Tennessee survived Texas' upset bid in Austin on Saturday night.
The No. 1 Vols responded to a 30-point loss at Florida earlier in the week with a gusty performance in the closing minutes to come-from-behind and beat the Longhorns, 74-70 at the Moody Center.
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Zakai Zeigler scored a team-high 16 points while Darlinstone Dubar provided 12 points off of the bench and the 3-pointer that put Tennessee (15-1, 2-1 SEC) ahead for good with three minutes remaining.
Here is everything Rick Barnes said about the performance.
On how big Darlinstone Dubar's minutes were off the bench
"It was huge. (Dubar) came in and he was really locked in and did a lot of great things. It was a hard game. Any time you go on the road, it's hard. You play at home, it's hard. Coming off the loss the other night, I really appreciate the way they kept their focus. Went about their preparation the way we tried to do things. And obviously so much respect for this university, this athletic department and the staff at Texas. But it's hard. We knew it was going to be hard. Rebounding was a big focus for us and I thought after the first time out in the second half, we took care of the ball better. Zakai (Zeigler) does what he always does. He created a lot of offense for us doing what he does on the defensive end. But a hard-fought win, but a good win for us."
On how what Texas did to create Tennessee turnovers
"(Texas head coach) Rodney (Terry) does a terrific job with his staff. And we've struggled offensively. We're trying to get more balance. And they work hard, they play personnel, they play analytics. That means you're not going to let Chaz Lanier catch it with a lot of room. They chose to really back off Jahmai Mashack, which then distorts your spacing on offense. Early in the game he was doing what we wanted him to do. We love his defense, whoever is guarding him, sort of a one-man zone and we dealt with it before. So that had a lot to do with it, I thought. And their post guys I thought did a really good job on ball screens. When we were able to start scoring, we opened it up a little bit and just started driving the ball. And Zakai, I thought made some great (decisions). (Dubar's) three in the corner was a big one. Jordan (Gainey) was a big one and Chaz had a pretty good look at it for him. And (Zeigler's) last layup wasn't easy. But I think all four guys, we just put them there and said, we're going to space the floor and let the little guy go. And he did it."
On returning to Austin, coaching at Moody Center for the first time
"Obviously it's a beautiful building. And much different obviously than (Erwin Center), but I've heard a lot of good things about it. And being here, I came in last year at Christmas just to meet Bill Duvall, to see it and was impressed then. But playing over the break is always tough when the students aren't around, I get that. But the fact is, it's a beautiful building."
On Texas freshman guard Tre Johnson, how Tennessee slowed him down late in second half
"One, (Texas has) a team of guys that make some really difficult shots. Rodney likes to get those guys in positions and let them kind of play isolation basketball. And they make some tough shots. But they're good at it. He knows what he wanted to recruit. He's got those guys that are shot-makers. But the first time we tried to take (Johnson) out, they ran a nice set to back cut us, and then that's the one thing we don't want to give up. But give them credit for quickly taking advantage of it. And then they started using him to screen some, hoping to tie some guys up that way. But we just fought as hard as we could, that's all I could say. He's a terrific player and he's tough guy to guard."
On Dubar's confidence growing on offense
"The better (Dubar) plays and the more he gets out there and can do that. And what he did tonight, that I was really proud of, was the in-game adjustments we had to make, he did it, which he has struggled a little bit there. But tonight he did it. He just played with a force that we need him to. And we tell him all the time, I mean, he can really shoot the ball. He can really shoot it. One of the things that when we looked at him in the portal, anybody that can go into Cameron Indoor Stadium, make five or six threes in a game there, tells you that he's not afraid to play. But what we want him to do, I thought he defended, I thought he tried to rebound, got in the mix. And I hope this is will be a way that he can say, 'Hey, you know, I can even get it to another level.'"
On needing to bounce back after loss at Florida
"That's the thought, obviously, when you get beat as badly as we did. And we played hard. We played hard defensively. And then you're playing a totally different game than that game. And coming in, I wanted us to be aggressive early, but I knew that Texas would guard us, defend us. Obviously they scout, they know what they're doing. And I knew baskets wouldn't be easy early, but I wanted to see us be aggressive. And the first couple possessions, trying to see if they were going play us like we thought they would and they did. We knew they're going take out Chaz, we knew they'd back off (Mashack). We knew that would happen. But it's big. Because you know what, where we started, so proud of these guys. If you'd have told me in July, I couldn't have said we would do what we they've done to this point. But we've had different guys.
"We're down to nine scholarship players and two of them aren't at 100 percent like a lot of teams have right now. But really proud of Cade Phillips tonight. Really proud. He went in the game and he battled. And his shoulder's not what it needs to be."
On coaching against former assistant, now-Texas coach Rodney Terry, his advice on navigating SEC slate
"I love these guys. I mean those guys, I wouldn't be here, I wouldn't have been at Texas. I wouldn't. I've had so many great assistant coaches, and you guys watched them grow up here with me. I wouldn't be here. I mean, Frank (Haith), Rodney (Terry). I mean, Chris Ogden. We know each other. I bet I could almost go in the locker room and tell you what Rodney said because he'd been with me so many times. I bet I could tell him because he knew what I would be saying. I can assure you he knew what I was telling my team today. I guarantee it. Do you enjoy (coaching against former assistants)? Not really, you know, because I mean, they're part of my fiber. I've been with them so long and I love them. I want see them do well. It's tough. People would probably be more surprised about the relationships in this league.
"I mean, we're all tied in some way, I'm telling you. I mean, I could go back to, I've known John Calipari since 1977. There's so many guys, when you're at my age, you've been around a lot of people. We're probably better friends than people think, and I think there's just a great deal of mutual respect. But we know when that tip goes up, you got a job to do and you've got to do your job."
On Zeigler's ability to drive the ball, knowing when to dish it out or go to the rim
"He's fearless. I mean after the game the other night, I took him out with--he wouldn't come out really. He didn't want to come out of the game and he just said, 'Coach, I'm not quitting.' We were down 30 or whatever it was. He's so hard on himself. He just wants to get it right all the time. And when things aren't going well, he's going to bear down more, which sometimes works against him. But it's in his DNA. It's who he is. It's how he grew up. I actually talked to a team about it this week. I said, there's nobody in this room that grew up the way Zakai Ziegler did. Nobody. And that fight in him, that DNA, I wish I could bottle it. I wish I could. First time I saw him, he's the same. What you see him do here, he does every day in practice. Right now, we realize we got to try to rest him as much in practice as we can because I love playing point guards a lot of minutes, but the fact is he wants to play and he's special."
On Tennessee being able to win on the road despite Chaz Lanier's shooting struggles
"I've told Chaz all along, he doesn't have to score the ball for us to win, but he's going to have to help those guys by learning how to screen. Going to have to learn to cut harder, going to have to learn to do his work early coming off screens because he kind of gallops a little bit. He is going to have to keep his feet closer to the ground so when he comes off, because again, Texas did a great job guarding him. I thought his teammates did enough to get him enough separation he could have been effective, but he still has got to learn to get his hips twisted quicker so he can get downhill quicker. I took him out the first play of the second half because he didn't shoot the ball. That play was designed for that shot. And I told him, I said, 'If you're not going to do what you're getting paid to do, you sit over here.' Because he is getting paid to do that."
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