The presence of balloons normally signals a joyous occasion. That’s not the case for the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team this season.
The UT coaching staff has been using balloons to help the Vols cut down on turnovers. During practice, 10 balloons are stationed near the court. Any time the Vols commit a turnover, one of the balloons is popped. After the 10th balloon is popped, the players all run.
Although eye-catching and unique, the strategy hasn’t led to a consistent improvement. The Vols are still struggling with turnovers this season, never more evident than in their loss to Florida on the road last weekend. UT committed 18 turnovers – one shy of a season high – as the Gators routed the Vols 91-67.
“They kicked our butt. That’s all I can tell you. And that’s disappointing, because for 16 minutes in the first half we were there, the kind of game you thought it would be,” UT head coach Rick Barnes says. “And then turnovers. And then we’re not tough enough yet as a team when things aren’t going our way to know how to fight through it.”
The setback resulted in UT dropping to No. 24 in The Associated Press Top 25 poll. The Vols have been ranked in 90 straight polls, the second-longest active streak in the country behind Houston (116). UT has appeared in every AP Poll since the 2021-22 preseason rankings.
The Vols entered the week ranked tied for 255th in the nation – and tied for last in the SEC – in turnovers per game (12.9) with Florida. The Vols averaged 10.4 last season and 10.2 in 2023-24.
The Vols are clearly missing the steady hands of point guard Zakai Zeigler, who masterfully ran the offense for the past four seasons.
Against Florida, sophomore guard Bishop Boswell led UT in turnovers with six. He did not play for the final 17:34 of the game after committing his sixth.
“It’s the way we turned the ball over, just so many unforced turnovers,” Barnes said Monday after reviewing film of the loss. “And (Florida is a) really good basketball team, but you can’t turn it over the way we did, give up that many more opportunities for the other team that (is that) good, I think, have 15 more shots and 30 points off turnovers.
“But there’s still a lot of other things defensively that we obviously weren’t happy with, but it’s all fixable.”
Toughing it out
Barnes is still searching for ways to make the Vols mentally and physically tougher.
“I asked them that. I’m going to kind of wait and see what they tell me, because I know that we’ve talked about it,” Barnes says. “It’s a mindset. We’ve asked all guys in some shape or form, when we talk about it just straight up – and we don’t say anything that we can’t validate by watching film and habits every day in practice – but when their answer always is ‘I don’t know,’ that’s a problem. Because we all know the situation. At some point in time, you got to take a deep look within yourself as coaches, as players, and say, OK, something’s got to change here.”
Despite the disappointment inside the program about some of the ways the Vols have played, other coaches still have tremendous respect for the product on the floor. New Texas head coach Sean Miller went out of his way to compliment Barnes after the Vols beat Texas last week.
“I just think the job he’s done building this program is incredible,” Miller says. “What they stand for – the physicality and the togetherness, the defense, the toughness – those are all things that, given the opportunity to be the new coach at Texas, that we have to get to.”
Climbing back
UT hosts rival Kentucky Saturday at noon (ESPN). The Wildcats are struggling this season despite a high-priced roster that was expected to contend for titles under second-year head coach Mark Pope. Beyond pride, both teams need the win for confidence.
Barnes hopes the Florida game can be a learning lesson for the Vols, one that may spark more urgency in how they value the ball and how they handle more physical play. There is still plenty of time left in the season, and the SEC provides plenty of chances for big wins to vault back up the rankings.
“I think it’s great to see how we’re going to respond. I mean, no doubt about it,” Barnes says. “If we’ve got the kind of players that we think that we have, we’ll learn from this, and it can be a turning point. And on the other end, if we don’t change it, I think it speaks volumes about who we are, too, and maybe we’ve miscalculated.”