KNOXVILLE — Tennessee is 25 games into a men's basketball season that could wind up being between 35 and 40 contests.
The No. 8 Volunteers are coming off a productive two-game stretch that featured absolute obliterations of Arkansas, 92-63 inside Bud Walton Arena, and Vanderbilt, 88-53 at the Food City Center, but those wins followed an 85-69 defeat at Texas A&M, the most lopsided loss of Tennessee's 19-6 season that includes a 9-3 mark in Southeastern Conference play.
There are sure to be matchups ahead in which the Vols perform well and not-so-well, but where has this team grown the most since first tipping off in late October with a thrilling exhibition victory at Michigan State?
"That's a really good question, because we're always talking about trying to get better," Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said following Saturday's shredding of the Commodores. "We haven't been as consistent all the time with the fundamentals in terms of our schemes, whether it's ball screens or rebounding. We've had our ups and downs there.
"I don't know how to say it really other than the fact that, even as a coaching staff, we've been able to tweak some things and do some things that players have shown us where they can be effective."
Tennessee, which was pegged Saturday afternoon by the NCAA tournament selection committee as a potential No. 2 seed and as the sixth-best team overall, will seek a 20-win season Tuesday night (7 Eastern on the SEC Network) at Missouri. The Tigers are 8-17 overall and winless through 12 league contests.
(READ MORE: NCAA selection committee sees Vols as a No. 2 seed right now)
When fifth-year senior guard Santiago Vescovi was asked Saturday night where the Vols have most improved since this season tipped off, he quickly pointed to the offensive end. Tennessee has scored 85 or more points in eight of 12 SEC games after reaching that mark five times in 13 nonconference opportunities.
"We are doing a lot better job now of taking open shots," Vescovi said. "We know that's not easy in the SEC to get open shots, so whenever you're open, just take it. Don't second-guess yourself. I think we've been pretty highly rated offensively lately, and I think that shows how confident we are on the court and how much confidence we have in each other.
"The bonding part is the biggest thing, and I think that's something that never stops. You can always get tighter and tighter as a team."
There has been an undeniable growth with Northern Colorado transfer guard Dalton Knecht meshing with veterans such as Vescovi, Zakai Zeigler, Josiah-Jordan James and Jonas Aidoo, and vice versa. That has included growing pains, with Barnes earlier this month calling out his veterans for relying on Knecht too much, but it's a dynamic overall that has produced way more successful nights than bad ones.
"Our older guys want to win, and knowing that you have a guy who other teams have to game plan for, we've worked on how you can move him," Barnes said. "We're trying to do that with different offensive schemes, and with Dalton it's also about defense. We've told him that you better show us that you really want to guard, and he has gotten better."
(READ MORE: Barnes says it’s ‘not fair’ for Vols to be waiting on Knecht)
Tennessee enters the last three weeks of the regular season trailing Alabama by a game in the conference standings. The Vols defeated the Crimson Tide 91-71 in Knoxville on Jan. 20, and they will have another shot in Tuscaloosa on March 2.
Yet the closing schedule for Tennessee also includes Auburn, Kentucky, South Carolina and Texas A&M, which should provide many more chances for continued improvement.
"I think it's about these guys individually understanding what each guy is capable of doing," Barnes said. "That's when we're at our best, when guys do what they're good at and stay away from things that they're not as good at. That's probably our biggest growth.
"They're understanding each other in a good way that way."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.