"Didn’t make enough winning plays": Rick Barnes blames "emotional" Tennessee players for botching offensive plays after Kentucky loss

Rick Barnes and the No. 5 Tennessee Volunteers suffered a disappointing 75-64 loss to the No. 15 Kentucky Wildcats on Tuesday. Barnes attributed the loss to the players being too emotional, which affected their usual mindset.

The Volunteers failed to limit the offensive efficiency of the Wildcats. Kentucky shot 50% from the field and 50% from beyond the arc, creating problems that Tennessee was unable to overcome in the end.

Barnes reflected on the loss in the postgame press conference. He pointed out the team's emotions and was also critical of the Volunteers' defensive woes.

"Way, way, way too many defensive breakdowns on our part. Give Kentucky credit, they did it, but we had way too many defensive breakdowns on things that you can’t do there at the end of the game. And then I thought offensively we had a few guys that got too emotional, didn’t make really good decisions on the offensive end," Barnes said.

But I don’t want to say anything to take away from Kentucky. Mark’s done a great job with this group. We were right where we needed to be and didn’t make enough winning plays on either end of the court."

What's next for Rick Barnes, Tennessee

The loss was disappointing for Rick Barnes and the Tennessee Volunteers, continuing to distance themselves from the No. 1 spot they had in the AP Top 25 earlier this season.

They fell to 20-5 on the season, including a 7-5 display in SEC play. They average 74.3 points on 45.1% shooting from the field and 33.8% from downtown, beating opponents by a margin of 14.4 points per game.

Chaz Lanier leads the way with numbers of 17.4 points and 3.5 rebounds on shooting splits of 41.1% overall and 40.2% from three. Zakai Ziegler follows with 13 points, 7.5 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 2.1 steals, while Igor Milicic Jr. provides 11 points, eight rebounds and 2.2 assists.

Rick Barnes and the No. 5 Volunteers look to bounce back in their next matchup, hosting the Vanderbilt Commodores at the Thompson-Boling Arena on Feb. 15 at 1 p.m. ET.