On Friday, the Tennessee basketball program picked up a big 83-72 SEC tournament win against the Texas Longhorns to advance to the next stage of the bracket. The Longhorns put up a valiant effort in this one, but ultimately, Tennessee was able to make enough plays down the stretch to help head coach Rick Barnes defeat the team he used to coach.
After the game, Barnes spoke on that complex relationship and having to coach against his good friend and current Texas head coach Rodney Terry.
“You’re playing against your family. It’s tough,” said Barnes, per Wes Rucker of GoVols247 on X, formerly Twitter.
Barnes also spoke on why he believes that Texas, who finished the year 6-12 in SEC play this season, should still deserve an NCAA Tournament slot due to their mini-run in Nashville this week.
“There’s no doubt. Texas is an NCAA team,” Barnes said, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel, via Zach Dimmitt of Sports Illustrated. ” … There’s no doubt in my mind they did enough. I think they’ve done more than enough. I think we should have 14 teams in the NCAA Tournament is what I think.”
Terry also vouched for his team to make the big dance despite their rough regular season.
“We’d be a dangerous matchup in the NCAA tournament because we’re finally healthy. We have our full allotment of guys. We’re playing pretty good at the right time of year,” said Terry, per Ben McKee of GoVols247.
Meanwhile, there’s little doubt that Tennessee will be securing a high seed in the NCAA Tournament due to their performance throughout this regular season and up to this point in the SEC Tournament. Tennessee has been among the best teams in the country throughout this season under Barnes’ leadership.
The Volunteers take on Auburn on Saturday afternoon for a spot in the SEC tournament championship game.
The post Tennessee basketball’s Rick Barnes drops ‘family’ admission on coaching against Rodney Terry, Texas appeared first on ClutchPoints.
