Consider the difference in these simple words: here or there and now or then.
Eight days ago was the rousing Tennessee romp over Kentucky in rambunctious Thompson-Boling Arena.
Four days ago was the dead end of the SEC winning streak, an ugly performance and disappointing loss at Arkansas before a sellout crowd of Razorbacks.
Last night was the Kennedy Chandler show, an easy 80-61 victory at weary Missouri, no atmosphere, 1,744 fans who sat on their hands. Cuonzo Martin, former UT coach, is trying to save this job.
Saturday might be a wild one, Auburn at Tennessee, standing room only, former Vol coach Bruce Pearl as the No. 2 attraction.
Martin’s Tigers were a good tonic. Pearl’s Tigers will be a Kentucky-style test.
The unpredictable Volunteers were very good at Columbia. They hit half their three-point attempts, notched their 20th victory and improved their league record to 11-4. Chandler was brilliant. He scored 23 on nine-of-12 marksmanship, gathered eight rebounds, contributed six assist and two steals without a single turnover.
Best game for the freshman?
“I just played as hard as I can to get the win.”
Chandler looked to be totally in control.
“I thought his pace was really good,” said Rick Barnes. “I thought defensively he really pushed up. He was locked in on what he did.”
Justin Bailey was the surprise part of the Vol romp. The sub guard has struggled much of the season (one point over his previous five games) but broke loose for 11 and showed a glimpse of last season.
“The team comes first,” said Bailey, “but it did feel good to have a few go through.”
Santiago Vescovi had a few go through – four of six three-pointers. Jonas Aidoo missed seven of eight from relatively close range but grabbed five rebounds and blocked three shots. John Fulkerson played briefly, committed three fouls and aggravated a previous hip injury.
“He had a little hip pointer (at Arkansas),” said Barnes. “He played six minutes and didn’t feel like he could go anymore. We were fine with that.”
Barnes said the Vols spent a lot of Sunday talking about the things the team needed to do to improve after the Arkansas setback.
“Our guys gave Missouri the ultimate compliment of getting ready to do what we needed to do to get a win.”
The coach spent more than a few minutes on what happened last season.
“We’ve got some guys that remember Missouri walked into our building last year and spanked us pretty good from start to finish. They outplayed us. They outworked us. They out-toughed us. They did everything.
“We actually watched how they totally dominated us a year ago in Knoxville.”
Barnes told the Vols to disregard the current record (10-18, 4-11).
“They are going to give effort.”
In fact, the Tigers were tired. This was their third game in five days. It showed later in the evening. Josiah-Jordan James scored all nine of his points in the second half. Vescovi scored 11 of his 14 after intermission.
Barnes was kind when asked about the Tennessee team résumé with three games to go.
“The credit goes to our guys. Our assistant coaches do an unbelievable job of game preparation.”
The coach likes the fact that the players are coaching themselves more.
“It is a real credit to our players that they have worked hard. They respect each other’s work. They have great respect for opponents. They know they have to be ready. They know we can get beat if we are not.”
That is a good coaching point with Auburn coming to town.
Marvin West welcomes reader comments or questions. His address is marvinwest75@gmail.com