During Tennessee basketball's loss to Indiana in a preseason exhibition, Rick Barnes put in a lineup he's not sure will play together again.

He knew at the time it was disadvantageous, but he wanted to see how the group would respond.

That lineup was freshman Bishop Boswell, transfers Chaz Lanier, Darlinstone Dubar and Felix Okpara and returning senior Jordan Gainey. Transfer Igor Milicic Jr. would also join the mix for a stretch while replacing Lanier.

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Without key pieces Zakai Zeigler and Jahmai Mashack and with a unit almost solely made of newcomers, Barnes wanted to see how the group would answer the bell.

The result wasn't pretty.

From the moment Zeigler subbed out of the game at the 7:56 mark to the 5:47 mark, more than two minutes later, when Zeigler and Mashack subbed in for Boswell and Dubar, the Vols surrendered seven unanswered points.

As Tennessee's lead disappeared with the atypical lineup, Barnes knew it would be good long term. Players that want to play but haven't had to face adversity were going to figure out how different playing at this level was.

"A lineup that I'm not sure would play a lot but we wanted to put them in that situation at that time," Barnes said. "We wanted to see how they would respond with it and that's why they were out there. But we wanted some guys that want to play, but sometimes as much as you talk to them about what they need to do, you gotta put them in those situations when you're playing a different opponent and let them realize it's a whole lot different than what they might think. It's a whole lot harder than they might think."

Part of this was seeing if they could maintain the level of defense that the team has with Zeigler and Mashack on the floor. Zeigler, the defending SEC Defensive Player of the Year, and Mashack, a candidate to steal the crown from Zeigler, are key cogs to what has been one of the best units in the country.

MORE FROM VOLREPORT: Reacting to Tennessee basketball's loss to Indiana in its exhibition

With his newcomers playing without the pair, could they keep up with his high expectations and show the necessary efforts? Could they get the job done on the other end, as well?

"That's the reason we took (Zeigler) out and went with that lineup at that time because I felt those guys out there at that point in time without (Zeigler) and Jahmai on the floor, we wanted to see if they could maintain the level of intensity," Barnes said. "If they could defend the way those guys defended when they're on the court and then see if they could play together on the offensive end."

The group didn't necessarily rise to the challenge, but it could be a point of growth. Tennessee now has film against two opponents with a closed scrimmage against Davidson also in the books.

Getting to see how players respond in different situations will be critical to figuring out where the next steps are and how they need to proceed.

It possibly costed Tennessee the win against Indiana, but in a game that won't count, tinkering with rotations is useful.

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