{"id":86252,"date":"2025-03-23T00:23:16","date_gmt":"2025-03-23T05:23:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/what-rick-barnes-said-after-tennessees-67-58-win-over-ucla-in-the-ncaa-tournament\/"},"modified":"2025-03-23T00:23:16","modified_gmt":"2025-03-23T05:23:16","slug":"what-rick-barnes-said-after-tennessees-67-58-win-over-ucla-in-the-ncaa-tournament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/what-rick-barnes-said-after-tennessees-67-58-win-over-ucla-in-the-ncaa-tournament\/","title":{"rendered":"What Rick Barnes said after Tennessee\u2019s 67-58 win over UCLA in the NCAA Tournament"},"content":{"rendered":"

LEXINGTON \u2014<\/strong> What head coach Rick Barnes<\/a><\/strong> said after No. 2 Tennessee\u2019s<\/a> 67-58 win over No. 7 UCLA<\/a> in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Saturday night at Rupp Arena:<\/p>\n

Opening Statement<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah, just the utmost respect for Mick Cronin and his UCLA team. We knew coming in how hard they play and they take on his personality. We kept talking about that all day yesterday and today. Exactly the way the game started out, that\u2019s what we expected, both teams playing their hearts out, going after it.<\/p>\n

Really proud of our guys, I thought we stayed in there, did a better job rebounding tonight than we have in the last couple of weeks.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s something that we needed and proud of our guys for getting that done.<\/p>\n

Q.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Rick, when you look at what Chaz has been able to do this weekend and over the course of the season, what\u2019s been the most impressive thing about his game and how he\u2019s performed for y\u2019all this season?<\/strong><\/p>\n

RICK BARNES:<\/strong> Probably the fact that he hasn\u2019t changed any approach into the tournament. We tried not to do that. We understand what we\u2019re in the tournament, we understand what this time of year is about. He hasn\u2019t strayed away from his routine, what he needs to do.<\/p>\n

Last three weeks he\u2019s been very aggressive shooting the ball. But I think his focus is \u2014 he\u2019s gotten so much better at paying attention to detail, but in terms of his personal psyche coming in, I thought it\u2019s something he really embraced. Something he dreamed about being a part of.<\/p>\n

When he came in, he\u2019s a pretty cool, calm guy. I think he meant what he said about he gives all the glory to God. He\u2019s grounded in a way that it\u2019s not about him. He knows he\u2019s part of a good team and he\u2019s willing to do whatever he needs to do to help this team, but he\u2019s just not selfish and in his own way he sets a great example.<\/p>\n

Q.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Rick, what did y\u2019all see out there that made you go to that trap in the first half. It looked like it changed things.<\/strong><\/p>\n

RICK BARNES: <\/strong>Well, we have it and sometimes we use it, sometimes we don\u2019t, depending on the game. What Zakai said was true, we wanted to throw it out there and see how teams handle it. If they don\u2019t, we stay with it.<\/p>\n

With them, they\u2019re such a well-coached team and they really execute their sets. Our thought process was to get time off the clock so we didn\u2019t have to go down and grind it for 30 seconds. Just try to let \u2019em get down and get started with 18, 19 seconds on the clock and we were able to turn \u2019em over a couple of times, which is something you expect but not really. Just like at the end of the game, we didn\u2019t do a very good job of taking care of the ball at the end. Obviously they were playing behind and they could take a lot of chances.<\/p>\n

But we got \u2019em on the court, hot zone where we felt like we could get some traps and came up with I think a couple of takeaways there.<\/p>\n

Q.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Coach, you guys gave up some size but battled inside, dominated on the glass. How big of a point of emphasis was that?<\/strong><\/p>\n

RICK BARNES:<\/strong> What I\u2019m looking at here, if I\u2019m reading it right, really proud of Igor, 7 rebounds. Felix had 7, Cade had 5. I can\u2019t tell if that\u2019s a 5 or 6. That\u2019s what we ask those guys to do. That\u2019s all we\u2019ve talked about for two days is our post guys being effective at rebounding the ball for us, need to get extra possessions on the offensive end, gotta do it on the defensive end. That\u2019s something we talked about and we haven\u2019t done a great job the last couple weeks with it.<\/p>\n

