LAS VEGAS -- Tennessee coach Rick Barnes knew some doubters had questioned the No. 17 Volunteers' schedule and 6-0 record entering Tuesday's game against No. 3 Houston.
Those questions, he said, served as motivation in his team's 76-73 victory over the Cougars at the Players Era tournament, a rematch of their Elite Eight game eight months ago. The Volunteers will play Kansas in third-place game Wednesday.
"I've heard the chatter that we hadn't played anybody, but we had a great scrimmage against Ohio State and we had a great exhibition game against Duke and we knew after both of those that if we could continue to grow, that we had a chance," Barnes said.