The message from Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes: Don’t be comfortable

Tennessee was not on the court practicing on Monday but they got a message from head coach Rick Barnes, who was obviously bothered by his team’s first half effort on Saturday as Vanderbilt put up 44 points. Barnes called it one of the worst starts one of his teams has had in a long time.

Barnes’ message Monday was pretty simple. Don’t get comfortable.

“You just wonder where their head might be because some of the mistakes that we make early, it is perplexing and we are into the middle of February,” Barnes said Monday on VolCalls. “With that said, there’s a lot of people who would like to be where we are right now. But that’s not the standard we have set. Our standard is higher than that. We expect more. I threw some stuff at them today.

“Maybe we have too many guys that are too comfortable right now. I told them if you don’t think I will make a change right now in the starting line up, if we need to do that then I will do that,” Barnes explained. “We are not going to be comfortable. We are not going to sit here like we have accomplished something right now because we haven yet in terms of where we want to be.

We have always been our best when we have been on edge.”

Barnes, who challenged veteran point guard Zakai Zeigler at half time on Saturday, knows his veteran, experienced players who understand March need to help their teammates understand what the coming month is really about.

This time of the year you have to get better if you want to be a team that can really go deep into March and play,” Barnes said. “On our team right now, you think about it Jahmai Mashack, Zakai Zeigler, Jordan Gainey and Felix (Okpara), no one else even knows what the NCAA Tournament is about. They don’t know what it’s like to play in what is now the best college basketball conference in the country and know that a team like Vanderbilt, who I believe is an NCAA Tournament team, is fighting to make sure they do it. And they have good players.”

Tennessee will see a team with even better players and definitely more size as they take on #7 Texas A&M Saturday in College Station at noon ET after a much needed break.

“It comes at a good time for us,” Barnes said of the open date. “We look like a MASH unit. (Trainer) Chad Newman is working his tail off. Just things like strained calf, sprained toe, this that and the other. Just things you wouldn’t expect. So it comes at a good time We are trying to manage this week were we get them some rest obviously, but try and stay in some rhythm.

“But we right now need rest, so (we) came in today and guys always come in and do some individual shooting. But we did just tape of our game and try to learn from what happened Saturday. We will come back tomorrow and have a good workout and probably take Wednesday off again and be back on our regular routine.”

Tennessee is 21-5 and projected currently as a two seed in the NCAA Tournament.

In their quest for seeding in the SEC Tournament and home court in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, the Lady Vols notched their 20th win with an 88-80 victory over No. 18 Alabama.

And for Kim Caldwell’s team, much like in their win over UConn, their last ranked win, it was offensive execution down the stretch that was the difference.

The Lady Vols saw their 15-point fourth quarter lead get cut to 4 forcing Caldwell to call a timeout with 3:15 to play. Caldwell liked her teams approach in the huddle.

“I am seeing our team talk to each other during the timeouts before I get there which is huge. It’s exactly what I want out of a team. I would love to call a time out and not even have to talk to them. It’s addressed. It’s handled. They are on the same page by the time I get to them,” Caldwell said.

Out of the time out, the Lady Vols were on the same page. It was a quick 5-0 run to stretch the lead to nine. Tennessee didn’t have an empty possession scoring points on 5 straight offensive trips.

“I think that is where we are improving,” Caldwell said. “We are able to score down the stretch. I think our shot selection is getting better.”

Tennessee also took much better ball in the second half only turning the ball over 3 times after 12 first half turnovers.

“I think we played a little more under control,” Caldwell said. “I don’t think we really changed anything. I just think we shared the ball a little better. Found the open spots and settled in. More people touched the ball each time down the floor which is when our offense looks it’s best.”

The Lady Vols dominated the glass (+14 in rebounds) and the paint with 48 points in the paint. Tennessee had 38 fast break points and 17 second chances points. Nine players scored led by Jewel Spear, who had 20 points including 11 at the free throw line. Talaysi Cooper had 16 but only played 19 minutes due to foul trouble. Zee Spearman added 13.

After three straight games at home, Tennessee hits the road playing at Florida on Sunday and then at top 15 Kentucky on Thursday. The message from Caldwell is simple — finish.

“I think we are trending in the right direction,” Caldwell said. “I think we just need to finish games. I think all of the games at home, the last two specifically we had double digit leads that could have easily gone to 20-25, maybe even 30 and we just didn’t finish.”

Added Spear, “I think at times we kind of relax. When we get a big lead we can tell when people start to wear down and get tired. We have to keep our foot on the gas and keep on going instead of relaxing.”

Tennessee and Florida tip off at 1pm ET on the SEC Network.