Barnes not apologizing for physical style turned in by his veteran Vols
Tennessee’s NCAA tournament Sweet 16 matchup against Florida Atlantic in New York City doesn’t tip off until Thursday night, but the pregame spice is already alive and well.
Following FAU’s 78-70 topping of Fairleigh Dickinson on Sunday night, Owls coach Dusty May said, “We’re going to study Australian rugby rules and get ready for the Vols.”
It was no accidental comment, as the Volunteers had physically overwhelmed Atlantic Coast Conference tournament champion Duke 65-52 a day earlier. Tennessee coach Rick Barnes was asked in a Monday afternoon news conference about May’s remarks, and he appeared quite prepared for the moment.
“I took a Big East all-star team to Australia back in 1990,” Barnes said. “We went to a match, and I enjoyed it.”
Tennessee played a very bruising game against the Blue Devils yet committed just 11 fouls. Only three times all year have the Vols had fewer fouls in a contest, and they had a combined 49 last month in consecutive losses at Kentucky and at Texas A&M.
Barnes knew he had the more physically developed team in the Orlando pairing — Tennessee started four seniors and Duke four freshmen — and the Vols (25-10) capitalized on that aspect.
“I thought they officiated the game the way they felt it went,” Barnes said. “I didn’t see anything dirty by either team.”
Two of Tennessee’s fouls were committed by senior forward and former Hamilton Heights standout Uros Plavsic within the game’s first two minutes and 12 seconds. The fouls were obvious and came at the expense of Duke freshman center Kyle Filipowski, which caused Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde to immediately write, “Plavsic is a hack, and that’s been quickly exposed here.”
Even Barnes referred to Saturday’s start as “nonsense.”
41.7 seconds remaining for their biggest lead yet at 50-21 before going into halftime up 50-22.
Toledo tried to rally in the third with a 12-2 run capped by Garcia’s 3 with 3:57 to go. That only trimmed the lead to 60-36, and the Lady Vols led 72-40 going into the fourth. They finished it off outscoring Toledo 22-7 in the fourth, not allowing the Rockets to score even a single bucket over the final 6:11.
BIG PICTURE
Toledo: The Rockets head home still looking for the program’s first Sweet 16 berth. They are 4-9 all-time in NCAA Tournament play, Coach Tricia Cullop could have her leading scorer back if Lockett returns for next season and joins the four juniors, including starters Khera Goss, Sammi Mikonowicz and Jessica Cook. … The Rockets had hoped to use their speed to counter Tennessee’s height but were outscored 17-4 on the fast break.
Tennessee: The Lady Vols have locked down on defense in the first two games. They held Saint Louis to 50 points in the first round, the fewest they had allowed in this tournament since giving up 46 to Northwestern State on March 22, 2014. Then nearly matched that tournament low in this game as they dominated across the court.
UP NEXT
The Lady Vols get a rematch in the Sweet 16. They lost 59-56 on Dec. 4 to thenNo. 9 Virginia Tech as part of the Jimmy V Women’s Classic in Knoxville without forward Rickea Jackson. That also was center Tamari Key’s last game before blood clots ended her season.