Rick Barnes sounded so upbeat and pointed out so many positives during his postgame press conference Saturday night at Neville Arena that the question had to be asked. What made him so happy after No.

Tennessee basketball lost 53-51 at No. 1 Auburn on Saturday, but Vols coach Rick Barnes was unusually positive about the performance.

Tennessee head basketball coach Rick Barnes talked about what he learned about his Volunteers basketball team following the 2-pt road loss to the No. 1 ranked Auburn Tigers.

Predictions, picks and odds as No. 8 Tennessee basketball faces No. 12 Kentucky. Plus, injury updates and the latest news

The Tennessee basketball team fell just short in one of the best games of this college basketball season, dropping a true road game against No. 1-ranked Auburn in a 53-51 rock fight. Tennessee had a chance to win it at the end, but point guard Zakai Zeigler's game-tying 3-pointer came up short.

Felix Okpara was called for a travel in the final two minutes of Tennessee basketball's loss at Auburn on Saturday.

With No. 6 Tennessee coming to Neville Arena on Saturday, here's what coach Rick Barnes said about Auburn basketball, Bruce Pearl and the Tigers' place in a stacked SEC.

Zakai Zeigler sat for the final 7:10 of the first half between Tennessee basketball and Vanderbilt on Saturday. The Commodores outscored UT 20-9 then.

Chaz Lanier had 2 free throws at the end of Tennessee basketball's game vs Vanderbilt, making one but missing the 2nd that would have tied the game.