Tennessee coach Rick Barnes recaps the Vols' win against Lipscomb Mike Wilson/News Sentinel
The questions and doubts had started to creep in for Chris Darrington.
The Tennessee junior guard spent the greater part of two months battling an ankle injury after a successful first summer as a Vol. And with the frustration of being injured came the second-guessing.
“It starts to set in like, ‘Can I play here? Am I good enough?’” Darrington said. “I knew I was injured. I knew I wasn’t 100 percent. But now I’m starting to feel that way. Hopefully, I can continue to play well.”
Tennessee sophomore Grant Williams recaps the Vols win against Lipscomb Mike
Darrington had a season-high 11 points against Lipscomb on Saturday. He played 19 minutes, slashed into the paint, got to the free-throw line and accounted for a handful of little plays to help the No. 20 Vols move to 7-1.
Rolled together, the performance left Vols coach Rick Barnes saying Darrington “played his best basketball” in the 81-71 win.
“He’s starting to be the player we saw this summer on our trip,” Barnes said. “We wanted to drive the ball. Some guys think one dribble and a pull-up jumper is a drive. He was at least trying to turn the corner to get to the high percentage areas and make a play. Defensively, he is getting there. …
“I thought he had a really good command about what he was doing out there.”
Darrington transferred to Tennessee from Vincennes (Ind.) University and got off to an impressive start this summer. The 6-foot-1, 179-pound guard averaged a team-leading 14.3 points per game during UT’s three-game European trip over the summer.
But he hurt his ankle early in preseason practices and missed Tennessee’s two exhibitions against Carson-Newman and Clemson. He returned at the start of the regular season and has averaged 13.7 minutes per game – a number that is slowly creeping upward in the past few games.
The ankle is close to 100 percent now, he said after Saturday’s win.
“I have been feeling better,” Darrington said. “It’s hurting now, but that’s normal after the game. I’m almost back to 100 percent.”
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On Saturday, Darrington finally got to show more of what he can do on the court to help make Tennessee’s guard depth even stronger. He got a Tennessee run started with a layup after Lipscomb pulled within three and hit a pair of free throws in the key run that sent the Vols to the win.
And when it was crunch time and Lipscomb was making another push, Darrington was on the floor to help close out the game.
“I really feel as though Chris is learning what we do,” senior guard James Daniel III said. “He played really well overseas. Then he went out with an ankle injury, which slowed him down. Chris is really crafty in the lane. He is getting himself back. He’s going to help us out a lot.”
Darrington proved that to be true and picked a good time to do so, as the No. 20 Vols face No. 7 North Carolina at 3 p.m. ET Sunday (ESPN) at Thompson-Boling Arena.
But more importantly, Darrington found the reassurance to put the questions and doubts behind him.
“I really needed this game,” Darrington said. “I’m glad coach left me out there. I’m glad I played those minutes. I needed that.”