Rick Barnes explained what went wrong for the No. 17 Tennessee Volunteers following their 81-76 loss to the Kansas Jayhawks on Wednesday night during the third-place game of the Players Era Festival.

Going into the matchup, the Volunteers had a perfect 7-0 record to begin the 2025-26 campaign. They were coming off of victories over Mercer, Northern Kentucky, North Florida, Rice, Tennessee State, Rutgers, and ranked Houston. They displayed incredible momentum after stunning a national contender in the Cougars but dropped the ball after losing to the Jayhawks in the fashion they did.

Barnes reflected on the loss after the game, via Rocky Top Insider. He noticed how Kansas caught up and Tennessee lost control with how they didn't keep up the tempo they had in the first half.

“I though

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