Tennessee basketball fans react to humiliating loss in March Madness

Rick Barnes, Tennessee basketball coach. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
Rick Barnes, Tennessee basketball coach. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /
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Tennessee basketball fans can’t take much disappointment from their team after the Vols laid an egg in the NCAA Tournament against Oregon State.

The Rick Barnes-led Tennessee Volunteers entered Indianapolis this week with high expectations as a No. 5 seed in the Midwest region.

After 40 minutes of abysmal play, the SEC squad is heading back home early at the hands of Oregon State, falling to the No. 12 Beavers, 70-56.

Tennessee could not have gotten off on a worse start in their first-round matchup with the Beavers. The Volunteers missed their first eight 3-point attempts, the offense seemed completely lost on the court, and Yves Pons, their most lethal option on offense picked up two early fouls and never found a rhythm.

After being down 14 at the half, Tennessee couldn’t tilt the momentum to their favor as the Oregon State lead grew to 20 at 47-27, with 15 minutes left in the game.

Oregon State never took its foot off the gas pedal and after all 40 minutes were played, the Beavers picked up its first NCAA Tournament victory in 39 years.

Rick Barnes’ failure to win in NCAA Tournament continues

Losing in the NCAA Tournament has been a trend for Rick Barnes, having lost 25 of his 49 March Madness games as the head coach of programs such as Providence, Clemson, Texas, and Tennessee.

Now that Tennessee has been upset by No. 12 Oregon State, it’s fair to say that the 2020-21 campaign ended as a massive failure, despite not having veteran forward John Fulkerson healthy for today’s contest.

The Volunteers were ranked inside the top-5 of the Associated Press Preseason poll, started the season red-hot, and withered when it mattered most, losing eight of their last 16 contests.

Now that the Tennesse basketball season has come to an end, time will tell how long fans will wait before they are willing to wear their Volunteers merchandise again.

Next. 20 biggest upsets in the history of March Madness. dark

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