Playing .500 basketball has never been an ingredient for NCAA tournament success.
Yet that's exactly what the Tennessee Volunteers are displaying, as they will enter the 68-team field coming off a 1-1 showing at the Southeastern Conference tournament and with a 7-7 mark in their past 14 games. Tennessee is expected to be either a No. 3 or 4 seed in NCAA play based off its November through January success that included marquee wins over Kansas and Texas.
"I don't know if I've been through in all my years of coaching what we've gone through with the injuries," Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said after Friday's 79-71 loss to Missouri in the SEC quarterfinals in Nashville. "Right when you think you're getting it all back, then it doesn't happen, but these guys have great attitudes and a great work ethic.
"This team is very resilient, and there are a lot of teams that would like to be where we are right now."
Tennessee (23-10) will learn its NCAA tournament location and opening foe Sunday evening at 6 on the CBS-televised selection show. The Vols have been the definition of a .500 team at tournament time with an all-time record of 23-25 in NCAA competition (47.9%) and 13-13 in the NIT, and they are 4-4 in the NCAA tourney under Barnes.
Senior forward Olivier Nkamhoua and sophomore guard Jahmai Mashack are Tennessee's only players to compete in all 33 games this season, with senior guard Josiah-Jordan James having missed the most contests (12) among the team's prominent components. James is assuming his full load again after battling through knee and ankle injuries, but the biggest setback was sophomore point guard Zakai Zeigler's season-ending ACL injury in the 75-57 win over Arkansas on Feb. 28.
Zeigler was the SEC's only representative among the 10 semifinalists for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year, and his late-game presence on both ends of the floor was noticeably absent in the regular-season finale at Auburn and again against Mizzou.
Tennessee enters the NCAA tournament having lost five of its past six games decided by single digits, but players are looking for the positives in that.
"We've gone through so much this season internally as a team, and despite the losses, we've grown so much by staying together and dealing with adversity," Mashack said. "These close losses are building our mental fortitude and helping us out. We're all going to be ready. I think we're going to be prepared for anything and everything."
Said Nkamhoua: "Playing in these close, intense games is going to be good in the long run, because that's tournament basketball."
Continuing to adjust without Zeigler isn't Tennessee's only challenge in the days ahead. Post play has been erratic at best since his departure, with Jonas Aidoo, Tobe Awaka and Uros Plavsic scoring seven combined points in the 79-70 loss at Auburn and combining for no points Friday.
"I think these last three games are going to help us going forward," Barnes said, "and what we set out to do is still out there in front of us. We've just got to get back and get ready to go again."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.