r/CollegeBasketball • u/BillButtlickerII Kentucky Wildcats • 1d ago
Post Game Thread Xavier 86 Tennessee 70
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u/Glenywoods Xavier Musketeers 1d ago
Have we considered that maybe Tennessee arenāt bad, but Xavier are actually really good? Probably not but it could be cool!
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u/dbaugh90 Louisville ā¢ St. John's 1d ago
They looked pretty good tbh. I think they still would've won by a bucket or two even if Tennessee didn't leave that overhead pass to the guy right under the basket wide open, over...and over...and over...
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u/Odd-Cardiologist5290 Xavier Musketeers 1d ago
I think we will be better than we are currently projected. Win the natty? No. But better than expected.
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u/uconnball17 UConn Huskies 1d ago
You guys should be dancing this season at least. Think the conference could get seven
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u/Waquoit95 UConn Huskies 1d ago
FWIW, I root for you guys to be good and was happy to see the score. And not just because I don't like Pitt.
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u/gellybelli Tennessee Volunteers 1d ago
4 of 26 from 3. Rick Barnes offenses are so back baby!
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u/lohivi Kentucky Wildcats 1d ago
Lifetime contract š
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u/gellybelli Tennessee Volunteers 1d ago
Heās the best coach weāve ever had and an even better human being. Iāll take him till he no longer wants to do this.
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u/dubdhjckx Tennessee Volunteers 1d ago
Thereās more Kentucky fans in this thread than there are Tennessee fans interestingly enough
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u/gellybelli Tennessee Volunteers 1d ago
Getting an easy dunk for a game that doesnāt matter. Iād have done the exact same thing if the roles were reversed.
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u/TwitterLegend Xavier Musketeers 1d ago
Heās been phenomenal for you guys and no bullshit controversies that Iāve heard about. I canāt imagine any Tennessee fan being disappointed having him around as long as he wants.
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u/lohivi Kentucky Wildcats 1d ago
Respect
It is crazy how there are like maybe 3 SEC mbb coaches who arent complete scumbags
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u/gellybelli Tennessee Volunteers 1d ago
You guys have a literal Pope so thereās that! But wooo buddy are there some ABSOLUTE piles of shit.
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u/jarena009 UConn Huskies 1d ago
Xavier is my dark horse top 25 team. Let's go big east!
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u/dacquirifit Virginia Cavaliers 1d ago
I always think theyāll do good in the tourney when I am making my brackets lol
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u/BillButtlickerII Kentucky Wildcats 1d ago edited 1d ago
Watch their first half performance of this gameā¦
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u/AltoidsAreWeakSauce UConn Huskies 1d ago
This could have also described the first 15 minutes of our first half performance this week against Cuse too lol
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u/BillButtlickerII Kentucky Wildcats 1d ago edited 1d ago
True. I think most teams are going to come right out of the gate nervous and rusty, but it was U G L Y. To their credit Pitino made some great half time adjustments and swung it 28 points at one point. It was truly night and day halves for them.
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u/Electronic_Lynx_9398 1d ago
A Rick Barnes team thatās bad at defense and rebounding will certainly be interesting to see
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u/ConnectSpring9 NC State Wolfpack 1d ago
Does this mean Justin Gainey was the goat at coaching defense? I am 100% taking away that conclusion, no bias at all
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u/PortablePug Xavier Musketeers ā¢ St. Mary's Gaels 1d ago
Huge improvement from the Dayton game. We're still down a couple guys but I feel like we've actually got some depth this year.
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u/GetYourVanOffMyMeat Vanderbilt Commodores 1d ago
So you're saying Tennessee lost to an undermanned Xavier team?
Even better.
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u/RollBlobRoll Xavier Musketeers 1d ago
We are going to need that depth because we are going to be collecting some fouls
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u/runamokduck South Carolina Gamecocks 1d ago
I think Xavier will likely be considerably more competitive and competent than the vast majority of people would think. young Richard Pitino has assembled a rather understatedly solid, well-balanced roster
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u/braines54 Xavier Musketeers ā¢ Kentucky Wildcats 1d ago
FWIW, he really took off in his second year at NM. We kinda punted on last year from the beginning, even moreso when the expected best or second player ended up missing the whole season. He's now the back-up wing.
