Tennessee basketball hits low point in Rick Barnes era vs. Florida
01/08/2025 10:04 AM
The No. 1 seed is no longer in Knoxville, a Tennessee basketball was dethroned by Florida on Tuesday. Although No. 1 seeds lose periodically throughout the college basketball season, the way that they lost was embarrassing. Following their first loss of the season, the Volunteers weren’t anywhere offensively.
Jeff Borzello of ESPN said, “Tennessee’s 4-for-29 shooting performance in the first half tonight was its worst field-goal percentage in any half since Rick Barnes took over in 2015.” While teams nationwide have rough shooting nights, this one was for the record books.
Losing by 30 points to one of the top SEC rivals is not a good look by any means. While Florida basketball has been a top program, a 30-point blowout is not good. To add more insult to injury, this game for the Volunteers was one of the worst in the school’s history.
“Tennessee is the only Division I team this century to shoot 30% or worse on 2-pointers, 15% or worse on 3-pointers, and 60% or worse on free throws in a single game (min. 25 attempts in each category),” OptaSTATS stated. The offense was not clicking from anywhere on Tuesday.
The Rick Barnes era for Tennessee basketball will be fine
Although Tuesday’s performance was a forgetful one, it’s not an indicator of Barnes’s impact on the university. He has a 216-102 record through his 10 seasons in Knoxville. He’s made the NCAA tournament in the last four seasons. In all of those seasons, Tennessee basketball has reached the top 10 or above in the AP poll at least once in those seasons.
However, that’s not to say that they haven’t looked suspect. For instance, Tennessee basketball had a buzzer-beater that crushed Illinois’ upset dream. Before that, people were speculating if the Volunteers had played any legitimate competition. That’s no disrespect to Illinois but the SEC is stacked this season.
Teams like Florida, Kentucky, Alabama, and Auburn highlighted a top-heavy conference. Six SEC teams are in the top 10 in the AP poll, as of January 6. Plus, the Volunteers gained their first loss of the season against the Gators, and their first conference loss.
Tennessee basketball will hit the road again and take on the unranked Texas basketball team. After an embarrassing loss, there will likely be more motivation to put a hurt on a new SEC opponent. However, one game doesn’t define the Barnes era of Tennessee basketball. How they respond will be crucial and can determine the rest of the conference play.
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