The 11th-ranked Tennessee Volunteers were defeated by the Colorado Buffaloes, 78-66, on Sunday afternoon in Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. With the loss under their belt, Tennessee now officially moves on to 1-1 on the season.
Considering all the mistakes that went into the game, Tennessee’s outing against Colorado should provide important teachable moments for the Vols here in the first month of the season. While the Vols did do some good things throughout the game, this game will be about learning from the mistakes more than anything else.
After the game was over, Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes and guard/forward Josiah-Jordan James met with the media to discuss their reactions to Tennessee’s 12-point loss. Barnes spoke about the mistakes on the court, but he also detailed the mistakes off the court as well. Rick Barnes said after the game that he felt like Tennessee’s preparation was off throughout the week leading in.
Tennessee Basketball Quick Takeaways: Colorado Upsets the Vols In Nashville
On the court, though, Barnes spoke about the complacency that he feels Tennessee is playing with. And why it can’t continue on anymore.
“You’ll have to ask those (guys),” Barnes said about the player’s mindset during the game. “Yeah, I think complacency. I think if we’re just going to show up and play — I know this. We know our team and when guys start thinking they’re going to do things they can’t do, we know what our guys can do, more so than they do. When they get out of what we need them to do, I mean, you look at the numbers. Julian (Phillips), at the perimeter, 1-for-6. Olivier (Nkamhoua) is 1-for-8. Zakai (Zeigler) is 4-for-12. Santi (Vescovi) 2-for-13. Tyreke (Key) 2-for-9. And Jo, 5-for-11, he’s had less time out there than anybody. Then you look at rebounding, Olivier did have 10 rebounds, but he had four turnovers. Again, guys doing things that we don’t need them to do. But our guard play, too, I think between them, Zakai and Santi, had I think six turnovers between them. So that’s a problem.”
No. 11 Tennessee fell to Colorado by a score of 78-66 in Nashville on Sunday. The Vols will return to Knoxville to host Florida Gulf Coast this Wednesday evening.
Watch the full press conference from Rick Barnes and Josiah-Jordan James below.