But we were better with that tonight. Other than turning the ball over late we played really well against, again, an outstanding defensive team. They\u2019re very handsy, but that was the big thought coming in, we had to get production out of our front-line guys and with their rebounding, they got it done for us.<\/p>\n

Q.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Rick, apologies if you covered this, but to make a third straight Sweet 16, obviously this team has talked about having big goals but you have to take steps along the way. What does it mean to do this for the first time in program history?<\/strong><\/p>\n

RICK BARNES: <\/strong>Well, again, I thank God for Him bringing us all together, for one, because we have half a new team sorta, kinda this year, but it goes back to Zakai and Jahmai and Jordan has become a part of that core group, and they do come in. I\u2019m glad a year ago that Cade got some time to play.<\/p>\n

It goes back to leadership with our players. They deserve all the credit. They want to be coached, they know what we as a coaching staff expect from them every day and they know we\u2019re going to try to be as consistent as we can doing our jobs and we want them to do that. It\u2019s just a great testament to these guys that they really do like each other. They care, and they love our fan base.<\/p>\n

Obviously it\u2019s great being here and having a lot of \u2014 we\u2019ve got the best fan base in the country and we believe that, everybody says it, we truly believe it.<\/p>\n

These guys want to represent our university in the right way. But it goes back. Obviously I\u2019ve got the best coaching staff in the country but it goes to the players. They\u2019re the ones that grind it every day.<\/p>\n

Some of them obviously want to play more but the fact that our motto is \u201cit\u2019s not about me,\u201d I think these guys really do exemplify that extremely well.<\/p>\n

Q.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Rick, as you\u2019ve looked at the film stuff with the rebounding things you haven\u2019t liked, is that guys not in the right place, getting pushed at times? What\u2019s caused those things you didn\u2019t like?<\/strong><\/p>\n

RICK BARNES:<\/strong> Well, our opponents have a lot to do with it. Because we play against teams that emphasize it just as much as we do. But it really is a focus and sometimes \u2014 I mean, we\u2019re obviously going to teach blocking out but honestly sometimes you just gotta go get it. I thought we did that tonight. We pursued the ball better. Obviously we need our guards to be in there getting after it, too, but our opponents have a lot to do with it.<\/p>\n

We want to limit teams to one shot, but they won\u2019t \u2014 they\u2019re not going to let us do that. I just thought the focus was really there tonight, and you tell me going back, what did I learn? I thought we weren\u2019t as focused as we needed to be in key positions there. But it\u2019s not, I don\u2019t think, because of a \u201cwant to\u201d; it\u2019s hard. It\u2019s really hard to do when you\u2019re playing at the level of competition that we\u2019re playing against.<\/p>\n

Q.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Coach, the 1-2-2 three-quarter before the half seemed like that worked out well for you guys. Was that always part of the plan?<\/strong><\/p>\n

RICK BARNES: <\/strong>We\u2019ve been using it more lately. We\u2019ve had it. Jahmai said it, we\u2019ve got a lot of things \u2014 we probably would have had some more things in, but I don\u2019t think we are where we need to be with our ball screen defense, and everybody does it. I think you\u2019ve got to be elite there, especially this time of year.<\/p>\n

They made some nice adjustments tonight and was hurting us in the middle there. So we probably didn\u2019t spend as much time working on that as you probably would like to, because we were trying to get some other things right, to an elite level, whether it\u2019s being in gaps, whatever it may be.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s simple enough that, you know, you can use it. We\u2019ve gotten some confidence in it, too, obviously, lately over the last couple of weeks.<\/p>\n

Q.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Chaz, you broke the Tennessee single-season record for threes made in a season, what does that mean to you and were you able to talk with Chris Lofton at all about it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

