Malachi Moreno and UK outplayed Tennessee's interior players the second half Saturday. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Tennessee didn’t get a field goal for the final 5 minutes, 38 seconds of the game. The Vols gave up 49 points in the second half, even though they are one of the nation’s top 20 defensive teams. Tennessee blew a 17-point first-half lead and lost at home to Kentucky for the fourth straight time Saturday.
Tennessee coach Rick Barnes really had no explanation for that after UK’s 80-78 win when the Cats outscored his team 49-36 in the second half by going 6-for-10 from 3-point range in the second half and 18 of 36 overall.
“But 49 points, again, I’m not going to say we gave them up; they scored 49 points. You’ve got to give them credit. I’m disappointed. Everybody’s disappointed. But you got to give Kentucky credit,” Barnes said. “Mark (Pope) kept his guys in there.
“It really started in the first half, at the end of the first half. We built a lead and should have gone into halftime with a bigger lead. But with the group we’ve got right now, I’m not sure they think (the game is over). The game is never over. A 17-point lead in today’s world is nothing if you got a group of guys together and do what they need to do.
“We didn’t (stick together) in the second half. We gave up 49 points, got out-rebounded.”
Tennessee owned the paint in the first half and outscored UK 16-8 in paint points. Kentucky outscored Tennessee 22-14 in paint points in the second half. Kentucky had 10 offensive rebounds in the second half after managing just four in the first half.
“Effort, or lack of, and doing your job. I mean, everybody’s got a job, and like most teams, you’ve got some guys who put their stock in thinking it’s all about scoring a bucket, trying to do that. Everybody’s got a job to do. You gotta do your job,” Barnes said.
“But again, just rebounding. I mean, that’s what we talk about. You’re asking me when we break it down, we look at it, when we are really rebounding well, it’s just great effort, and when you’re not, it’s not. Almost every time, it’s one-on-one combat when that shot goes up. Who’s gonna go get it and who’s not? And sometimes there’s some long ones that bounce a different way. We just gave up 49 points in the second half. I’m not gonna say we gave it up, they went and got it, and give them credit.
“But we’re disappointed because again, you said it, we were built that we’re gonna rebound. So if you ask me point-blank, I know when I look at the tape — I don’t have to look at the tape. I hate to feel like I’m throwing guys under the bus, and I’m not throwing any one particular guy under the bus, but when you get out-rebounded, it is a lack of effort. Plain and simple. And I would say that of any team I’ve ever coached, not just this team.”
6 Responses
Ok, we got a great win that we really needed at LSU and Tennessee. The first 15 minutes of both games were simply pathetic. The remainder of both games were awesome. What's going on with the Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde act? We are playing with rattlesnakes, but we don't have enough anti-venom to finish the season. Wouldn't it be better if we just turned the snakes loose and never played with them again? Don't ask Pope, he doesn't have a clue of what's going on with this team or this yo-yo act would have been fixed by now. Maybe we should ask the team, but they don't want to answer that question…they are the most dysfunctional basketball team in the country and we still have the most difficult remaining schedule in the country. Those two facts usually don't result in a very harmonious outcome. Texas comes to Lexington with a very fast team and that gives us fits. The rah rahs are screaming Kentucky is wonderful! Jump on the bandwagon and stop saying bad things about them! My gut tells me that if we keep playing this way, we will end up with more "L"s than "W"s. Will this team ever resolve its differing agendas or will there be dissension until the bitter end? That is the question that Shakespeare should have asked.
Sometimes you gotta give credit were its due they dont give up despite the ugly starts. This SEC league is for up for grabs and its going to be a dog fight to the end.
We need to move on from JQ.
JQ and his handlers may have already moved on from us and Pope will pull the same BS about working so hard and getting stronger every day. I am still not all in on Pope as I would like to be. We need a coach that can coach more than one half of basketball game. We need a coach that can return us to the national spotlight on recruiting prowess. UK should have a Top 10 coach minimum and we do not. It is hard to think of any other team that sucks so bad first half and continues to miss so many in close shots.
I support Pope, when he took over i thought it would take him 3-4 years to win number 9 and still do. The guy knows what he's doing just got recruit the right guys to get it done and he will. I think some of the players on the current roster will be part of it.
It looks like Pope will not sign a single player from high school for next year, much less a top 5 pick. That means we will have to go to the portal again. JQ, Dioubate, Oweh, Aberdeen, Garrison, and possibly Hawthorne will be gone next year. Lowe may leave and should leave…he is not sturdy enough for SEC play. Johnson and Moreno may stay and should stay. Johnson could play his way into being our starting point guard before season's end. JQ is history, so Moreno will be our starting center for the remainder of this season and next year. I hope Jelavic stays, but that depends on him getting major playing time the rest of this season and getting better. Chandler and Noah should stay. That would give us a starting 5 of Johnson, Chandler, Noah, Jelavic, and Moreno…a solid starting 5. I hope Potter has been hitting the weight room. If he adds some muscle, he will be a serviceable backup for the 4 and 5 spots. Pope should look for sophomores in the portal who are willing to come off the bench and support the starting 5. Top tier talent will go to teams where they can start show out for the NBA scouts. We have a starting 5 for next year. Don't mess with that. This season has shown that chemistry and synergy are important for a talented team to succeed and we haven't had either so far this season. With that being the case, I look for us to finish in the middle of the SEC pack, win one game in the SEC tourney and the NCAA tourney…that is the minimum expectation now for this season. If Pope fails to meet that, he is history. That should be enough for Pope to keep his job, but an Elite 8 finish next year will be the minimum expectation. It will be time for Pope to prove that he is the man for the job. I think he has learned that he can't be everyone's buddy and he can't promise starting minutes to everyone either. That should not be an issue next year, but Pope needs to man up and be the coach that will lead this program back to glory.
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