KNOXVILLE - If you have any idea which version of the Tennessee men's basketball team will show up for tonight's game at Arkansas, Rick Barnes would like to know.
Lately, it's been a mystery for the Tennessee coach - and everyone else - as the up-and-down Volunteers struggle with consistency from game to game and even within them.
Case in point: Tennessee followed up getting smacked at home by Vanderbilt by notching a spirited win three days later against South Carolina, which at the time was ranked No. 24 and had just one loss.
Further evidence: After falling behind by 21 points in 14-plus minutes against No. 20 Kentucky, the Vols outscored the Wildcats 71-43 the following 25-plus minutes and won Tuesday's game 84-77.
Speaking before Friday's practice at Pratt Pavilion, Barnes said he would like consistency where his starting lineup and bench rotation is concerned, calling that "probably the biggest thing that we haven't gotten to this year.
"We're not still sure what we're going to get every single night from every guy, and that's probably the biggest reason we've been up and down, like a roller coaster," he added. "What you'd like to do is at some point in time is have a starting group and develop a rotation, knowing that that could change with fouls or an injury or whatever it may be.
"As I'm standing here today, I'd like to think that I could sit down and write out how I'd like to see it go, but I don't think it's going to go that way. I don't think I can do that."
Tennessee has been very good in stretches this season.
In addition to the two wins against ranked teams, the Vols led Texas A&M by double digits and went toe-to-toe with Butler and Gonzaga on the road. But they were also outscored 16-2 in the final four minutes of a loss to Alabama and by 26 points in the second half of a loss at TCU.
Closing games has been a challenge, and the Vols always seem to have offensive lulls in which they fail to make a shot from the field - or score at all - for three or four minutes. Had Tennessee held on to late leads against Texas A&M and Alabama, it would be tied for second place in the Southeastern Conference standings.
"Every team goes through it," Barnes said. "It just depends on how long a drought you can go. We keep numbers, and I've said before we want to stop people three times (in a row). We need four or five of those a half consecutively. On the other hand, you don't want to get stopped three, but you certainly don't want to go seven, eight, nine, 10 possessions straight where you come up empty.
"All teams do it at some point, and the fact is what we've got to figure out is when that happens within the flow of the game, how can our players understand we need to get something good right here?"
Tuesday night's turnaround against Kentucky, Barnes said, hinged on a solid defensive performance. The Vols also were able to get to the foul line 34 times. In losses at Alabama and TCU the previous week, Tennessee shot 18 free throws and a whopping 64 3-point attempts.
Tennessee's record when attempting at least 20 or more 3-pointers in a game is 6-10.
"We all hope that we can learn from every game and build on it, but we haven't always done that," Barnes said. "We've gone through times where we would move forward and think that we had some things. The difference in the game the other night, when I went and really broke it down and watched it, was our defense was really good from start to finish. Getting to the line helped us get back in it, obviously."
Youth is a factor in Tennessee's inconsistency. Three freshmen - Kyle Alexander, Shembari Phillips and Admiral Schofield - and sophomore Detrick Mostella make up half the playing rotation. The ups and downs of those underclassmen have contributed to the ups and downs of the team.
"I don't think they've played a lot at this level," Barnes said. "They're getting some quality minutes now. And I think all of them are starting to get a little bit more comfortable."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfree press.com.