Tennessee picked up a statement win over LSU on Saturday night, and while the box score will highlight the usual suspects, one of the most impactful performances came from an unexpected source: Ethan Burg.
Burg, a name Vols fans haven’t heard much since the calendar flipped to 2026, stepped into the spotlight with poise and purpose. He logged 18 crucial minutes off the bench-his most action in over a month-and made them count. Burg finished with eight points on an efficient 3-for-4 shooting night, including two timely three-pointers that helped Tennessee maintain momentum during key stretches.
Before Saturday, Burg had played just 11 total minutes in the new year. But against LSU, he looked like a player who had been preparing for this moment behind the scenes-and according to head coach Rick Barnes, that’s exactly what he’s been doing.
Barnes shared postgame that the coaching staff made a conscious effort to slow things down for Burg, both mentally and physically. The goal? Get him to play within himself and stop pressing.
“From here until the end of the year, it might be one game, might be the last game-you’ve got to be ready,” Barnes said. “And Ethan, what’s helped him?
We moved him to the scout team, along with some other players, just to try to get him to calm down, slow down, because he’s always been competitive. He was trying to do way too much.”
That move to the scout team wasn’t a demotion-it was a reset. The message was simple: take care of the basketball.
“All I asked him to do when he went to the scout team was just show me you can play without turning the ball over,” Barnes said. “That’s all I want to see.
Just don’t turn the ball over. Be fundamentally sound.
And you know what? He embraced it.”
And that’s where the real story begins-not just with Burg’s improved decision-making, but with his growth off the court. Barnes praised the sophomore’s maturity, noting that the time away from the rotation forced some honest self-reflection.
“You’re not getting enough reps the way you’re going right now. You need to get in shape,” Barnes told him.
“He’s done that. So that, to me, is where he really showed his maturity.”
The turning point came in a conversation between coach and player.
“I asked him last night, ‘Why do you think you haven’t played?’” Barnes recalled.
“And he said, ‘Coach, honestly, because I wanted to do it my way. And I realized my way’s not going to work.’
And that’s maturity on his part.”
That kind of self-awareness doesn’t always show up on the stat sheet, but it’s the kind of development that matters in February-and even more so in March.
Tennessee’s biggest question mark heading into the postseason has been point guard depth behind Zakai Gillespie. When Gillespie sits, the offense has at times struggled to maintain rhythm and composure. But if Burg can continue to provide steady minutes, protect the ball, and knock down open shots, it changes the calculus for this team.
If Burg can give Gillespie a breather without the offense skipping a beat, Tennessee becomes far more dangerous. The Vols don’t need him to be a star-they just need him to be solid. Saturday night, he was exactly that.
With a big week ahead and the postseason looming, Burg’s emergence couldn’t have come at a better time. His growth, both on the floor and off, is giving the Vols something they’ve sorely needed: a reliable backup ball handler with confidence, control, and now, a little momentum.
Tennessee’s ceiling just got a little higher.