The little thing that pleased Rick Barnes most in Tennessee basketball's romp vs Ole Miss

Rick Barnes had a talk-to-himself moment Saturday.

It was in the first half, long before Tennessee basketball took a flamethrower to Ole Miss and incinerated the formerly undefeated Rebels by 26 points.

"When are we going to make a shot?" Barnes said to himself from his spot on the bench between associate head coach Justin Gainey and director of player development Bryan Lentz.

Barnes watched miss after miss after miss. He didn't mind. He saw exactly what he wanted to see with the misses, the misses turning into makes, and the makes turning a top-25 matchup into a massacre.

“The thing that I'm most pleased (with) is that when we missed shots early guys kept taking them," Barnes said.

No. 5 Tennessee (11-3, 1-0 SEC) got sensational play from guard Zakai Zeigler and forward Jonas Aidoo in its 90-64 win against No. 19 Ole Miss (13-1, 0-1). Barnes was pleased with that, Jahmai Mashack's performance, Tennessee's rebounding and more in a noteworthy outing.

The way Tennessee kept shooting lingered with Barnes above all.

Why Rick Barnes was talking to himself against Ole Miss

Santiago Vescovi had no one within 10 feet of him when he hoisted UT's first 3-point attempt. He missed, the first one barely a minute into the game at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center.

Tennessee got a lot of that in the first 16:30 against the Rebels. It was 1-for-12 shooting from three and sometime in that stretch is when Barnes started talking to himself.

"Early in the game, we had some great looks that didn't go in," Barnes said. "I'm just glad those guys kept shooting because that's something that we harped on and we're going to continue to want to take those shots."

Guard Jordan Gainey had the lone make for Tennessee among its first 12 attempts. It missed five before he made one. It missed six after.

But the Vols kept hoisting shots from inside the arc and outside it during an 8-for-23 shooting start. It paid off: The Vols went 15-for-21 right after, turning a three-point lead to a 20-point margin.

Jahmai Mashack was in the middle of a 3-point barrage

Zeigler answered Barnes' question to himself when he used a Dalton Knecht screen to create a 3-pointer at the top of the key with 3:22 before the half. Tennessee scored 74 points in the final 23:22 starting with Zeigler's three.

Vescovi hit from the wing at the 1:37 mark. Then it was Jahmai Mashack's turn.

Mashack dribbled into a 3-pointer with 30 seconds until halftime with Zeigler imploring him to shoot. He hit another to beat the halftime buzzer, pump-faking a defender and letting it fly.

"I've worked a lot on my game, especially my shooting," Mashack said. "So I have confidence in it. ... I knew the ball was coming to me, so just shoot it."

That's the attitude Barnes adores and witnessed Saturday. He doesn't want his players to shy away from shooting because of misses. He wants them trust in their work and preparation. Misses happen, but to stop shooting cannot.

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Tennessee made its final four 3-point attempts in the first half Saturday. It made its first two in the second half thanks to Zeigler and Knecht, leaving the rough start behind.

Tennessee kept shooting until it blew out Ole Miss

Barnes hasn't kept his belief that Tennessee is a good shooting team quiet. He declared early in the season that Tennessee could and would shoot it.

The Vols were 10-for-18 on 3-pointers after the 1-for-12 start.

"We didn’t put it away," Barnes said. "We kept taking those shots.”

Saturday was the fifth time Tennessee had made at least 10 3-pointers in a game. It was the third time in the past four games UT has done it, a run fueled partially by Zeigler, who has 14 3-pointers in that stretch. He hasn't been shy shooting, taking 33 threes.

That's fine because Barnes believes the shots will go in. They did Saturday after Barnes was talking to himself. That's one of the reasons Tennessee had a splashy start to SEC play − and it was the little thing that pleased Barnes most.

Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: What Rick Barnes loved most in Tennessee basketball romp vs Ole Miss