Rick Barnes shares initial thoughts on Mississippi State

Tennessee had quite a game to start conference play last week against Ole Miss — a 63-59 Vols victory. Rick Barnes and Co. are now gearing up to welcome Mississippi State to Rocky Top Tuesday night, and he knows that game won’t be easy, either.

Barnes shared his initial thoughts on the Bulldogs this week and spoke highly of the job Chris Jans has done in his first year as head coach. He specifically pointed to the work they do on defense, which is going to challenge his defense just as Ole Miss did Dec. 28.

“They know how they want to play,” Barnes said. “Extremely well-coached. Change defenses, play really, really hard, switching. Really trying to make you think. The fact of the matter is they do a terrific job knowing exactly what they want on the offensive end and defensively, they do the things that good defensive teams do. They pressure, they will mix their defenses and they rebound the basketball.”

Mississippi State started the year 11-0 before dropping its last two games to Drake and Alabama. Tennessee brings an identical 11-2 record into Tuesday’s game, which tips off at 7 p.m. ET.

Rick Barnes: Josiah-Jordan James is ‘doing better’

As a senior veteran for Tennessee, Josiah-Jordan James came into this season as an important returning piece for the Volunteers. However, he has only played in five games this season due to a knee issue, and the program is eager to get him back on the floor as soon as possible.

From what Rick Barnes said on Monday, though, that could happen earlier than fans think. During his preview of Mississippi State with the media, he said James is making quality progress and is working himself back into what the Vols do each day.

“He’s doing better. He’s starting to work his way back in,” Barnes said. “We’ll see what that leads to but he’s working his way back in.”

On3’s Sam Gillenwater contributed to this report.