Q. Yves Pons set a Tennessee basketball record with nine blocks, tied the all-time SEC tournament record. Do you think this was his single-best individual defensive performance?
RICK BARNES: I thought he was terrific. I mean, he was locked in. You could tell it. You could tell the last couple days. From start to the finish, what he had to do down there, the way he plays. I thought he was locked in both ends. Again, he was terrific, he really was. His blocks were great. We told our guys at halftime, Hey, Yves going to come get them, you have to clean it up for them. For the most part in the second half, again, that happened for the most part. I think one of them he went up and tried to block it, we didn’t have the backside sealed down. He was locked in. I kept looking at him asking if he needed a blow. He said, I’m good, I’m good. Just happy for him because, again, he was outstanding.
Q. Just how big were those minutes from Uros and what was he able to do to keep the sustained minutes on the floor?
RICK BARNES: I think what it shows, you go back all year long, nobody has been more of a teammate, not seeing the floor the way all players would like to. The last couple days in practice, really this time off as we’ve been practicing, getting up and down the floor, playing more, it just started working for him. Really started buying into what we need him to do.
He’s been really good in practice. I think his size obviously can be a factor for us. He is a guy that when he’s out there, he does like to get moving on offense, set screens, just get him rolling consistently, getting himself ready to catch the ball. He loves passing the ball, passes well. His minutes and Yves today, they were on the front line. Those were big minutes.
NEXT: Rick Barnes’ postgame continued