Image credit: ClutchPoints

After the No. 5 ranked Tennessee basketball team lost to the unranked Mississippi State Bulldogs, head coach Rick Barnes spoke after the game about the disappointing outing. He mentioned the exceptional performance from the Bulldogs star Tolu Smith, who scored 23 points and recorded four rebounds, and how he played to his strengths according to Ben McKee of 247Sports.

“Tolu Smith had his way with our post guys, got his position where he wanted it, and just, he did what he wanted to do,” Barnes said. “And again, we didn’t make enough winning plays at the end and, they deserve all the credit for this win.”

It was a tale of two halves for the Vols as they came out sluggish in the first half which proved to be the beginning of the end as they scored 22 points compared to Mississippi State’s 35 in the first 20 minutes. While the second half would be different, Barnes said that the performance in the fist half was “so inconsistent.”

“That’s the most disappointing thing, just so inconsistent. And you think you’re getting there and then you take a couple steps forward and took a step backwards again. But I do not in any way want to take anything away from Mississippi State,” Barnes said. “Coach (Chris) Jans had his guys ready to play. And early in the first half, we just had some shots, again, had good looks at it, didn’t make it. Then I thought we started taking some shots quick where our feet weren’t set. Just again, kind of hope shots is what I call them.”

Barnes talks about Vols coming back in the second half, but to no avail

In the second half, the Tennessee basketball team would score a whopping 50 points, but they would give up 42 to the Bulldogs and let the game get away from them. It was a frustrating game as the Vols were unable to play complimentary basketball to blend offense and defense.

“Second half, we really fought hard to get back in and we all appreciate that effort, but you know, a big turnover at the end, a couple of them really,” Barnes said. “And then offensive rebound on the other end when we had a chance to really come down and maybe get a lead and put a little bit more pressure on them. Our full-court pressure was good.”

If there are any bright sides to the Tennessee basketball team’s performance, it was stars Zakai Zeigler and Dalton Knecht. Each scored 26 and 28 points respectively as they were doing everything to bring the Vols back in this game. While Barnes credits their outings, he is still looking for “team consistency.”

“Obviously Zakai (Zeigler) and Dalton (Knecht) got it going,” Barnes said via 247Sports. “And Zakai continues to just do an incredible job with what we needed him to do. But overall, we got to have more team consistency.”

The Tennessee basketball team is now 11-4 on the season and 1-1 in conference as they are eighth in the SEC, granted it has only been two conference games. Their next contest will be against the University of Georgia on Saturday.

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