Saturday was a forgettable game for Tennessee. The Volunteers made the trip north to Lexington, but matched up with a Kentucky team that set a new definition for “lights-out-shooting”.
On Saturday afternoon in Rupp Arena, No. 18 Kentucky defeated No. 22 Tennessee by a score of 107 to 79.
After the game, Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes met with the media virtually to discuss his reaction to the loss on Saturday. Barnes touched on several topics pertaining to the game, including how the Vols were trying to handle Kentucky’s borderline automatic shooting for the majority of the game.
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Some of the most significant topics of conversation during the postgame press conference were in relation to two things: leadership and confidence. With back-to-back Saturday SEC losses to LSU and Kentucky, the Vols are starting to enter a territory in which it looks like the players need to step up and take ownership. Both Josiah-Jordan James and Santiago Vescovi both spoke about needing to find more leaders on the team as they continue to dive into SEC play.
However, on the flip side, both players also said that confidence isn’t an issue with this team. Coach Barnes did address the leadership and confidence questions as well, though, with some fascinating answers regarding the Vols’ starting lineup.
Below is the full press conference for Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes after the Vols’ loss to Kentucky on Saturday afternoon in Lexington.
