Everybody in Knoxville will see a team that put up a heck of a fight and lost a game on the road to the No. 1 team in the nation that could have gone either way. They’ll rightly walk away from Tennessee’s 53-51 loss at Auburn knowing the Vols are capable of beating any team in the nation and that they have national championship potential.
Rick Barnes should be walking away from this game thinking about what he wasted.
In a season in which every SEC game is a grind, Tennessee, ranked No. 6 in the AP Poll and No. 7 in the Coaches Poll, a lock for the NCAA Tournament, exerted a ton of energy trying to get an impressive resume win, a level of energy that could drain them slightly for the NCAA Tournament. It resulted in a loss anyway.
If the Vols did what I suggested they do and applied load management in this game, either by resting their starters or, as they did last year in the SEC Tournament, just jacking threes and seeing if they go in, their resume would look exactly the same right now. Instead, they took a beating in a loss.
Zakai Zeigler logged 39 minutes and did everything within his power to lead Tennessee to victory. He had 14 points, six rebounds and five assists. However, that effort was all for nothing in the end and never should have been exerted when UT needs him in March.
Look, the SEC is brutal this year, and teams are going to get worn down before March trying to beat each other. The grind is insane, and in that situation, you’ve got to take nights off. Despite playing Auburn close and benefitting from them shooting 3-of-20 from three, the No. 1 team on the road is the time to take a night off.
In defense of Barnes’ decision to not jnust jack up threes, UT was 4-of-22 from outside, as Chaz Lanier continued to shrink under pressure, scoring only 10 points and going 4-of-11 from the field. It’s not like he didn’t somewhat try that approach.
Also, at the end of the game, with Tennessee needing a field goal to tie, Barnes drew up a three-pointer to Zeigler for the win. Zeigler missed it, but that was a clear-as-day win or go home decision for Barnes, who realized overtime on the road wasn’t worth the effort.
Meanwhile, UT got absolutely obliterated on the interior by Johni Broom, who had 16 points and 13 rebounds, and it wasn’t for lack of effort. In a defensive struggle, Felix Okpara had no help containing him under the basket, as Zeigler had to respect the outside shot, and Igor Milcicic Jr. and Cade Phillips both struggled to provide help defense.
Simply put, Tennessee fought with Auburn underneath the basket, they played transition ball, and they were running their offense. The result was a bad shooting night and a dogfight that resulted in a loss. It wasn’t worth it and could cause problems later in the year.
With the win, Auburn improves to 18-1 and 6-0 in the SEC and will visit the LSU Tigers Wednesday. Tennessee, meanwhile, falls to 17-3 and 4-3 in the SEC with a home game against the Kentucky Wildcats, who are on a two-game losing streak but ranked No. 9 in both polls, Tuesday.