The words rolling off Tennessee men’s basketball coach Rick Barnes’ lips on Saturday afternoon weren’t exactly string music to citizens of the Big Orange Nation.
Attempting to explain his 19th-ranked Volunteers’ 70-55 home loss to Kentucky, Barnes said, “I don’t think we had great mental preparation yesterday getting ready for the game.”
He also said, “I don’t think they’ve handled success very well.”
And this: “We have a team where you guys know we have some young players that I still think are learning what college basketball is all about. By this time of year, they should know it.”
The question is, by this time of year, with Selection Sunday for the 2021 NCAA tournament on March 14 quickly approaching, is there enough time left to learn what’s needed to be learned to make a deep run? Or will this be remembered as one of the less satisfying seasons in Vols basketball history?