, get into the gap and make it hard for him to pass out of it. Josiah, space him. I go back to the turnovers. I’m surprised about the turnovers, that’s all I can tell you. I’m shocked by it because we normally handle the ball, but the past two games have been pathetic taking care of the ball. If you turn the ball over 36 times in two games, it puts so much pressure on you. We normally don’t do that. We’re normally very, very good. I can sit down and break it down to maybe players’ confidence right now they’re being a little bit hesitant, and if that’s the case, we have to get out of that. You have to have everyone involved, not just one guy, but everybody has to be synced in and lined up, and then it will flow better.”

On what he didn’t like about freshman guard Keon Johnson’s turnover in the second half:

“The decision. That has to be 100% of the time. They were back. Because it was up in the air as long as it was by the time it gets there, it is like a bunch of bees getting on the honey. That has to be a quick, earlier pass. He has done that twice now. He did it the last game when we were done. That would be like a quarterback that coaches talk about. They just feel like they can thread the needle and they keep trying to at the wrong time. It just wasn’t a good decision. If it was a good decision, it would have been caught. Now, the last game, it was Fulky putting his hand up for it and then didn’t turn his head to look for it. But tonight, you just cannot turn the ball over when you’re down. You can’t. I like the fact he is looking. That has to be a 100% accurate play or you can’t do it.”