University of Tennessee Athletics
Vols Face Wofford in Basketball Home Opener
November 27, 2004 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 27, 2004
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| Wofford Terriers vs. Tennessee Volunteers
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Tennessee Trends
- Tennessee has an all-time record of 1,332-869-2 in its 96th season of basketball.
- Tennessee returns all five starters and a total of nine letterwinners for the 2005 season. It is the first time that UT has returned all five starters since 1998-99.
- Every statistical category leader from 2004 returns for the 2005 season. The Vols return 88.1 percent of their scoring and 85.5 percent of their rebounding. In fact, UT returns at least 78 percent of its 2004 production in every statistical category.
- Tennessee was one of six teams without a senior in 2003-04. Of those six teams, only Tennessee and Wake Forest received postseason invitations.
- Tennessee has made postseason appearances in six of the last seven seasons. It is the second-best stretch in school history. The Vols made nine postseason appearances in 10 seasons (1976-85), including a stretch of seven in a row (1979-85).
- Freshman Chris Lofton is the third Kentucky Mr. Basketball to sign with the Vols. The 6-foot-3 guard averaged 26.7 points per game for Mason County HS. Allan Houston (1989) and Jermaine Brown (1991) also earned Mr. Basketball honors in the state of Kentucky.
- Freshman guard JaJuan Smith was invited to join the Vols as a walk-on but was awarded a scholarship prior to the start of the season.
- Elliott DeVoe, a freshman walk-on from Annapolis, Md., is the son of former Vols head coach Don DeVoe. The elder DeVoe recorded a 204-137 mark in 11 seasons at Tennessee and a 512-389 record in 31 seasons as a head coach. Elliott was born in Knoxville while his father was coaching the Vols.
- Tennessee needs 10 home wins this season to reach the 200-win milestone in Thompson-Boling Arena. The Vols are 190-78 in 17 seasons of play in Thompson-Boling Arena. UT, which has averaged 12 home wins in Buzz Peterson's three seasons in Knoxville, has 16 home games on the schedule this year.
Crump Gets 500th Rebound Against North Carolina, Closing In On 1,000 Points
Brandon Crump needs 17 points to become the 37th player in Tennessee history to score 1,000 career points ... He would become just the fourth UT player 6-foot-10 or taller to reach the 1,000-point milestone ... The 6-foot-10 senior forward has scored 983 points in 91 career games ... He recorded his 500th career rebound against North Carolina (11/23/04) ... His 510 career rebounds rank 31st all-time at UT.
Tennessee In Home Openers
The Vols are 36-2 in their last 38 home openers dating back to the 1966-67 campaign ... Tennessee has won 12 home openers in a row ... UT's last loss in a home opener was on Nov. 25, 1991 when East Tennessee State posted a 87-79 win in Thompson-Boling Arena ... ETSU went on to post a 24-7 record that included a win over Arizona in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Vols Win Sixth Consecutive Season-Opener
Tennessee won its sixth consecutive season-opener with a 69-57 win over Stanford in the first round of the EA SPORTS Maui Invitational Monday, Nov. 22 ...In their last 20 season-openers, the Vols have recorded a 19-2 record ... The only teams to post a win over the Vols in that time were No. 18 Arizona (73-72 on Nov. 13, 1998) and East Tennessee State (87-79 on Nov. 25, 1991) ... This was the first time that the Vols have opened the season away from home since the 1998-99 season when the UT fell to Arizona at the BCA Classic in Albuquerque, N.M. ... This was just the 15th time in school history that the Vols have started a season away from home.
Tennessee's Pilfering Point Guard
C.J. Watson's 11 steals through three games lead the Vols and are the most the the SEC this season ... Last year it took Watson eight games to reach the 11 steal mark ... Watson finished finished his sophomore season with 45 steals ... He has averaged 1.5 steals per game over his career.
Looking At Wofford
Wofford enters Monday's game with a 2-1 record following a 90-66 victory over Bluefield College Saturday afternoon ... Five Terriers scored in double-figures against Bluefield with Howard Wilkerson, Sam Daniels and Jeff Tarr leading the way with 11 points each ... Wilkerson, a 6-foot-6 junior forward, is the only Terrier averaging double-figure scoring on the season with 17.0 points per game ... A preseason All-SoCon pick after earning all-conference accolades last year, Wilkerson also leads the team with 6.7 rebounds per game ... Speedy guard Adrien Borders is second on the team with 8.7 points ... A two-sport athlete, Borders won the SoCon Championship in the triple and long jump last year ... Freshman guard Drew Gibson is making 42.9 percent (6-of-14) of his 3-pointers while averaging 8.0 points ... The Terriers opened the season with a 64-67 loss at Miami (Fla.) before bouncing back to defeat Milligan 90-64 in their home opener ... Wofford is the second-smallest school in Division I with an enrollment of 1,100 ... Wofford is under the direction of Mike Young who is 25-36 in his third season in Spartanburg, S.C., and as a head coach ... Young spent 13 years as an assistant coach at Wofford before being named head coach ... The Wofford coaching staff is the third-youngest coaching staff in the nation with an average age of 31.0 ... Tennessee is one of four Southeastern Conference schools on Wofford's schedule this year ... The Terriers also play Auburn (Dec. 5), Georgia (Dec. 19) and South Carolina (Dec. 31).
