Greg Hansen: Arizona continues its evolution by out-toughing physical Vols

Two TV cameramen set up a bank of lights outside Tennessee’s locker room late Saturday night, poised to interview Volunteers coach Rick Barnes in an impromptu Q&A session.

But there would be no lights, camera, action.

Barnes saw the cameras, turned away and wandered through the basement corridor of McKale Center, hands in his pockets, looking for an empty room to stage his contractual post-game radio interview, followed by a Zoom conference with reporters back in Tennessee.

He peered through the window of the Media Center just as Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd entered. Bad timing.

He checked a nearby auditorium, where the UA pep band was noisily celebrating Arizona’s 75-70 victory.

“This is the place,’’ a Tennessee media official said.

Without a word, Barnes took a seat in the front row, waiting for the band to pipe down and clear out.

What happened the next seven minutes was straight out of basketball coaching 101: Barnes was upset about the officiating.

Five times in his brief Q&A session, Barnes mentioned the officials, the free-throw shooting disparity, two technical fouls and that Oumar Ballo, a 51 percent foul-shooter, was 6 for 7 from the line.

‘’I have a lot of respect for those three officials,’’ Barnes said. “But I didn’t see it that way.’’

Such is college basketball. When you hit the road, the road hits back.

What Barnes didn’t say was that when the Volunteers beat USC in overtime a month ago in the Bahamas, the Vols shot 26 foul shots, the Trojans eight.

So, no, it wasn’t the officials that beat Tennessee. Just the opposite. The Pac-12 appropriately assigned its No. 1 crew to the game, Final Four veterans John Higgins, Tony Padilla and Verne Harris.

No. 9 Arizona won because after No. 6 Tennessee bolted to a 27-20 lead, making five 3-pointers, it then missed 11 consecutive 3s over the next 25 minutes. Arizona won because the McKale Center crowd, an over-capacity noise machine of 14,688, brought its A game.

And Arizona won because Lloyd is in the process of remaking the Pac-12’s image as a soft, sometimes dainty basketball league, into one that can throw punches with the Top-25 teams from the SEC and the Big Ten, as it proved in wins over Indiana and Tennessee.

Mr. Muscle — Pelle Larsson — was the X-factor on Saturday. He scored 17 points, and, because he attacks the basket with no fear, he shot nine free throws, making all of them.

That’s what beat Tennessee as much as anything.

During Thursday’s pre-Tennessee practice, Lloyd sometimes assigned three scout-team players to simultaneously guard a starter and try to duplicate the Volunteers’ physical nature.

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“We did a very good job of preparing (for Tennessee),’’ said Larsson. “(Our scout team guys) were fouling us every time we got the ball.’’

Barnes bemoaned his team’s reckless offensive attack – “we had three offensive charges to start the game, and played out of control a lot,” he said before admitting “some of that could be Arizona, too.’’

Some of it?

Whatever Tennessee did to prepare for Arizona’s 1-2 inside punch of Ballo and Azuolas Tubelis didn’t work. The UA bigs combined for 37 points, just one under their season average of 38. They collaborated for 17 rebounds, just below their average of 18.

If you’re going to beat Arizona, you’re going to have to force Ballo and Tubelis to shoot poorly, and refrain from fouling them. Tennessee couldn’t do either of those things. Ballo and Tubelis combined to shoot 62% and make 11 of 13 foul shots.

The referees didn’t do that. Tennessee’s interior defense was overwhelmed. Arizona bullied the bullies.

“We’re a physical team, too,’’ said Lloyd. “You’ve got to fight force with force.’’

Look, Tennessee is clearly a team with a reasonably good chance to get to the Final Four. Even the disappointed Barnes mentioned as much Saturday when not discussing the free-throw totals.

“I told our guys we’re a really good basketball team, one that has a chance to be very special,’’ he said. “It’s a long way, we’re just get started and this game will help us. Arizona is a Top-10 team.’’

That much has become clear over 11 games. That 81-66 loss at a middling Utah club earlier this month was, as Lloyd said Saturday, part of a “journey.’’ As was Tennessee’s loss at McKale Center.

December wins and losses aren’t meaningless, but they don’t carry the weight of, say, an Oregon-Arizona game in February.

December is often deceptive. Only five of the 363 Division I men’s basketball teams remain undefeated: UConn, Mississippi State, Utah State, New Mexico and Purdue. None of those opened the season in the AP Top 25.

Move on.

The only regret is that it’s unlikely Arizona and Tennessee will renew their home-and-home series. It was the most compelling nonconference series the Wildcats and their fans have enjoyed since playing Gonzaga in 2014 and 2015.

What’s next? Duke is scheduled to play at McKale Center in December 2024.

Bring it on.