KNOXVILLE - Just 89 seconds into the second half, Rick Barnes yanked the reigning Southeastern Conference player of the year from the floor.
Grant Williams rolled his head in exasperation and momentarily pleaded his case with Tennessee's fourth-year basketball coach as he walked to the bench.
The exact nature of his offense seemed unclear to the naked eye, but for a program with its sights set on history, even the tiniest of miscues from its most-decorated players must be accounted for.
Tennessee rolled to an 87-48 exhibition victory over Division II member Tusculum College on Wednesday night at Thompson-Boling Arena. For Division I's sixth-ranked Volunteers there were breakaway dunks, 50 percent 3-point shooting and even some playing time for the walk-ons.
There were also plenty of teaching moments for Barnes ahead of their regular-season opener against Lenoir-Rhyne on Tuesday.
"I didn't think the second half was very good at all from our perspective," Barnes said. "First half, I thought we were getting stops and getting consecutive stops. ... Second half, I think we just got careless and sloppy with the ball and throwing the ball away."
Williams scored 15 points in 24 minutes, his 5-of-10 shooting night a tad below the team's overall 55-percent clip from the field.
But no one was safe from Barnes' quick hook during a sluggish start to the second half.
At one point, Barnes scowled and sent guard Lamonte Turner to the scorers table to enter for fellow point guard Jordan Bone after a Tusculum defender beat Bone to a loose ball.
Sophomore athletic sensation Yves Pons provided the highlight of the night to the 4,439 in the stands by swatting a lay-up attempt from Tariq Jenkins into the stands at the 16:15 mark.
Then he exited.
Barnes cared only about the Pons turnover that preceded the block, not the block itself.
Four seconds later, Tusculum's Brandon Mitchell scored and was fouled by Tennessee's Kyle Alexander.
The Vols never led by fewer than 24 points in the second half, but Barnes quickly pulled Alexander, who fouled out a few minutes later.
"I actually told the team that I want to see the same level of intensity the start of that second half, and it wasn't there," Barnes said. "That's why I took everybody out of the game."
As sophomore forward Derrick Walker put it, "We've just got to have a killer instinct."
Walker pitched in eight points, seven rebounds and two assists in 15 minutes.
"We've got to come out in the second half really dominant," he said. "We kind of haven't done that in the past. So that's something we've got to improve on."
Tennessee committed 16 turnovers in the game - too many for Barnes' liking - and amassed 13 of its 17 total fouls in the second half.
There were things his Vols did that Barnes appreciated, such as Walker's seven rebounds and Pons' 2-for-2 night from beyond the arc.
"In terms of his shooting, he's really worked hard at doing that," Barnes said of the versatile sophomore forward. "He really has."
But on the first night with fans in the stands, the veteran coach found plenty to sink his teeth into.
"It's good to go against outside competition," he said.
For the record, the offense that earned Williams a seat on the bench to begin the second half was getting beat off the dribble.
"You simply can't get blown by like that," Barnes said.
When you play for Barnes, the rules apply all the time. Even when you're the reigning SEC player of the year and your team is leading by 30 in an exhibition game.
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidWCobb and on Facebook at facebook.com/volsupdate.