A tough start to SEC play got tougher for Texas basketball on Saturday night when Tennessee knocked off the Longhorns 74-70 in Austin.
It was a back-and-forth game that Texas led for most of the first half before Tennessee outscored the Longhorns 16-10 in the game’s final four minutes.
Following the game, Texas head coach Rodney Terry discussed what he learned from Rick Barnes, the rebounding battle and much more. Here’s everything Terry said.
More From RTI: Everything Rick Barnes Said After Tennessee Victorious In Return To Texas
Opening statement
“Okay, thank you guys for sticking around. Big week for us this week. Not a lot of times, a lot of opportunities, you get to play the number one team (Tennessee), number two team (Auburn) in your building and play them in a season. It hadn’t happened in 30 years, I believe, if I’m not mistaken. But I thought our guys came out tonight against a well-coached team. We knew we were going to get Tennessee’s best game tonight coming off the loss that they had at Florida. So the preparation, in terms of the mindset for our guys, we knew we were going to see the best version of this season, today.
“So I thought our guys came out and gave a great effort. I thought they really worked the game. We talked about really good defensive minded team in Tennessee, one of the best in the country. I think they went into this week being the number one defense in the country. So we knew we were going have our hands full with getting good clean looks. And really just trying to attack the basket to try to get to the foul line. At halftime I said to our guys, the team that finds a way to get to the foul line is going to have a chance to win this game. And we did a good job of taking care of the basketball today against again a team that prides themselves in turning you over. Thought we did a good job of turning them over.
“Difference in the game really came down to second-chance opportunities. They had a little bit more physicality than us on the glass, especially at winning time.”
On rebounding for Texas in SEC games and the importance for the Longhorns to get a win in SEC play soon
“Well again, I think going into this league play, we knew that this is a physical league. Probably the most physical league in all of college basketball to be honest. Because every team that you play is a really good offensive rebounding team. They have older players with good bodies and they don’t mind playing a physical style of play. So we knew coming in we’re going to have to try to match their physicality. Coach Barnes’ teams have always been really good rebounding teams, takes a lot of pride in having physical teams that rebound the ball on both offensive end and on the defensive end of the floor.
“I think, in conference play it’s a grind in January and we embrace that grind in terms of understanding you’re going to have this game with you for one night, whether you win or lose. And you work really hard on controlling the things that you can control. And that’s showing up every day with a great attitude and a great approach about how you go about your business every day. That won’t change for us. We’ll stay the course. And we’ve been doing this a long time. Again, it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish and how you continue to get better. Unfortunately for us, I think we’ve gotten better, but we’ve gotten better in losses. And that sometimes happens in seasons. And at some point, obviously, you have to have a breakthrough, but you have to make the breakthrough happen. But we’ve had some growth. We’ve just got to continue to put it together for 40 minutes and just keep working the game and just keep working this season.”
On senior guard Arthur Kaluma’s performance following a big performance against Auburn earlier this week, if that took something out of him
“I always tell guys to get lost playing really hard on defense and there are other different ways that you can impact winning. If you’re not scoring tonight, no problem, get it on the defensive end, go rebound the basketball, be a motor player, be a guy that does other things that impacts winning for you. And you know, I thought he tried really hard. It wasn’t his night in terms of scoring the basketball, but on those type of nights, you’ve gotta try to do other things that are gonna help you win the basketball game.”
On Texas needing to close out games
“Yeah, I mean, again, I think in the growth of your team, and trusting the process, and working the game for 40 minutes, you’ve gotta be able to close halves out and you have to be able to close games out. In order to do that, you’ve gotta be able to finish possessions with physical rebounds and you’ve gotta come down and execute offensively on the end of the floor. In big moments, you have to trust the process, trust your scouting report, trust what you’ve been asked to do in terms of how we’re trying to play guys.
“They, late in the game, went to just basically a middle pick-and-roll type situation with guard to guard and, you know, worked hard on trying to switch that and stay in front of Zakai (Zeigler), and try to stay home. Zeigler had eight assists tonight. He’s trying to get to the paint and spray out to shooters. Wasn’t anything we weren’t prepared for in terms of dealing with that type of game down the stretch. But, you know, you just gotta do the things that allows you to win games. Finish possessions with physical box outs, value taking care of the basketball. I thought we did a pretty good job of valuing, taking care of the ball, just gotta do a better job. Continue to work and get better with second-chance opportunities.”
On how much Texas has emphasized defending without fouling
Well, you can’t guard the free throw line. That’s why it’s free, you know? So you gotta work hard without fouling. We have to do a better job of getting our hands back, and not putting an opposing team on the line. (Tennessee) got to the free throw line 20 times. We got there 14 times. You gotta put pressure on the basket. I know Coach (Barnes) came into this game really wanting his team to attack in the paint and play inside out. We knew we were gonna have to play some really good one-on-one defense, keep those guys out of the paint, play without fouling and make them take tough shots and again, try to keep them off the glass.”
On coaching against Rick Barnes in Tennessee-Texas games, what he learned from him as his assistant
“Yeah, Coach is a Hall of Fame coach. He had a great run here, 17 years here at Texas and the all-time (leader in) wins at Texas. I think the thing that I take away from working with Coach Barnes is just being a great man. Someone that you could work for that allows you to have great balance with your family. Getting your job done at a high level, challenging young guys to be the best version of themselves, both on and off the court, holding them accountable to be the best versions of themselves every day. But also being a great role model, also being just a good person. And Coach is a great coach, but he’s even better person.”
On where this Texas team has grown the most during the first three SEC games
“You know what, Coach and I, we talked about it going into league play over Christmas, how much a gauntlet this was going to be, in terms of SEC play. That you were going to have to really keep your team together, stay the course. And just, again, like I said, controlling what you can control. I think we’ve grown in regards to trying to understand the physicality of this league. I think I was harping on it five games into finishing up our non-conference slate, how important it was for us to prepare for a physical, rugged SEC slate.
We knew every team has a lot of physicality. This is a physical league, Big 12 is a physical league too. But this league had some continuity, three teams we played to this point right now have all had starters back from really good seasons a year ago. You had two starters tonight from an Elite Eight team. A couple nights ago, three starters back (for Auburn). Before that, three starters back (for Texas A&M). Continuity is really important. But it’s also a mindset on how you finish games. They’ve been there. We’re still learning what it’s going to take to finish these games in SEC play down the stretch at winning time. Tonight we said seven-minute mark is winning time for us right now. We don’t have to play perfect, but we’ve got to try to get every 50-50 ball. We’ve got to try to have some physical blockouts and we have to get a shot every time down on our terms. And it’s just a process. It’s a growth curve for us. And at some point we’ll have a breakthrough with it. And all you can do right now is stay the course and keep working, working the game.”
