Vols basketball: Lamonte Turner finding rhythm defensively with 'different mindset'

Rick Barnes issued a specific challenge to Lamonte Turner before Tennessee basketball played at South Carolina on Saturday.

The third-year Tennessee coach thought he saw complacency from Turner – as well as guards Jordan Bone and James Daniel III – with an expectation that playing time always comes. So Barnes told Turner he didn’t care if he scored.

He wanted to see the sophomore guard do everything else – play defense, set the tone, rebound.

“I thought Lamonte went into the South Carolina game with a different mindset,” Barnes said Monday. “I do think the other night at South Carolina, he found his groove defensively. He’s a good offensive player and he doesn’t have to force things.”

Turner matched a career-high with 25 points and grabbed six rebounds in the Vols’ 70-63 win. He was 6-of-9 from the field, made all three 3-point attempts and was a perfect 10-for-10 from the free-throw line. Barnes said he wished he knew what was different about Turner on nights like Saturday, but he knows he wants to see Turner – and the rest of his point guards – continue to find their game defensively first as the No. 21 Vols (13-5, 4-3 SEC) ready to host Vanderbilt (7-12, 2-5) on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET, ESPNU).

“He’s a very confident player – offensive player,” Barnes said Saturday. “But defensively is where I think all of our guys get it going.”

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Turner said he set his focus on guarding the ball against South Carolina and playing into Tennessee’s desired identity of causing havoc on the defensive end.

“I was able to early,” Turner said. “It kind of got me in a rhythm.”

That rhythm translated to the offensive end, where Barnes moved Turner back having the ball in his hands. The result was another one of Turner’s scoring outburst – his fifth game with at least 16 points and third with 24 or more.

But how Turner responds to his latest key performance is what Barnes is watching. Entering Saturday, Turner’s three-highest scoring games of the season came against Purdue (17), Georgia Tech (24) and Auburn (25). In the games that followed each high-scoring outing, Turner shot a combined 6-for-30 from the field and 2-of-14 from 3-point range.

“He has a tendency – and I told him (Sunday) about this game – every time he has a big scoring game, he comes back and thinks that’s what he’s got to do every game,” Barnes said. “He ends up getting himself back to the bench.”

On Saturday, Turner said he was trying to be aggressive and make a couple of plays offensively, while his momentum came defensively. Barnes still wants to see a semblance of “consistency and reliability” from his guards because he knows when the Vols are locked in, good things come from Turner.

“That’s the key,” Barnes said. “Can he continue to keep that same mindset? It’s a focus and I hope he can really develop it.”