Rick Barnes explained what went wrong for the No. 17 Tennessee Volunteers following their 81-76 loss to the Kansas Jayhawks on Wednesday night during the third-place game of the Players Era Festival.
Going into the matchup, the Volunteers had a perfect 7-0 record to begin the 2025-26 campaign. They were coming off of victories over Mercer, Northern Kentucky, North Florida, Rice, Tennessee State, Rutgers, and ranked Houston. They displayed incredible momentum after stunning a national contender in the Cougars but dropped the ball after losing to the Jayhawks in the fashion they did.
Barnes reflected on the loss after the game, via Rocky Top Insider. He noticed how Kansas caught up and Tennessee lost control with how they didn't keep up the tempo they had in the first half.
“I thought when we were up, Kansas kept playing and we didn’t do the things that got us up. We didn't do it on the offensive end or defensive end, and they obviously started driving the ball and we fouled too much,” Barnes said.
“But too many scouting report breakdowns, things we had talked about. Again, you can talk about we only had a day but we’ve got enough guys that can understand that. But they deserved to win the game because at the end they got done what they needed to get done and we didn’t.”
How Rick Barnes, Tennessee performed against Kansas
Rick Barnes and Tennessee will regret not getting the job done against Kansas, collapsing in the second half of the contest.
The Volunteers led by as much as 12 points throughout the matchup, leading 41-34 at halftime. However, the Jayhawks came to life in the second half as they dominated 47-35 in the last 20 minutes of regulation. Tennessee never recovered from their lapses in that frame, suffering their first loss of the season.
Perimeter shooting and free throws made the difference in this matchup. The Jayhawks prevailed in both categories by making seven 3-pointers on a 41% clip and converting 26 free throws. It wasn't the same for the Volunteers as they knocked down seven triples on a poor accuracy of 28% and made just 17 shots at the line.
Four players scored in double-digits for Tennessee in the loss. Nate Ament led the way with 20 points, nine rebounds, one assist, and a steal. He shot 5-of-15 from the field, including 2-of-5 from beyond the arc, and 8-of-8 from the free-throw line. Ja'Kobi Gillespie came next with 11 points and four assists, while Jaylen Carey had 11 points and 10 rebounds. Meanwhile, JP Estrella provided 10 points off the bench.
The No. 17 Volunteers will look to bounce back in their next matchup, being on the road. They face the Syracuse Orange on Dec. 2 at 7 p.m. ET.
