Ja’Kobi Gillespie led Tennessee in scoring and Nate Ament was clutch down the stretch during Wednesday night’s 73-64 triumph over Mississippi State in Starkville, but the game didn’t start out that way.
The starting inside duo of J.P. Estrella and Felix Okpara dominated early as the Volunteers produced six dunks in the first 11 minutes.
“We don’t want to just get them going early. We want to get them going throughout,” Tennessee 11th-year coach Rick Barnes said Friday afternoon during a news conference. “That was one of the big takeaways from film yesterday. They were playing really good basketball, and we got away from that a little bit. It’s a matter of being consistent, and they’ve got to do their jobs screening.
“They’ve gotten better playing out of the pick-and-rolls, and obviously people are going to make adjustments. When they make adjustments, we have to make our adjustments. We need those guys. We need balance. The more balance we get, the better we’re going to be.”
(READ MORE: Vols survive Mississippi State’s 18-0 run to prevail in Starkville)
Barnes will be seeking his 250th victory with the Vols when they host LSU at 6 p.m. Saturday on the SEC Network. Tennessee, which will wear its “dark mode” uniforms, is 17-7 overall and 9-4 in Southeastern Conference play.
This is the “making hay” portion of Tennessee’s league schedule, as Mississippi State, LSU and Oklahoma, which visits the Food City Center next Wednesday, are a combined 7-26 in conference contests. LSU is in its fourth season under Matt McMahon, who is 59-63 overall and just 16-49 in SEC games.
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The Tigers (14-10, 2-9 SEC) are coming off one of their worst outings of the season, Tuesday night’s 91-62 debacle against Arkansas in Baton Rouge.
“They’ve had to deal with injuries, which always sets everybody back,” Barnes said. “They really play hard, and if we don’t take care of the ball, they’ll take advantage of it.”
Tennessee holds a 69-50 series advantage over LSU and has won the past four meetings. In the past 21 games between the programs, only one contest — LSU’s 82-80 overtime triumph in Baton Rouge in 2019 — was decided by fewer than five points.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.