Rick Barnes challenges 'soft' Vols to bring fight to South Carolina

Tennessee prides itself on defense, but coach Rick Barnes is calling on the Volunteers to bring the "confrontation" mentality to the regular-season finale on Saturday afternoon. After a 78-76 defeat at Ole Miss, the No. 4 Volunteers (24-6, 11-6 Southeastern Conference) need to beat last-place South Carolina in Knoxville, Tenn. "It's ridiculous," Barnes said after the Rebels' Jaemyn Brakefield scored all 19 of his points in the upset's final 10:24 and was undeniable in the paint. "We talk about having confrontation. We play like we were -- that's soft, honestly. That's being soft. That's you not really trying to go in and make plays on the ball." In the final 20 minutes, Tennessee built an eight-point lead but squandered it with nearly 16 minutes left before Brakefield happened. "They made shots on us," said Barnes, whose team lost the points in the paint battle 46-20 and the offensive rebound tussle 15-8. "But again, you let a team get comfortable and you're not as aggressive and you're not playing smart. Offensive rebounding can just take the wind out of your sail." Though its hopes of a No. 1 national seed were critically damaged, Tennessee can guarantee itself a double bye in the SEC tournament in Nashville by defeating the floundering Gamecocks (12-18, 2-15). Vols leading scorer Jordan Gainey netted 19 points on Wednesday to eclipse 1,500 career points. Team leader Chaz Lanier (17.7 points) swished 3 of 8 from distance to put him at 102 made 3s, joining the North Florida transfer with Chris Lofton and Santiago Vescovi as the only Volunteers to breach the century mark in a season. Dating back to 2017-18, the Rocky Top program has won 11 of 13 against South Carolina and is 31-10 all-time at home. Regardless of its outcome in the Appalachian Mountains, South Carolina knows its situation in the Music City next week. The Gamecocks are locked into the conference's last spot after Tuesday's 73-64 loss to Georgia and will open the tourney by facing the No. 9 seed in Wednesday's first matchup. A subsequent setback ends the season for Lamont Paris' crew. Against the Bulldogs in their home finale on Senior Night, the Gamecocks only put up something of a threat to open the second half while trailing 40-29. The home side stormed out on a 12-4 run to get the deficit to within three and then later to two at 9:24 on Nick Pringle's free throw. However, it could not sustain the push for the full comeback. Paris understands his team's style of play and what occurs in the 20-minute halves. "I thought we were better defensively in the second half," Paris said. "It's hard. Our recipe for winning typically doesn't involve 40 points in a half. I don't know many people's does, but ours certainly does not. We dug a hole that way, and thought the guys did a good job fighting in the second half." Sophomore sensation Collin Murray-Boyles continues to be a one-man wrecking ball in the post for Paris. Averaging 28.7 points over the past three outings, the hometown product generates 17 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists while knocking down 58.9 percent from the floor. --Field Level Media