With back-to-back Elite Eights, Tennessee’s Rick Barnes has proven the March Madness underachiever label is played out

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The persistent narrative that RIck Barnes underperforms in the NCAA tournament continues to take on more and more water.

In fact, Barnes may at last have sunk it for good Friday when he led Tennessee to consecutive Elite Eights for the first time in program history.

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Tennessee delivered a big-stage performance that had Peyton Manning clapping and cheering from his courtside seat, The second-seeded Vols overwhelmed rival Kentucky, 78-65, to avenge a pair of regular-season losses to the Wildcats.

The 13-point final margin only hints at the vice grip Tennessee had on this Sweet 16 matchup almost from start to finish. Tennessee took the lead less than four minutes into the game, extended it to double figures seven minutes later and built the advantage to as many as 19 points late in the first half. The Vols never allowed third-seeded Kentucky to narrow the gap to any closer than 12 during the second half en route to clinching a spot in Sunday’s Midwest regional final.

“The first two times we played them, we didn’t play Tennessee basketball,” Vols point guard Zakai Zeigler said. “Coming out this game, we really wanted to set the tone and show them who we were.”

While Tennessee still needs one more monumental win to advance to the Final Four for the first time in program history, the Vols have already done enough to strip Barnes of the label of NCAA tournament underachiever. This is the third straight season that Tennessee has advanced to at least the NCAA tournament’s second weekend, this time potentially without an NBA Draft pick on their roster, no less.

Rick Barnes and Tennessee have now made the NCAA tournament’s second weekend three straight years. (Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

(Andy Lyons via Getty Images)

In 2023, a fifth-seeded Tennessee team memorably stifled Duke in the round of 32, holding the favored Blue Devils to 52 points. The Vols did that without point guard Zakai Zeigler, lost to an ACL tear just a couple weeks earlier.

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Last year,…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/college-basketball/article/with-back-to-back-elite-eights-tennessees-rick-barnes-has-proven-the-march-madness-underachiever-label-is-played-out-034936624.html

Author : Jeff Eisenberg

Publish date : 2025-03-29 03:49:00

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