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u/bigbird727 Xavier Musketeers ā¢ Illinois Fighting Illini 1d ago
I had fun at an exhibition basketball game.Ā
Words I never really expected to type about a college team...
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u/catsfanuk87 Kentucky Wildcats 1d ago
As a Kentucky fan, I can say that preseason results are 100% indicative of future team performance. For sure.
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u/Walmartsavings2 Tennessee Volunteers 1d ago
we looked really small and horrible defensively. Hoping Washington gets eligible/we get less rusty on offense because that 2nd half was rough to watch.
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u/dubdhjckx Tennessee Volunteers 1d ago
The offense will stabilize but have little hope for Washington
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u/BlackStallion657 Tennessee Volunteers 1d ago edited 1d ago
I have a feeling that this is the weakest this Tennessee team will look all season. It looks bad, but this exhibition match is exactly what we need to grow to be title contenders.
Just keep improving, learning, growing and giving your all to Tennessee. Everything else will just click
Edit: Forgot to add that Xavier played very well and congratulations on a well fought W and wish the team a great season
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u/filthysven Arizona Wildcats 1d ago
I know we're just here to meme, but in hindsight this seems pretty expected. Barnes is good at coaching defense and rebounding. He is not good at coaching offense unless he has just natural scorers. So he went out and got a bunch of natural scorers, betting on being able to whip them into defense/rebounding shape. But that takes time, so the early preseason returns don't look great. He's barely gotten his hands on the guys yet, and defense requires lots of teamwork and discipline. This is just how it goes.
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u/Critical-Mango-341 Kentucky Wildcats 1d ago
I tend to agree. It's the first time they've taken the court together, of course they aren't gonna look great. With that said, I do think some of the weaknesses displayed in this game will be the weaknesses the Vols will be struggling to overcome all season. Not saying they won't be good--every team has weaknesses.
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u/Onetimenotagain Arkansas Razorbacks 1d ago
Not to overreact, but Iāve had a huge feeling that Tennessee was massively overrated this year. Not saying they are, but I am saying that I think they will be.
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u/braines54 Xavier Musketeers ā¢ Kentucky Wildcats 1d ago
I think they're the third-best team in college basketball and you have no evidence to change my mind at this point.
Of course, they will still inevitably lose in the Sweet Sixteen because that's how they roll.
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u/ClaudeLemieux Michigan Wolverines ā¢ NC State Wolfpack 1d ago
Losing in the elite 8 seems to be UTs thing rn
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u/SkullCreekVol 1d ago
Yeah, my take has nothing to do last night, but itās definitely possible. We essentially have an entire roster of transfers. Assuming everything gels, we have the pieces to be a really good team. If it doesnāt and we run into the problem of only one basketball with all of those scorers, it has the possibility of going off the rails. Getting a bunch of guys that were all getting their shots last year to buy in and play team ball wonāt be an easy thing to do.
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u/underladderunlucky46 Purdue Boilermakers 1d ago
You should know better than anybody that exhibition games mean nothing.
Remember a few years back when Arkansas beat Purdue in a preseason exhibition game? Purdue ended up making it to the Title game that year. I dont think Arkansas even made the NIT. Ended up having a losing record if I recall correctly.
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u/Onetimenotagain Arkansas Razorbacks 1d ago
I do know that. Thatās why I started my statement with ānot to overreactā
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u/underladderunlucky46 Purdue Boilermakers 1d ago
Fair enough, but if you accept that the preseason really means nothing, then your following remark becomes irrelevant.
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u/Just_Breathe85 Tennessee Volunteers 1d ago
"Not to overreact". Proceeds to overreact. Frontcourt is a concern yes, but it will take time for this team to gel. They're all new to this system, minus Brown, and there's no clear leader yet. Barnes also did not scout purposefully to see how the team would respond. It was a lesson, nothing more.
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u/Onetimenotagain Arkansas Razorbacks 1d ago
Not really. I just stated that I think they are overrated this year, and this game doesnāt make me feel any different about that. Iāve felt that way since before they even played a game.
