KNOXVILLE - Tennessee probably thought it had faced J.J. Frazier for the last time when Georgia's senior guard poured in 29 points with six assists in propelling the Bulldogs to a win in Knoxville in February.
The Volunteers thought wrong.
Frazier will have a final chance to terrorize Tennessee again when the eighth-seeded Bulldogs and ninth-seeded Vols face off in the Southeastern Conference tournament Thursday afternoon.
"The best way to defend J.J. right now," Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said Monday, "I would think that if you could tell me where they're staying, I'm going to get the chef to spike his food."
Barnes was joking, of course, but Tennessee's best hopes of slowing the hottest scorer in the SEC may hinge on the 5-foot-10 Frazier somehow not making it to Bridgestone Arena on Thursday.
Named an All-SEC first-team selection by the league's media and coaches Tuesday, Frazier has gone on a scoring spree since All-SEC forward Yante Maten sprained his knee against Kentucky a week after Georgia's rally in Knoxville.
Frazier's eruption against the Vols with Maten rendered a nonfactor due to foul trouble was a glimpse of what he would do without him in the lineup. In the past five games, Frazier scored 36, 28, 29, 31 and 24 points. In Georgia's past two meetings with the Vols this season and last, Frazier hung 57 points on the Vols.
"What I love about him is he's not selfish at all," Barnes said. "You think about our game here, the way we started the game, he was a factor even before the second half in terms of running their team.
"He does a really good job of when you try to get his rhythm, he's really good at the rim finishing layups, but he finds the open man, and he seems like he always put it where it needs to be where the shooter can step into it. He makes the game easier for his teammates."
Tennessee adjusted its guard rotation against Alabama on Saturday for defensive purposes. Shembari Phillips started alongside Jordan Bowden in the backcourt, and freshman point guard Jordan Bone played just three minutes. Phillips played 34 minutes and Lamonte Turner came off the bench for 20.
Barnes said after the game the coaching staff had decided it was going to play its best defensive guards, a clear message to Bone about improving in that area.
"By now every player on your team should understand what it takes to win, and what you have to have is consistency," Barnes said Monday. "You can't take plays off at any point in time. You go back and look, I could show you (how) every game is decided by a couple of possessions here or there, even though the score at the end might be a 10- or 12-point game.
"At some point, a couple of possessions here or there can make all the difference in the world, so you can't break down. You can't break down late in the possession. And if you asked me what I think Jordan Bone has learned this year, I think he's starting to figure out and I think he knows for a fact it's a whole lot harder than it used to be.
"I don't think he's ever placed a lot of emphasis on defense. Lamonte, the same thing. I put both of those guys pretty much in the same situation in the fact that they've always kind of relied on the offensive side of the ball, and both of those guys are realizing that's little bit more difficult, too, in terms of running a team and how you have to do it.
"They're young and they're freshmen, and it's our job to get them better, and we will."
Stopping Frazier, though, will require a team effort. It won't be just up to Phillips or one of the point guards. Georgia's use of screens means sometimes Tennessee's forwards will have to defend the smaller, quicker Frazier one on one, and that's where he had success against the Vols in February.
"They set multiple screens and he's got his head up all the time looking to make a play," Barnes said. "If you go under and give him any space, he can knock it down. He's really good at splitting your defense; then he does a good job finishing. He's experienced, and what I like about him is he can play a lot of different ways.
"It sounds easy to say we're going to do this or do that, but he'll adjust."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.