We're not going to be the team that we want to be until we become an elite practice team and understand how we've got to go out every day this time of year.
KNOXVILLE - The Tennessee men's basketball team added two victories and a close loss against three power conference opponents to its early season résumé during last week's Battle 4 Atlantis, but coach Rick Barnes isn't pondering how the quality showing will affect his team's postseason chances just yet.
"Hopefully these games will matter come March," Barnes said Tuesday. "But we've got to win a lot of games to make them matter."
Tennessee (4-1) hosts Mercer (5-2) tonight at Thompson-Boling Arena in its first game back in the United States since beating then-18th ranked Purdue 78-75, losing to fourth-ranked Villanova 85-76 and beating North Carolina State 67-58 in three consecutive days during last week's tournament in the Bahamas.
The good showing earned the Volunteers 14 votes in this week's Associated Press Top 25 poll.
In this Dec. 18, 2016, file photo, Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes directs his players in an NCAA college basketball game against Gonzaga in Nashville, Tenn. For the second straight year, the Southeastern Conference's preseason media poll projected Tennessee to finish 13th out of 14 conference teams. The Vols realize the doubts about their team will linger as long as they keep missing the NCAA Tournament. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)"It doesn't matter right now," Barnes said. "I think this time of year it's way too early to write somebody in and write somebody out."
Tennessee likely would have cracked the Top 25 had it sealed a victory against Villanova on day two of the tournament. The Vols led by 12 points at halftime but were outscored by 21 points in the second half. Barnes said his team had the right mentality in the locker room at halftime.
"But we didn't back it up," he said. "You know when you're playing against an elite program like Villanova, you go back and they've got a winning pedigree. They've won 65 or 70 games the last two years with a national championship, so you know they're going to come out after halftime and be aggressive.
"We didn't respond until it was really too late. Even with all that said, we had a chance to tie the game and took a bad shot. We were grinding right until the very end."
Barnes said the team's effort covered up some defensive mistakes. Offensively, he spotted many flaws. Certain players need more touches, he said.
"We're not going to be the team that we want to be until we become an elite practice team and understand how we've got to go out every day this time of year," he said. "It's not about being on the court for a long time, but it's about being there mentally. We've got to have that, and we're not at that point yet."
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com.