Rick Barnes approached Cameron Carr in the visitors locker room inside Rupp Arena Saturday.

Minutes before Tennessee took the floor in a critical road game with SEC title implications against Kentucky, Barnes wanted assurance before he gave the Vols' freshman guard key first half minutes.

Carr delivered.

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Tennessee, which never trailed in its 103-92 win, was clinging to a four-point lead late in the first half when Reed Sheppard stepped in front of a Santiago Vescovi pass on the offensive end and tried going the other way.

Carr had been in the game for just over a minute, but he stayed with Vescovi, who poked the ball loose from Reed and dished it to Carr.

Carr connected with Josiah-Jordan James, who was alone under the basket for a dunk to put the Vols back up six with just over three minutes left until halftime.

"During the day of the Kentucky game, I said, 'Cam, if I put you in the game, what would you do? What should I expect?' And he said, 'Coach, I'll tell you what I will do, I'll get us a an extra possession,' Barnes said. "I thought that was a great answer. And I told the coaches if we get a chance, we're going to put him in there. He did exactly what he said he would do."

WATCH ON VOLREPORT: Tennessee coach Rick Barnes recaps Kentucky, previews LSU

"(Carr) has prepared as well as anybody," James added. "He's a freshman. He hasn't played as much up until this point, but he's an uber talented player on both ends of the floor. I was happy he was able to get minutes and it just shows his basketball IQ. I know me as a freshman, I don't think I would have even been in this game. He's just really talented.

"I'm proud of the way he's worked and he's such a good teammate. He's so selfless and I'm really happy and proud that he was able to contribute to the win today."

Carr had been lobbying for more playing time but had only seen the floor for one minute in an SEC game before playing three Saturday night.

A highly touted four-star guard prospect in Tennessee's 2023 signing class, the 6-foot-5 Carr has appeared in eight games, averaging less than five minutes on the season. He played a season-high 10 minutes against Georgia Southern on Dec. 12 but his game-awareness started to improve after playing less than a minute at North Carolina in November.

Almost immediately after checking in, Carr fired off a quick shot that missed. He was pulled and didn't play again in the Vols' 100-92 loss.

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"(Carr) went in and played 10 seconds at North Carolina because had no idea what he was doing," Barnes said a few days later.

Carr wasn't void of freshman moments against Kentucky. Though he finished with his first career assist in a conference game and grabbed a defensive board, his corner three-point attempt hit the side of the back board.

Still, Carr's willingness to not give up on a play where he assisted two veteran players in a daunting road environment is a positive sign for his prospects of more playing time going forward.

"(Carr) and I had been talking and he asking, 'What do I need to do to play?,'" Barnes said. "Obviously I keep talking about defense, those type things because we know that he's a good offensive player. And you remember his game at North Carolina where he went in and took as quick of a shot as you could take...He's worked hard in practice at getting better defensively and he earned that. And hopefully he can build on it."

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