CHAZ LANIER: <\/strong>It\u2019s a blessing to be in my position. I want to give all the glory to God because without Him I wouldn\u2019t be here.<\/p>\n

I haven\u2019t got to talk to C.Lo, but yet but hopefully I get to see him today.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s just a blessing. I want to shout out my teammates as well. They\u2019re always setting good screens and passing the ball on the money for me. So without them I wouldn\u2019t be making the shots.<\/p>\n

Q.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Zakai, that last three, four minutes of the first half, how important was that? And how much momentum did you guys go into the locker room with after that?<\/strong><\/p>\n

ZAKAI ZEIGLER: <\/strong>We went into the locker room with a lot of energy. Because we knew it was going to be a dogfight going into the game, you knew it was going to be a lot of ups and downs, but the last couple of minutes in the first half we had a lot of energy. Getting turnovers and those loud plays, it really picked us up. Going into the locker room we had a lot of energy.<\/p>\n

Q.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Jahmai and Zakai, seemed like late in the first half some of that trap stuff y\u2019all were doing, did you know going into the game this was part of the plan and we\u2019re going it use this?<\/strong><\/p>\n

JAHMAI MASHACK:<\/strong> I mean, I think going in we have a lot of things built in but honestly we\u2019re a team of adjustments. So we know how to adjust. We don\u2019t want to give every team our first look. We see how the game is flowing and how they\u2019re handling the ball, and see if their passes are a little long or short or whatever the case may be. But we\u2019re pretty good at adjusting to the situation, so it wasn\u2019t a planned thing. You just go out and do it and try to execute perfectly.<\/p>\n

Q.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Any of you guys, the second half it seemed like they were getting frustrated. Could you sense that after about the first five minutes when you went up 13-15?<\/strong><\/p>\n

CHAZ LANIER:<\/strong> Going into halftime we knew they wouldn\u2019t let off the gas, so we wanted to make a point at getting at them and being aggressive on the defensive end coming out at halftime. So I feel like we did a great job pressing up and forcing turnovers.<\/p>\n

Q.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Jahmai, you are about to play your third straight Sweet 16, at what point do you think you could accomplish that at Tennessee?<\/strong><\/p>\n

JAHMAI MASHACK:<\/strong> Honestly, as soon as I signed with Tennessee I knew that was something I wanted to do. I\u2019ve been winning all my career. It\u2019s not something that is new to me. I\u2019m not saying that to be cocky, I\u2019m saying that because I put in the work. I had to scrap for everything I\u2019d get.<\/p>\n

Just knowing the Sweet 16 was a possibility that I wanted to get to, I wanted to do it and I knew this team was going to be able to do it.<\/p>\n

Q.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Jahmai and Zakai, when Chaz is shooting the way he did tonight, how much of a boost does that give you guys playing on the defensive end?<\/strong><\/p>\n

JAHMAI MASHACK: <\/strong>It definitely gives a big boost. We see him put in the work all the time. We always tell him that\u2019s nothing to be nervous about, you go out there and hoop. It\u2019s something he has been doing for a long time, being able to shoot the basketball. It definitely frees us up for getting a lot of energy on the defensive end, trying to create turnovers. But when he\u2019s hot, you try give him the basketball and that\u2019s kinda how you play. I think we did a good job of doing that.<\/p>\n

ZAKAI ZEIGLER:<\/strong> We see that every single day in practice. He puts the work in and you expect him to take those shots and I tell him every time he shoots the ball, I think it\u2019s going in. So if he miss, I want him to shoot the next one.<\/p>\n

Us getting out our energy on defense, our offense doesn\u2019t really dictate the defense. Our defense is going to be there regardless, but when he\u2019s shooting the ball like that, it\u2019s going to pick us up even more.<\/p>\n

The post What Rick Barnes said after Tennessee\u2019s 67-58 win over UCLA in the NCAA Tournament<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LEXINGTON \u2014 What head coach Rick Barnes said after No. 2 Tennessee\u2019s 67-58 win over…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86252"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86252\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}