Another impressive season for Rick Barnes at Tennessee, another exit short of the Final Four for his Volunteers.
Making matters worse, the second-seeded Volunteers were thoroughly beaten at their own game Sunday, with Houston stifling them defensively. Houston Coach Kelvin Sampson executed an offensive rebounding and defensive master class in his top-seeded team’s 69-50 victory in the Midwest Regional final at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Barnes punctuated his 10th season at Tennessee with a second straight Elite Eight appearance. But the Final Four remains elusive for the Volunteers, who have the most Sweet 16 appearances (11) without reaching a Final Four.
In the game’s waning moments, the heart and soul of Tennessee’s team, senior Zakai Zeigler had three words for Barnes: “I am sorry.” And at the close of the Volunteers’ postgame news conference, Zeigler and his coach engaged in a long hug in front of the assembled media.
“I feel so hurt for these guys,” Barnes said. “I know they wanted to do better and to play better … He’s got nothing to be sorry about. He gave us everything. They know I’m an older guy, they would love to win a national championship. They have absolutely not one thing to hang their head about. We have a slogan at Tennessee: ‘Give your all for Tennessee.’ They did that, in more ways than you can imagine.”
Another senior, Jahmai Mashack, said, “I wanted to get there for him [Barnes]. I really wanted people to realize how good of a coach he is. I wanted to get there for him, I wanted to get there for the Vol fans, man. It’s hard. These are guys who are my brothers for life.”
Barnes, who reinvigorated his lengthy career after his firing from Texas in 2015, has the most career victories (836) of any active coach who has not won a national championship.
Earlier in the week, Barnes, 70, addressed retirement rumors, saying “I fully plan” to coach Tennessee next year.
When the final buzzer sounded, Sampson said, his first thought went to his longtime friend Barnes because he knew he’d be hurting and he knows that reaching the Elite Eight is such an impressive feat.
“They are coached by a Hall of Famer in every sense,” Sampson said after the game.
Significant reloading efforts are already underway in Knoxville. The Vols need to replace seniors Zeigler, Jordan Gainey, Igor Milicic Jr. and Mashack. Fifth-year seniors Chaz Lanier and Darlinstone Dubar are also gone.
A strong recruiting class is set to arrive, with touted prospects DeWayne Brown, Amari Evans and Troy Henderson, who committed earlier this week.
Sunday was a matchup of two of the top three teams nationally in defensive efficiency, according to KenPom ratings. But it was Houston that flexed its defensive muscles, especially before halftime.
The first-half numbers could not have been much worse for Tennessee, which missed its first 14 3-point attempts, shot 21 percent overall, surrendered nine offensive rebounds and was soundly beaten in second-chance points.
The 15 first-half points by Tennessee marked the fewest ever in a half by a top-two seed in the NCAA Tournament. In the first half especially, the Volunteers could not run their plays effectively, could not beat the Cougars one on one and could not make open shots.
“We knew it would be difficult. We look at our team, mostly perimeter oriented,” Barnes said. “We had some looks — we didn’t make them. It’s hard when you’re not able to get inside for some easier baskets…We felt we got some shots but weren’t able to knock those down early. Second-chance points early, when you are shooting as poorly as we were, those are hard to overcome.”
The 15-for-52 shooting effort for the game was Tennessee’s worst-ever shooting performance in the NCAA Tournament.
“This team really did become a family,” Barnes said. “There’s 10,000 coaches who would love to be where we are right now, even though we’re disappointed in the loss. We owe it to them [departing players] to continue with the standard they set and take it to another level. It’s tough, obviously. As badly as we all want it, it always hurts if you don’t get it all. I do know this: This team gave us every possible thing they could every day.”
