UT-UK on the horizon, but South Carolina up first for Volunteers
KNOXVILLE — Rick Barnes told a story that’s almost 50 years old on Monday morning.
The Tennessee basketball coach was a sophomore at Hickory High School in North Carolina then, playing guard for a winless team facing an undefeated South Mecklenburg team.
“They came into Hickory and we beat them,” Barnes said. “We didn’t win another game, and they went on to win the state championship. From that experience, that’s why I’ve always had great respect for the game itself – knowing that things happen and can happen.”
Barnes told the same story from 1971 to his No. 1 Tennessee team recently, as a reminder of the nature of basketball, how fleeting success is and to respect the game.
The Vols (22-1, 10-0 SEC) have won 18 games in a row and have held the top ranking in the nation for the past four weeks. They start a gantlet of a final four regular-season weeks against South Carolina (12-11, 7-3) on Wednesday (6:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network).
They have their first meeting with No. 5 Kentucky (20-3, 9-1) on Saturday (8 p.m. ET, ESPN) at Rupp Arena.
Barnes said he would be shocked if his players looked ahead to the marquee matchup with the Wildcats. He believes they’ll come to prepare Monday and Tuesday to face the Gamecocks, whom they beat 92-70 in Columbia, S.C., on Jan. 29.
“What we’ve done is behind us,” Barnes said. “We have a lot to say we are proud of right now, where we are. But that is over and done with. I know I sound like a broken record. But it’s about the next game and it’s about today’s practice. …
“If you start trying to bask in what you’ve done up to this point, you lose sight of what you need to keep doing to do better to move forward. That’s all we have focused on is can we find a way to get better today.”
For Tennessee, Barnes locked in on three areas of improvement before facing the Gamecocks and Wildcats.
The fourth-year UT coach was pleased with his team’s defensive play in low-scoring games against Missouri and Florida last week, but wants continued improvement. He also wants to see Tennessee improve its rebounding, especially limiting teams on the offensive glass.
And he was bothered by high turnover numbers against Florida, particularly from guards Jordan Bone and Lamonte Turner.
“We don’t have any magic dust – we don’t,” Barnes said. “It’s just, can we get our minds trained to go out every day and know that what we did yesterday, if it looks big to you today, we haven’t done much. We have to continue to strive to be the best team we can be and believe that our (best) basketball is ahead of us."
Tennessee is a game ahead of Kentucky and No. 21 LSU in the SEC standings.
“I just think you have to stay the course with it and understand who you are, what you do, what you’re about,” Barnes said.
Yves Pons status
Sophomore Yves Pons missed UT’S win against Florida on Saturday after having surgery to reset a facial fracture Friday.
Barnes expects Pons to play against the Gamecocks.
“He’ll have to wear a mask,” Barnes said. “They’re hoping they’ll get that here by (Tuesday). He’ll do more (Monday) – he won’t do any contact work with us, but he will do more.”
The 6-foot-6 guard is averaging 3.2 points and 2.4 rebounds per game. He has started 13 games this season.
Chris Silva the terror
Tennessee’s first game against South Carolina this season turned into the Grant Williams vs. Chris Silva show for the first 20 minutes – and it was impressive. Silva scored 22 first-half points against the Vols and finished with 28.
“If you talk to our players, they have as much respect for him and how hard he plays as anybody we compete against,” Barnes said. “He is going to play extremely hard. … He is a terrific player. It’s hard to keep a guy like that from not being effective. He was terrific, and he made it happen himself.”
Silva is averaging 13.7 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.