Tennessee is faced its toughest challenge yet on its home floor on Monday night.

The No. 1 Vols needed a second half push to avoid Middle Tennessee State's upset bid and win 82-64 at Food City Center.

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After trailing by six at halftime, Tennessee (12-0) outscored the Blue Raiders (9-4) by 24 points in the second half and held them without a field goal over the last four minutes to remain unbeaten as SEC play looms in the coming weeks.

Here is everything Vols' head coach Rick Barnes said about the performance.

“First of all, I knew we were ready to play because it’s obvious (what MTSU was going to do). I just have tremendous respect for (MTSU coach) Nick (McDevitt). I think he’s one of the most underrated coaches in college basketball, one of the best kept secrets. I’ve known him for a long time. I knew his team was going to come in— they had good size and drive the ball well. I knew that was going to happen. I knew they had the ability to make some threes. And so our guys knew it, and I thought we had a good week of prep to get ready. Started off the game, they did what I thought they would do. I think we’re up eight, missed a couple of layups that we need to make, and then we turned it over four or five times in a row. It changed the whole momentum of the game in the first half.

“I thought at halftime we were locked in and came out and obviously played a lot better. But I told them, I said ‘This won’t be the last time we would be behind at halftime. It is good for us, and let’s see if we can handle it.’ I thought they did a good job coming out and doing that.”

“He is (playing point guard well). I told him that I’d rather him have 19 (assists) and no turnovers. But he’s so competitive. He’s just so competitive. He did a good job. We felt we could get some of those over-the-tops (passes) and he wants to do that. And if we ever get post guys consistently running to the rim, they can do that. He’ll be willing to do that. And when we put the shooters out there, it does open up the court. They made some, I think, terrific, in-game adjustments, where they were in the gaps, they were in the gaps and we went to a side-ball screen early. Got a couple there, they actually turned Zakai over there one time, where I thought he tried to do a little bit too much with it. They jumped out there almost like a hard double team. Just the way he just disrupts everything, even defensively. But when he’s moving the ball like that, he’s starting to really understand his teammates. I think the more that he’s out there, he and Chaz (Lanier) are starting to get a little bit more of a connection to it. And he and Jordan (Gainey) have one.

“And when we go to that small lineup, (Jahmai Mashack) gives us a chance to play so many different ways. But really happy with (Darlinstone Dubar) tonight. He didn’t get in the second half just because of the flow of the game, the matchups, everything we had to go with. And I just know that Igor (Milicic) and Felix (Okpara) and Cade (Phillips) and (Dubar) are really going to be a big part of us going forward. And I tell them every day they’ve got to get better, but we all got to get better.”

"No. He just walked out.”

"No, not really. I think (Carr) probably just didn't understand the rule. I don't know that, but that is what I'd assume. We were obviously counting on him being a part of the team. Surprised his teammates. They were very disappointed. To be honest with you, there's nothing to really talk about. He made his decision, there's no reason. It's baffling to be quite honest with you. I'm not surprised. It didn't surprise me. I actually made that comment to our coaches."

“(Carr) was going to have to earn his way back (from injury). We talked about that this week with everybody because we wanted everybody to do it. But Bishop (Boswell) has made great strides. I mean, think about it. We would have had 10 guys here, and we expected that we could use all 10 guys. Bishop would be terrific in this game tonight if he would have been able to play. He’s made great strides, and I hate it for him, but he’ll come back stronger. His mental toughness and just his competitive spirit is something that, again, it’s going to serve him well. He’s a loyal kid. He wants to get it done and he’ll come back strong. There is no doubt that Bishop is going to come back and be a big part of it.”

“It just starts with Nick and his staff. But I meant what I said. I’ve known Nick for a long time, and I know a lot about him. I know what he’s about. I think he’s just a terrific basketball coach. I think he’s got high standards. I think he understands how to build teams, rosters. He’s done that well. I think he knows the kind of guys he wants to have and when he gets it together, he puts them in the best position for them to be successful. They’ve gotten better and better and a game like this will help him just like it helped us. They’ll see that what they’ve got to do to make them take the next step, and we’ll have to do the same thing.

“You learn something every game. Impressed with his players. I thought they were poised. I thought they got some older guys, they’ve been in games. I’ve just got so much respect for him and the way he has done things everywhere he has been.”

“We were up 8 and had a chance to stretch the lead and missed layups and turned it over. Let (MTSU) get some momentum, let them get comfortable. We missed a layup and they hit a three in transition. Plays like that can flip the momentum real quick. I didn’t think we ever lost our poise. I didn’t think that, but it was good for us. Honestly, do you want come out and get 20 in the first half? From a stress standpoint, probably. But, overall, you look at it the way it played out, it was probably a much better situation for us because they’ve got SEC size. They’ve got guys who drive the ball hard, guys who finish well, and we’re going to have to defend that all year.

“Just great respect for the way they approach coming in. Their game plan. I’m really proud of our guys. I thought that the plays we needed to make, I thought we started making a little more plays defensively at the rim and rebounding the ball. We got out and transitioned some. But it’s a hard-fought game, and that’s what we expected coming in.”

“I don’t know. We haven’t thought a lot about it. I’m sure we will over the next couple of days, talk about some things. We have pretty much played eight or nine guys all year, right? I tell everybody, back when I first got into coaching you ask questions, trying to learn all I could about this game and talking to some of the old legendary guys, they always told me, ‘You want to play six. Maybe seven. Eight only if you have to.’ To build that rotation. One of the greatest at it was Bobby Cremins. He’d do it every year. Lou Carnesecca, guys did it. Every year is different but every guy we have right now, we’re expecting them to be a big part.

“I’m really impressed with (Dubar) the last week. He’s really made some great strides. We continue to try and work him at multiple positions but defensively he’s really had a great week this past week. We’re getting better and we plan on doing that.”

“It’s like Jahmai Mashack and Zakai Zeigler said a year ago when we lost some guys. They said plain and clear, ‘If they don’t want to be here then we don’t want them here.’ We want guys that want to be here and guys that really care about being part of the team. They said that and I think that’s how we all felt.”

“I just talked to him a little bit. He’s been working really hard with his rehab, and we’re hoping maybe (when he) comes back from Christmas. I know he’ll do everything he needs to do while he’s there to rehab it and do that. He said he’s feeling better, but like I said, we’re playing the long game with him. We know we’re going to need him and once we get into SEC play, it’s really up to him once he gets comfortable.”

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