And back to your point about that arkansas vs Purdue exhibition, that kinda helps my point a little bit in a way. I see a lot of that years arkansas team in this Tennessee team. That year we were supposed to be really good and brought in a top transfer class. That was the year I realized a championship caliber roster canāt be bought, and bringing in a completely new team every season is not the way to win big; this Tennessee team is virtually 100% bought.
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u/stimpsonj5 Kentucky Wildcats 1d ago
Their frontcourt isn't going to do much scoring and they have like 3 dudes who have shown they can shoot from outside consistently, so I'm with you on this one. I'm not convinced this team is even as good as last year's team, let alone better like all the UT fans keep saying
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u/Onetimenotagain Arkansas Razorbacks 1d ago
Yeah I agree. Haralson is a god awful shooter and I donāt think thereās really any fixing it ngl. Same with lue. I donāt think Harris is a good shooter at all and I also think heās a super overrated player.
Lundblade, hill, and Ames will be good shooters tho.
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u/Vol4Life31 Tennessee Volunteers 1d ago
We have good individual pieces but not sure Barnes can get them to gel offensively.
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u/Onetimenotagain Arkansas Razorbacks 1d ago
Exactly. I always think itās kinda ridiculous when people expect these super teams that are built 100% by the portal to be contenders.
Not saying Tennessee isnāt, I do like a lot of your guys but my hot take is that juke Harris is overrated and yāall probably wouldāve been better off without him.
If yāall gel offensively tho, youāre in a good place. I think yāall also need to find a definite answer at the 5.
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u/Teddyturntup North Carolina Tar Heels 1d ago
Exhibitions donāt mean anything
This Tennessee team should be good, it will be rough if they arenāt
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u/Electronic_Tiger7979 Duke Blue Devils 1d ago
Donāt worry, Tennessee is playing Duke next week and will shoot 100% from everywhere.
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u/PriorPeak1277 Tennessee Volunteers 1d ago
It literally would mean nothing if we did itās just exhibition games lol
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u/Electronic_Tiger7979 Duke Blue Devils 1d ago
Totally agreeā¦people are taking these so serious these days. Heck, Duke vs Kansas is being televised on ESPN. Again, the media screwing things up. Although canāt say Iām Iām not happy to watch them lol
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u/PriorPeak1277 Tennessee Volunteers 1d ago
Yeah idk how other teams do it but Barnes always plays a lot of different guys in double digit minutes which he never does regular season heāll have 7 maybe 8 guys do that. If your coach goes out of their way to coach different itās not important whether they win or lose.
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u/No_Till8346 Tennessee ā¢ Virginia Tech 1d ago
Everyone overreacting, just wait till the best 3 point shooter in the country gets on the court.
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u/hussard_de_la_mort Xavier Musketeers ā¢ Toledo Rockets 1d ago
did we get in an indulgence to be allowed to hit 10 3s
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u/stimpsonj5 Kentucky Wildcats 1d ago
Some guy got mad at me in a thread a while ago when I said I didn't get all the Tennessee love and he told me that they have 8 legit scorers. They did have 8 guys score, so there's that
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u/Life-Topic9139 1d ago
Breaking News: Rick Barnes has retired from coaching basketball due to "health reasons."
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u/BillButtlickerII Kentucky Wildcats 1d ago
I know exhibitions usually should be taken with a grain of salt, but damn Tennessee does not look good. Hands down the weakest defensive team Iāve ever seen Barnes put together, and offensively inconsistent at best.
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u/Putrid-Jelly-5188 Kentucky Wildcats 1d ago
Brother we ass clapped Purdue in our first exhibition last year
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u/Potential_Meat_5103 1d ago
Also reflective of some problems Purdue ended up having during the regular season.
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u/RevolutionarySeat134 1d ago
Everyone is overlooking that Purdues season did not live up to expectations...
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u/BillButtlickerII Kentucky Wildcats 1d ago edited 1d ago
Like I said I know these games are to be taken with a grain of salt, but dude watch the game and tell me how you think theyād fair in last yearās SEC. That game was really a 28 point swingā¦ That first half Xavier performance was also one of the worst Iāve ever seen. Xavier shot 32% FG, 15% from the 3, put up 27 points, 12 fouls, 8 turnovers and somehow were only down 8 at the halfā¦
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u/SonOfAWindowdresser1 Iowa Hawkeyes 1d ago
Heās trying to tell you that ātaken with a grain of saltā is generous. These games teach us nothing.
