TIGER BASKETBALL

Penny Hardaway, Rick Barnes de-escalate rift ahead of Memphis vs Tennessee Vols basketball game

Jason Munz
Memphis Commercial Appeal

The time for talking trash appears to be over for Penny Hardaway and Rick Barnes

The basketball coaches for Memphis and Tennessee addressed Saturday's matchup (2 p.m. CT in Knoxville, ESPN) during radio show interviews Monday night. After an offseason's worth of contentious back-and-forth between the two that played out mostly in the media, Hardaway and Barnes opted not to fan the flames any further. 

During the "Ask Penny" portion of the show, a fan questioned Hardaway on how he plans to beat Barnes. 

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"It's really not me against Rick," Hardaway said. "But, honestly, it's going to be a great game. It's going to be chess, to be honest with you, because we don't know how the refs are going to call it." 

The Tigers (8-1) have won six in a row after losing to Oregon on Nov. 12, while the Vols (7-1) have lost once to Florida State.  The teams are tied in the USA TODAY Sports coaches poll. 

During an appearance on "Vol Calls," Barnes praised Hardaway and Memphis. 

"I think Penny Hardaway has done a great job coaching these young guys," he said, referencing the Tigers' high level of youth and inexperience. "He's got a lot of young guys and that's not the easiest thing to do, when you have five, six new guys. Trying to get them to understand what they have to do.

"And he's done a terrific job."

The shift in discourse comes after months of lingering animosity after Tennessee took down the Tigers 102-92 in December 2018 at FedExForum. The contest featured some heated moments, including a skirmish near the scorer's table. Hardaway said it was then that a some of Barnes' players were approaching his team with "fists balled, talking trash." 

Tensions only escalated in the days afterward. Barnes denied any of his players showed any aggression toward the Tigers and accused the Memphis coaching staff of teaching flopping. During a news conference, Hardaway said, "Rick Barnes, get the (expletive) out of here." 

Most recently, Barnes said the Memphis-Tennessee series will not likely be renewed after next season's game in Nashville. On Monday, Barnes said, "we'll see," when asked about the series. Hardaway said last month he hopes to keep the series going because, "I think it would be good for the state, for sure."

But, on Monday, both coaches were tight-lipped when it came to trash talk. 

"Our job is to go in there and have a great game plan and stick to that game plan," Hardaway said. "If we have to make adjustments, make adjustments. But we want that victory."

"It's two good teams that are playing each other," Barnes said. "We're a long way apart, six hours is a long way. But the fact is, again I've said it, Penny has done a terrific job with his program."

Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @munzly.