Rick Barnes admits he's tired of Uros Plavsic's 'antics'

Tennessee is 9-2 on the season and the Vols just lost a tight game against an Arizona team that is also ranked inside the top ten. After the loss, Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes expressed his frustrations with senior forward Uros Plavsic and his “antics” that could be hurting the team more than they’re helping.

Plavsic is a physical presence for Tennessee, and his toughness is a big part of the Vols’ game. After scoring an early basket against Arizona on Saturday, though, Plavsic picked up a technical foul. Barnes promptly took him out of the game and kept him out for the ensuing stretch.

Tempers flared between the two teams following the final buzzer, which led to Barnes strongly sounding off on the actions of Plasvic.

“I didn’t see what happened,” Barnes said when asked about the end of the game. “I’m not happy with Uros. I’m not happy with his antics. Honestly, I’m really tired of it because I think it hurts our team. We want him to be hard-nosed, physical, but we don’t need the antics. I mean he’s got to be more mature than that. I mean we were up six and he gets a technical foul. People look at him. They see it. At the end of the game, I don’t know what happened yet. I haven’t talked to anyone about it.”

Ultimately, Plavsic was on the court for 19 minutes against Arizona. He finished the game with six points, six rebounds and two steals, also picking up three personal fouls including the costly technical early on.

On the season, Plavsic is averaging 14.4 minutes per game with five points and 4.4 rebounds.

This season is Plavsic’s fourth at Tennessee, and he played an important role as the Vols turned things around last year, when he averaged 4.2 points and 4.0 rebounds.

During his four-year career, Plavsic has played in 77 games with 35 starts for Tennessee. He has averaged 3.4 points and 2.8 rebounds.

After starting the year 1-1, Tennessee rattled off eight consecutive wins to reach 9-1. After falling to Arizona, the Vols now sit at 9-2 with the start of SEC play nearing. Tennessee will host Austin Peay on Wednesday, Dec. 21, with a road trip against Ole Miss looming on Wednesday, Dec. 28 before an early January matchup against a currently undefeated Mississippi State team.