ATLANTA – Rick Barnes leaned back in his chair and threw up his arms in a motion of frustration.
You couldn’t blame Tennessee’s first-year basketball coach for the reaction as he assessed what just happened.
The Volunteers threw away a nine-point lead early in the second half and missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer in a 69-67 loss to Georgia Tech in front of 5,467 at McCamish Pavilion on Monday night.
Tennessee guard Devon Baulkman (34) and Georgia Tech forward Marcus Georges-Hunt (3) scramble for a loose ball during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Monday, Nov. 16, 2015, in Atlanta.
Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes yells from the bench in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against the Georgia Tech on Monday, Nov. 16, 2015, in Atlanta. Georgia Tech won 69-67. “I didn’t think we were disciplined at all on the offensive end when we had control of the game,” Barnes said. “We just got too loose with the ball – silly turnovers, guys doing things we hadn’t seen as a staff, just throwing the ball around. We just didn’t have the discipline to do what we trying to get done as a team.
“I do think we showed some courage and some fight to get back in it.”