KNOXVILLE - It took a loss for the Tennessee Volunteers to find themselves.
All season long, the talk around the fifth-ranked Vols and their national championship chances centered around how solid, how efficient their offense was. The early-season success gave plenty of reason for that, as the team topped 50 percent shooting from the field in 13 of its first 16 games.
The Vols supposedly had no offensive weaknesses and were prepared for any scenario. It would start with reigning Southeastern Conference player of the year Grant Williams inside. If he wasn't rolling, it was easy to turn to guard/forward Admiral Schofield, a 6-foot-6, 241-pound proven shotmaker. Then there were guards Jordan Bone, Jordan Bowden and Lamonte Turner, each of whom has scored 20 points in a game. Throw in 6-11 interior presence Kyle Alexander and the Vols were supposed to be set.
There were defensive issues, but they could score with anyone, and outscore everyone.
Then came the first Kentucky game on Feb. 16 in Lexington, where none of those assets worked out. The Vols shot a season-low 41 percent from the field. They had only 11 assists, a season low until a 10-assist performance against LSU a week later.
Last season the Vols would have relied on their defense to keep the game close, but they hadn't needed to this year, and it showed. The Wildcats shot a blistering 55 percent from the field - the best since Alabama shot 57 percent in a 78-50 win on Feb. 10 of last season - and dominated the interior, outscoring Tennessee 38-20 in the paint.
Since then, the Vols have realized their true identity, one of a tough, defensive-minded team with improved offensive players. In the four games since the first Kentucky meeting, the Vols limited Vanderbilt, LSU, Ole Miss and the Wildcats to 36 percent shooting from the field, including last Saturday when Kentucky set season lows in scoring (52) and field-goal accuracy (32 percent). Considering the Vols scored only two more points in the second meeting than in the first, the 34 fewer points the Wildcats scored - and the effort that went into that performance - was the reason.
"Well, I think really when you get down to it after the way we got beat at Kentucky, we saw that we really weren't in positions we needed to be in," Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said Monday. "I do think the biggest thing was we got more of our fight back against LSU down there, where we really worked hard. Then we have been able to continue to build on it.
"I think our guys realize more than ever they are going to be in close basketball games. They realize how important every possession is. They are holding each other responsible. The communication on the court, the communication in practice and the accountability part - that's what it gets down to. If you are going to be great at something, it is going to be when they take onus on it themselves. They are doing that. In the huddles, they are talking about missed assignments and what has to happen and what you have to do. They really are holding each other more accountable."
It's almost as though things are back to like last year, when the Vols won 26 games and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament. The defensive intensity is back, the fire is back, and right in time for the postseason push. And with players who improved during the offseason on their individual games, coupling the defensive mindset with the offensive gains will make the Vols a tough team to beat - as long as they play the right way.
"I think our guys know defense has to be the identity of our team, and even though we've gotten better overall this year, we were still too emotional (offensively) Saturday," Barnes said Monday. "We took too many shots. Any time you jump up in the air and you get a shot blocked or you have to drop it off at the very end, you've already got your mind made up before you got into your shot.
"Multiple times we attacked areas where you're going have to make the play and not say (you don't know). I think that's emotion. We had that happen two or three times. We took some 3s that we shouldn't have taken. But I think when we play together, when we really move the ball and look out for each other, I do think we're a terrific offensive team. But I think our guys truly know that we have to have our identity with the defensive end."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.