Rick Barnes wasn’t happy.
The Tennessee basketball coach tramped into the locker room at halftime with 15 minutes to vent. He chose to pull up four minutes of film.
It was the first four minutes against Missouri on Wednesday. It was four minutes of Tennessee not doing what the coaches talked about. It was four minutes of showing the Vols winning was flashing in their faces and they were blind to it.
“Everything that Coach Barnes told us that was there, was there,” guard Zakai Zeigler said.
Barnes used the time wisely and well — and it worked.
No. 4 Tennessee had 28 points when it entered the locker room. It scored 57 after leaving it, crushing No. 16 Missouri 85-81 at Food City Center with a sensational offensive half brought about by Tennessee’s best offensive lineup deploying the film’s teaching points.
How Rick Barnes used a halftime film session to spark Tennessee offense
Barnes watched Missouri (17-5, 6-3 SEC) play as he expected in the first half Wednesday. He did not watch what he expected from the Vols (19-4, 6-4).
They didn’t take advantage of offensive opportunities. They made wrong passes or made the right passes poorly. They made incorrect cuts, didn’t force the Missouri defense to move, and turned over the ball.
They were not reading the Missouri defense.
“It goes back to understanding what we are looking for, and what we were looking for early was there,” Barnes said.
Barnes cited two wide-open 3’s that Tennessee never took because of “absolutely horrendous passes.” He wanted more easy scoring at the rim and back cuts to create post points.
Instead, Tennessee played into Missouri’s goals. Zeigler called the Tigers a “really rowdy team.” They’re turnover-hungry, and Tennessee fed them, suckered into passes that were easy turnovers, with eight in the first half.
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Barnes showed all of that in his halftime lesson.
“We didn’t realize it until we watched some of the clips, some of the film,” Zeigler said. “All of this was there. Now, we have to see it more and make sure we are looking at little things like that.”
How one Tennessee lineup unlocked the offense against Missouri
Jahmai Mashack tossed a pass into a crowd in the first minute of the second half. Barnes dropped his head into his hands and pulled Mashack.
He put in Jordan Gainey, and the offense burst to life.
The Vols trailed 39-28 with 19:03 to play. Barnes didn’t touch the lineup for the following 8:35. Tennessee outscored the Tigers 32-16 and took a 60-55 lead. Its most potent offensive lineup took Barnes’ halftime crash course and turned on the offense.
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“We just really listened to him, we made the right plays, and the rest was there,” Zeigler said.
Tennessee got an Igor Milicic Jr. layup and a Felix Okpara dunk to jump-start the offense. Three straight 3-pointers from Milicic, Zeigler and Gainey in a one-minute run jolted it further. They made five straight field goals, with another three 3-pointers in 2:05. Lanier made two 3-pointers in the torrid stretch, which gave UT a lead it held on to.
The lineup was 12-for-18 shooting and 6-for-8 on 3-pointers, as Barnes said the Vols worked harder to get good shots.
He explained the Vols put Missouri in a stressful position with how they used Gainey in a set. The Tigers couldn’t keep him from cutting and they were forced to switch into situations that favored Tennessee.
“They are afraid to leave either Jordan or afraid to leave Chaz (Lanier) in those situations,” Barnes said.
Barnes saw it. The Vols had to see the game through Barnes’ eyes, and they did — thanks to four minutes of film.
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on X @ByMikeWilson or Bluesky @bymikewilson.bsky.social. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: How Tennessee basketball demolished Missouri with 57-point second half
