Rick Barnes points to ‘ridiculous’ turnover issues following loss at Mizzou
By Luke Greco
Published:
The No. 22 Tennessee Volunteers fell to the Missouri Tigers 73-69 on Tuesday night, and head coach Rick Barnes believes it was the turnovers that hurt his team the most.
The Vols finished the game with 15 total turnovers, nearly double the amount the Tigers had with 8. The Tigers were also able to turn those 15 turnovers into 23 points on the offensive end. The Vols average about 12.4 turnovers per game, a problem they’ve been dealing with all year long.
Barnes had this to say after the game in reference to his team’s turnovers:
“Went to the bench, everybody came in, turned the ball over, and I think at halftime, we’d given them 10 points off turnovers, and then let them get, you know, get some momentum and get some confidence,” Barnes started. “And then their two top players (T.O. Barrett and Mark Mitchell) just bullied us at the end. You know, they got what they wanted at the rim. Both of them went way up, well over their average. So we didn’t do the job there either.”
“But offensively, we’ve said it all year long, that’s going to dictate what happens on the other end. And again, just everybody, just 15 turnovers in there, some of them were just ridiculous.”
Tennessee is looking to get back to the Sweet 16 for the 4th straight season this March. Currently, the Vols have a 55% chance to do so per Kalshi.
The Vols will now have to turn their attention to the Crimson Tide as they take on the No. 17 team on Saturday, Feb. 28.
