Rick Barnes on Australian rugby: 'I would pay to go see it'

On3 imageby:Grant Ramey03/20/23

GrantRamey

Florida Atlantic head coach Dusty May was wrapping up his press conference late Sunday night, after his team advanced to the Sweet Sixteen with a 78-70 win over Fairleigh Dickinson, when he was asked about the next opponent on schedule. 

What were his thoughts on facing Tennessee in the third round of the NCAA Tournament?

“We’re going to study Australian rugby rules,” May quipped, “and get ready for the Vols.”

On Monday at Pratt Pavilion, asked how he interpreted that quote, Tennessee coach Rick Barnes went back to a good memory from early in his career as a head coach.

“Well, you know what,” Barnes said, “I took a Big East All-Star Team to Australia back in ’90. We went to a match and I enjoyed it. I thought it was good.

“I liked the way the referee does all that stuff,” Barnes continued, motioning to signal with his arms. “I enjoyed watching it. You know what, I would probably pay to go see it. We were free that day, but I would pay to go see it.”

No. 4-seed Tennessee (25-10), which advanced with a 65-52 win over Duke in the second Round in Orlando on Saturday, will face No. 9 Florida Atlantic (34-3) on Thursday in the Sweet Sixteen at Madison Square Garden. The NCAA Tournament East Region semifinal game will tipoff at 9 p.m. Eastern Time and will be televised by TBS.

Michigan State and Kanas State will play the early game Thursday, a 6:30 p.m. ET start on TBS. Arkansas and UConn play at 7:15 p.m. ET on CBS and Gonzaga will face UCLA at 9:45 p.m. ET on CBS.

Friday’s schedule starts with San Diego State vs. Alabama at 6:30 p.m. ET on TBS, Miami-Houston at 7:15 p.m. ET on CBS, Princeton-Creighton at 9 p.m. ET on TBS and Xavier-Texas at 9:45 p.m. ET on CBS.

Rick Barnes: ‘I didn’t see anything dirty from either team’ in Tennessee’s win over Duke

Duke freshman forward Kyle Filipowski was on the receiving end of two offensive fouls called on Uros Plavsic on rebound attempts in the opening minutes of Saturday’s game. In the locker room afterward, Filipowski described the Vols as one of the most physical teams the Blue Devils had faced after the Vols won 65-52 Saturday in Orlando.

“Aside from Purdue,” Filipowski said, “I’d probably say that Tennessee was the next, if not the most, physical team that we’ve played all year, aside from all the conference games. That’s no hit on any of the teams we’ve played. That was just saying how physical Tennessee was today.”

Tennessee outrebounded one of the best rebounding teams in college basketball, 35-30. The Vols allowed only six offensive rebounds to the 10th best offensive rebounding team in the country and scored 12 second-chance points off of 12 of their own offensive boards.

The Vols had four turnovers in the first eight minutes, then had only five more over the final 32 minutes. They scored 18 points off 15 Duke turnovers and finished the game with eight steals and five blocks.

Up Next: Tennessee vs. Florida Atlantic, Sweet Sixteen, Thursday, 9 p.m. ET, TBS

“They played an outstanding game,” first-year Duke head coach Jon Scheyer said. “They’re incredibly well-coached. They’re tough. They’ve been through it before. They made some big-time plays … really felt like a Sweet 16, Elite 8 game type of game. 

Barnes on Monday was also asked about a narrative that came from the Duke game that Tennessee played dirty. Barnes said he had given it no thought.

“I haven’t heard (it), not really,” Barnes said. “I think playing good, hard basketball, it’s not something nice to look at. I know our guys played hard. I know Duke played hard, too.

“Again,” Barnes added, “I’m on the Rules Committee and the referees did what they thought was right. And I thought they officiated the game the way they felt it went. But from our perspective, I didn’t see anything dirty from either team.”

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