Tennessee basketball’s Rick Barnes drops Tolu Smith reason for Mississippi State’s shocking win over Vols

After the No. 5 ranked Tennessee basketball team lost to the unranked Mississippi State Bulldogs, head coach Rick Barnes spoke after the game about the disappointing outing. He mentioned the exceptional performance from the Bulldogs star Tolu Smith, who scored 23 points and recorded four rebounds, and how he played to his strengths according to Ben McKee of 247Sports.

“Tolu Smith had his way with our post guys, got his position where he wanted it, and just, he did what he wanted to do,” Barnes said. “And again, we didn’t make enough winning plays at the end and, they deserve all the credit for this win.”

It was a tale of two halves for the Vols as they came out sluggish in the first half which proved to be the beginning of the end as they scored 22 points compared to Mississippi State’s 35 in the first 20 minutes. While the second half would be different, Barnes said that the performance in the fist half was “so inconsistent.”

“That’s the most disappointing thing, just so inconsistent. And you think you’re getting there and then you take a couple steps forward and took a step backwards again. But I do not in any way want to take anything away from Mississippi State,” Barnes said. “Coach (Chris) Jans had his guys ready to play. And early in the first half, we just had some shots, again, had good looks at it, didn’t make it. Then I thought we started taking some shots quick where our feet weren’t set. Just again, kind of hope shots is what I call them.”

Barnes talks about Vols coming back in the second half, but to no avail