MIKE STRANGE

Mike Strange: Tennessee figuring things out, improving resume

Mike Strange
USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee

One week ago Rick Barnes admitted he had no idea what to expect from his Tennessee basketball team. No clue. The ups and downs from one game to the next, from one half to the next, were too jarring.

That was after the Vols had rebounded from a terrible loss at Ole Miss to come home and drum Mississippi State.

It's been a heckuva week for Tennessee since then. The shroud of mystery might be starting to lift.

SEC, Big 12 split Challenge

GoVols247: Vols avoid letdown, top Kansas State

The Vols followed up their impressive win over Mississippi State with a more impressive one, knocking off No. 4 Kentucky on Tuesday.

They followed that one up Saturday by handling Kansas State 70-58 (Box score) at Thompson-Boling Arena. "We won a game today against a really good team,'' Barnes said.

That's three consecutive wins over opponents with a combined record of 44-12. The roller-coaster ride has leveled out, leaving Tennessee in a good place for the moment.

This occasion was an ESPN-contrived event, the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. If it raised the profile of SEC basketball, fine, because it needs raising. What it did for UT was provide another quality opportunity, and a badly needed one, for the Vols to improve their resume.

They pounced on it, leading from wire to wire. Barnes is correct. Tennessee beat two good teams this week.

"What we've done the last two games, and three, really,'' Barnes said, "is when teams have made a push-back against us, we’ve been able to handle it.''

"We're maturing,'' said Kyle Alexander, the sophomore post. "Kentucky was probably the first time we ever went out and played 40 straight minutes of good basketball. We're trying to build off that.''

So where does this modest mid-season growth spurt leave UT? At 12-9 overall, 4-4 in SEC play. Tennessee's schedule ranks as one of the toughest in the nation. For hoops metric junkies, the Vols' RPI and Kenpom.com ratings are definitely trending the right direction.

I'm not ready to start talking postseason yet. Let's see how it goes on the road this week at Auburn and Mississippi State. But the question was raised Saturday in Barnes' post-game session.

"This is separation month,'' Barnes said. "You can talk about bubble teams, you can talk about NCAA tournament teams. There’s just a lot of basketball left to play. There are probably 150 teams or so that are in position to make a push to get themselves into postseason play.

"You can’t get caught up in that. You've just got to get ready to play the next game.''

Which the Vols have been doing a better job of lately. A team at a disadvantage in size and experience must  play with an edge and Tennessee has.

"They play their butts off,'' said Bruce Weber, Kansas State's venerable coach. John Calipari said much the same Tuesday night.

No stat quantifies the degree of butt-playing-off better than rebounding. Tennessee outrebounded Kansas State 43-29. The game was won, essentially, on the offensive glass. The Vols hustled up a 23-6 advantage in second-chance points.

The catalyst was, of all people, Alexander. who got five of his nine rebounds on the offensive end.

Alexander, the 6-foot-10 Canadian who came to the game late in high school, remains a project. Against Kentucky he lasted three minutes before becoming a spectator. Against these Big 12 Wildcats, he was a terror from the opening tip.

"Alexander beats his average in the first two minutes of the game,'' noted Weber.

Added freshman Grant Williams, "He set the tone. It really inspired us to play harder with him."

Play butts off. Stay focused. Unexpected contributions from role players. Answer when the other team makes a run.

These are signs of a team figuring things out. The Vols aren't nearly the riddle they were a week ago.

Mike Strange may be reached at mike.strange@knoxnews.com. Follow him on Twitter at Strangemike44.

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beat three teams that had a combined record of 44-12.