You could say that was more like it. Or you could say what a difference three days make.

Tennessee, upset loser at Vanderbilt on Saturday, got its act back together on Tuesday evening, clamped the defense on high-scoring Mississippi State and smothered the Bulldogs, 68-56, at Food City Center.

In the background was a four-hour video review of effort and execution and the difference in right and wrong. The transformation was startling. Call that coaching.

Rick Barnes didn’t repeat all the things he said Sunday night but he shared a short version.

“Details. Paying attention to the scouting report. Too many miscommunications last game. And just details, really. And then offensively, details again. We didn’t rebound, we didn’t run like we need to run. A lot of things. I don’t want to take away from any team that beats us. Vanderbilt beat us.”

Mississippi State didn’t. It came to town averaging 82 points per game. It settled for 16 in the first half. It tried but couldn’t run favorite plays. It endured a maddening search for open shots. Everywhere Bulldogs looked, Vols were in the way.

The visitors hit six of 27. Run the calculator: That’s 22.2 percent.

The Vols weren’t exactly awesome on offense but Chaz Lanier was very good. He hit two quick threes in an 8-0 start. He added two more and had 14 points before intermission. Tennessee led by 18 at the stop.

The second half was different. Tennessee contributed turnovers. State produced a 15-4 rally. In less than five minutes, the UT lead was down to 38-31. Zakai Zeigler kept it from being worse.

Enough already – the Vols weathered the storm.

If you didn’t see it, you might not believe what stopped the trend. Jordan Gainey saved a loose ball. He threw it to Felix Okpara. The center was 29 feet from the goal and the shot clock was running down. He shocked everybody with his first three-point attempt of the season, the second of his career.

“Bottom!” as John Ward used to say.

Tennessee rebuilt a 20-point lead and coasted in.

“Just proud of the overall team effort,” said Barnes. “Really thought it was a terrific team effort. And we needed it. Otherwise, we couldn’t have gotten the win.”

Lanier finished with 23 points on 8-of-17 shooting. He suffered five turnovers at Vanderbilt. This time he had none. He was much improved on defense. The coach was encouraged.

“Well, he did what we talked about. I just keep telling him, he’s at a different level. This is all new for him. Never been guarded physically, probably never been bumped like he has been. It’s just a whole different level … he’s got to do something to get guys off of him.”

Barnes thought Chaz being locked in defensively helped him on the offensive end. The coach says getting totally immersed in the game takes off some of the pressure of having to make shots.

Jahmai Mashack scored 10 and missed but two shots. Gainey scored 10. Ziggy had nine points, seven assists and five steals. Okpara had nine points and 12 rebounds. He was better on defense than at Vanderbilt.

Barnes said: “I thought Felix was really good … he’s put together a really good stretch … I thought Zakai had a really good floor game overall … Jahmai was terrific. He has worked hard, focused more with his shot, trying to get it consistent … and Jordan, obviously, his buckets were big.”

Tennessee won the rebounding battle by 36-31. The teams had 18 points each in the paint.

Barnes: “Physically, we knew we had to try to match them. They just manhandled us the last two times we played. I love their style of basketball,” said Barnes.

The Vols are 17-3 and 4-2 in SEC games. Coming next is a Saturday night then and now, former No. 1 Tennessee at current No. 1 Auburn, 8:30 tipoff, ESPN and Vol Network.

Marvin West welcomes comments or questions from readers. His address is marvinwest75@gmail.com