Under Rick Barnes, Tennessee basketball has peaked at a Sweet 16 while riding an elite defense and typically moderate offense.

This year is different, though.

While the Vols still posses one of the best defenses in the country, their offense has drastically improved. This was most recently on display in the win over Auburn on Wednesday.

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In the past, it was tough to imagine one of Barnes' Tennessee teams winning in a shoot out. Against the Tigers, the Vols did exactly that, though, while dropping 92 points in the narrow win.

This has been the theme all season. Tennessee relies on its defense, but isn't afraid to use an offensive surge to leave teams in the dust or get out of a jam.

According to KenPom, the Vols hold the No. 4 adjusted defensive efficiency in the country. This is a step back from the No. 1 ranking a year ago. On the offensive end, a year's difference has moved the adjusted efficiency from No. 64 to 18.

"We're different. No question," said assistant coach Gregg Polinsky. "The beauty of this team is that it's still a top two to three defensive team in the country and we're last I looked, I think 17th offensively in the nation. We weren't there last year. There are given nights where as much as you hate to admit it because you hang your head on defense, to where you have to be really good on offense. Like when are we going to make a stop? Auburn was so good in that game, executing and getting to the line and getting the ball to the right guys in the right spots... We really had to probably win that game on offense sprinkled in with making some key stops which we did. Now, we're much more equipped this year on a given night to go out there and possibly win a game on offense."

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Obviously, it helps when you add one of the best offensive players in the country. Dalton Knecht went for 39 points in the win over Auburn and has been a security blanket for the Vols throughout the year.

He isn't the only piece that was missing from last year's run, though. While the team made the Sweet 16 for just the second time under Barnes, it was without its star point guard in Zakai Zeigler. It is virtually impossible to replace what Zeigler gives Tennessee on both ends and the impact was felt.

This year, the Vols are healthy, though. They've had to deal with small injuries here and there, but the roster is at full health with just three regular season games remaining.

"I think last year this time we were still getting kind of used to Zakai not being here," said Tennessee wing Jahmai Mashack. "I think that was really what threw the whole season through a loop. Especially for me, it was just kind of different trying to learn a new position and trying to be confident in that position and trying to figure out ways. Now, obviously we were still able to get to a Sweet 16, so it was still a good year. Outside of that, it was kind of just trying to figure out the new roles of guys. Who's going to step up? Who's going to, you can't take the place of Zakai, so who's going to kind of pick up some of the pieces that he had. But now, we have Zakai. We have a lot of guys, luckily, we're not a very injured team. We have all the players that we want to play playing. So, I think it just gives us kind of confidence going into these matchups that we're healthy and were going to go with it in a competitive way."

The Vols will get a deep NCAA Tournament type test on Saturday. Entering a hostile environment, Tennessee will face Alabama with the SEC regular season title likely on the line.

Games like this go a long way in the comfortability of a team when the season is on the line.

"I think it's definitely something that will benefit us," said Mashack. "It's going to show our toughness and show our resilience and our ability to adjust in the game. Which I think is going to be important in a game like this. They run and they go up and down. They don't go away from what they do. They've shown throughout this whole season that they're not going to go away from the offense that they run. So, no matter what we throw at them, they're going to figure out a way to adjust to that. But they're not going to change what they do. We're not going to change what we do. I think just the preparation that goes behind this Alabama game is going to help us in all the other games that come after this one."

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