The Tennessee team a couple years ago, that started 14-0 and was ranked #1 for a while, lost a preseason game to Mike fucking Woodson. The Tennessee team that scored 99 in an exhibition against #2 Gonzaga then lost to Colorado two weeks later, went 11-7 in conference play, averaged 55 points in two games against Kentucky and scored 55 in their NCAA tournament loss. Fran McCafferyās best Iowa team, which was briefly #3 in the AP poll and #1 on KenPom (before the customary Fran Fade), lost to a Division 2 team in the preseason. There are so many such cases.
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u/BillButtlickerII Kentucky Wildcats 1d ago
I know itās early and these results matter less, but in every game thereās going to be tells about the weaknesses and strengths of a team. Those tells may be exaggerated due to it being so early in the season and teams still gelling and getting shit figured out. If Tennessee had just shot poorly (which they also did) last night I would be less concerned and chalk that up to possibly an off night, nerves, being rusty, etc, but they were truly awful on defense. Iāll be shocked if Barnes can turn this team into one of his trademark defensive squads.
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u/cardeez Tennessee Volunteers 1d ago
Exhibitions should be taken with a grain of salt but I will now make a unilateral statement of the totality of the 26-27 Tennessee Vols
but yeah youāre right lol
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u/BillButtlickerII Kentucky Wildcats 1d ago
Iām only criticizing what Iām seeing now. Rick may coach this team up and they may still be rusty, but heās got some serious work ahead him if this game is remotely indicative of their future success.
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u/jguess06 Tennessee Volunteers 1d ago
Have fun brother it's all good. Receipts will be taken regardless. We'll see how the season goes.
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u/BillButtlickerII Kentucky Wildcats 1d ago
Absolutely. u/RemindMeBot April 4th, 2027
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u/Packtex60 NC State Wolfpack 1d ago
They lost their DC.
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u/BillButtlickerII Kentucky Wildcats 1d ago
It definitely looks like Gainey was the magic behind Tennesseeās defensive scheme. They couldnāt defend the perimeter, inside, rebound, etc.
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u/Packtex60 NC State Wolfpack 1d ago
I hope he can bring that to State. Iām tired of watching terrible defense for the last 15 seasons.
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u/KeVbK_HS Xavier Musketeers 1d ago
Great result considering X's two most important players coming into the season were pretty bad all things considered (Nwoko and Westry)
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u/HecticFir Tennessee Volunteers 1d ago
I was there, I have no clue what happened in the second half.
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u/Spiritual-Map-76 1d ago
Something tells.me.they will show much better vs duke..at cameron that environment opposing players want to play well...
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u/MarbleDesperado Tennessee Volunteers 1d ago
You want to win anytime youāre on the court but Rick said this was good for us and I agree. Xavier is good competition and we need to ID the gaps. Chemistry will build, shots will fall, and Rick will get the defense where it needs to be
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u/rogozh1n Duke Blue Devils ā¢ Syracuse Orange 1d ago
UNC lost their first game of the year vs a mid major and then won the title.
This totally does not matter.
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u/TrustInRoy 1d ago
Juke Harris got how much in NIL?
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u/Teddyturntup North Carolina Tar Heels 1d ago
We canāt talk this week
We won but we paid how much for brown and able?
(I fully expect them to be fine)
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u/YupThatsMeBuddy Tennessee Volunteers 1d ago edited 1d ago
Look at what Chuck Daly did when he coached the Dream Team. I wouldnāt put it past Barnes to have used the same tactic. He didnāt look as mad as he usually looks in situations like this. Maybe wishful thinking on my part but it would be a way to send a message to a team like this.
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u/dubdhjckx Tennessee Volunteers 1d ago
Maybe itās the opposite of when we boat raced Gonzaga in the preseason just to turn out to be mid. But an obviously inferior post roster getting worked in rebounding could be foreboding. Have 0 idea what to expect considering the lukewarm outlook from the Kenpoms and such of the world
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u/Rainmanwilson Kentucky Wildcats 1d ago
GET IN HERE AND OVERREACT EVERYONE