No. 11 Tennessee loses by 12 to unranked Colorado
An early-season upset in the SEC to bring you joy to close out the weekend.
On Friday, Colorado lost to Grambling State by a final score of 83-74 to fall to 1-1 on the year. Just two days later, the Buffaloes traveled to Nashville to beat No. 11 Tennessee by 12 points at Bridgestone Arena.
The Volunteers, picked to finish No. 3 in the SEC during the preseason, shot just 25% from the field and turned the ball over 15 times while being outrebounded 47-38.
Josiah-Jordan James and Tyreke Key led Tennessee with 15 points apiece, while Zakai Zeigler scored 12 (4-12 FG, 2-6 3PT) and Santiago Vescovi added 11 (2-13 FG, 2-11 3PT, 4 TO).
Only two players finished in double figures for Colorado, with KJ Simpson leading the way with 23 points and Tristan da Silva adding 14, both off the bench.
How did Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes take the loss? Well, not great to say the least. He was extremely critical of his team’s guard play and defense, adding that his players didn’t come in with a winning mindset.
“Give Colorado a lot of credit. … I thought they played terrific, we had no answer for them defensively in the second half,” Barnes said. “We didn’t guard them. Our guard play wasn’t what it needs to be, 2-11 around the rim, shots you have to make. You’ve just got to make them. Some nights you’re going to have a bad night, but it was our defense that wasn’t very good. And turnovers are a problem. … I didn’t like our mindset coming in, we think we’re good enough to just go out there and play, today proved we’re not.
We got wild, I mean, I’m looking out there like I don’t have a clue what we’re doing. Our guard play set the tone in a negative way for us. … They controlled the game from start to finish.”
Barnes called out Zeigler by name, saying he would be pulled from the starting lineup moving forward for playing “totally out of control” in the loss.
“Zakai was out of control, totally out of control,” he said. “To the point that I’ve already told him, ‘You’re not starting.’ Him coming in and starting the game hasn’t worked very well.”
Don’t hear that very often from a head coach talking about his player.
Kentucky plays Tennessee in Knoxville on January 14, then again in Lexington on February 18.
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