Rick Barnes was afforded a rare opportunity during Tennessee’s 88-53 win over Vanderbilt on Saturday night. The Vols’ ninth-year head coach rested the heavily used Zakai Zeigler and Dalton Knecht and play talented freshmen Cam Carr, Freddie Dilione and Cade Phillips as the Vols decimated their instate foe.
All three played at least 10 minutes with the bulk coming in the second half. Carr checked in with 13:20 to play, Dilione with 10:02 and Phillips with 7:39. None of them checked out the rest of the game.
Barnes was thrilled with the mindset and competitiveness of the group despite the lopsided game.
“And really pleased with the young guys trying to play the game the right way at the end,” Barnes said. “I thought that was really important. I thought those minutes were really good for them. But they respected the game in terms of trying to play it the right way.”
Dilione scored two points on one-of-four shooting while adding two assists and a rebound. Nothing stood out but he didn’t make bad mistakes after not playing in four straight games between the last Vanderbilt game and Wednesday night’s win at Arkansas.
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“He went through a period where he had somewhat, I guess, in the valley where he leveled off and kind of lost the edge he had,” Barnes said of Phillips. “But he found it over the last 10, 12 days, he got back to doing what we wanted him to do and play the role that he needed to play. And again, it goes back to what I mentioned just a few seconds (ago) about trust. He’s got the trust back that he needs from all of us, not just the coaching staff, but his teammates, knowing that if he comes out there, he can impact the game.”
The Alabama native totaled two points despite not logging a field goal attempt but was aggressive on the glass grabbing three rebounds while dishing out two assists.
Tennessee is high on its freshmen class but thanks to its veteran team, none of them are seeing major roles. The trio playing extended minutes against Vanderbilt was a rare opportunity and it showed some semblance of growth from all three.
“They are doing a great job of letting the offense get to them, playing the right way and staying engaged on defense,” super senior Santiago Vescovi said of the trio. “It goes a long way, especially with coach the way he is. That is all he wants to see out of those guys. Just to play hard and let their offense come to them. They are doing a great job with it.”