The Wofford Series
Tennessee leads the all-time series with the Terriers, 6-0 ... Last year the Vols opened their season with an 81-70 win over Wofford ... UT leads the series 5-0 when it is played in Knoxville ... Buzz Peterson recorded a 3-0 record against Wofford when he was the head coach at Appalachian State (1996-2000) ... Tennessee is 79-12 against current members of the Southern Conference.
Last Meeting With The Terriers
Tennessee won its 36th home opener in 38 seasons with a 81-70 victory over Wofford Nov. 21, 2003 ... Five different Vols scored in double figures ... Scooter McFadgon led all scorers with 31 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field and 8-of-10 from the free throw line ... McFadgon's 31 points were the most in a Tennessee debut by a player since Bernard King scored 42 in 1974 against Wisconsin-Milwaukee ... Brandon Crump had his fourth career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds ... Jemere Hendrix had 12 points and nine rebounds while C.J. Watson and Stanley Asumnu each added 11 points ... Sam Daniels and Tyler Berg led the Terriers with 11 points apiece ... Tennessee led 37-31 at halftime but Wofford went on a 12-4 run to take a 43-41 lead early in the second half ... The two teams battled back-and-forth until the Vols used a 12-4 run of their own to take a 70-62 lead on a McFadgon dunk with 4:50 left ... Tennessee shot 72.2 percent from the field in the second half and finished the game shooting 49.1 percent from the field.
Wofford Connections
Wofford assistant coach Dustin Kerns spent the 2003-04 season as a graduate manager for the Tennessee basketball team ... Kerns is a Kingsport, Tenn., native where he played for Dobyns-Bennett High School ... Tennessee head coach Buzz Peterson spent four seasons coaching at Appalachian State where he had a 47-14 record against SoCon teams.
Last Game: Vols Finish Fourth At Maui Invitational
A career night from C.J. Watson was no match for the 15th-ranked Texas Longhorns in a 70-95 loss at the Maui Invitational ... The loss put the Vols in a fourth-place finish in the tournament ... Watson, who averaged 16.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 3.7 steals in the three-game tournament, led the Vols with 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field ... The Longhorns took an 11-point halftime lead (46-45) on 51.6 percent shooting and continued their hot shooting in the second half to finish the game with 52.4 shooting from the field ... Texas shot 40 percent (10-of-25) from 3-point range ... Scooter McFadgon had 13 points for the Vols while Major Wingate and Texas native Brandon Crump each had eight points ... Daniel Gibson's 19 points led six Longhorns in double-figure scoring.
Vols Enjoy Success On And Off The Court In Hawaii
Tennessee's win over Stanford in the first round of the EA SPORTS Maui Invitational isn't the Vols' only victory in Hawaii so far ... Pee-Wee Gash was the champion of the EA SPORTS March Madness 2005 video game tournament Saturday, Nov. 20 ... Gash defeated North Carolina's Rashad McCants in the finals ... Buzz Peterson, along with a local youth, won a free throw shooting contest that featured the tournaments head coaches Sunday, Nov. 21 ... Peterson made all 10 of his attempts in the two rounds of the competition ... The event was to raise money for local Maui schools.
Lofton Hitting From Deep
Freshman Chris Lofton arrived on the UT campus with a reputation as an extraordinary 3-point shooter ... Three games into the season the Maysville, Ky., native has not disappointed ... He is shooting 52.6 percent (10-of-19) from behind the arc this year ... Against 11th-ranked North Carolina he drilled six of his 10 attempts from behind the arc ... Through UT's first three games he ranks third on the team with 12.0 points per game ... At Mason County High School he made 46.2 percent (353-of-764) of his 3-point attempts.
McFadgon Bounces Back At The Line
Scooter McFadgon bounced back from a tough shooting night at the free throw line against Stanford to make all of his 13 free throws in Tennessee's last two games ... The senior from Memphis went 6-of-8 (75 percent) from the stripe against Stanford which isn't a bad percentage unless you made 91.2 percent of your free throws last year ... It was just the fifth time in 30 career games at Tennessee that he missed more than one free throw in a game.
McFadgon's Dunk Ranked Sixth On ESPN's Top Plays
Scooter McFadgon's alley-oop dunk off a fast break pass from Chris Lofton in the Stanford (11/22/04) game was sixth on ESPN's Top Plays Monday night Nov. 22 ... C.J. Watson started the play with one of his five steals on the night and then fed the ball ahead to Chris Lofton ... Lofton, breaking down the left side, threw a lob pass that looked like it might be too high to a streaking McFadgon who elevated well above the rim to catch the ball and slam it through the hoop.
New Faces Contribute In Opener
Newcomers Andre Patterson, a 6-foot-7 junior transfer from UCLA, and Chris Lofton, a freshman guard from Maysville, Ky., were each in the starting lineup when the Vols met Stanford in the 2004-05 season-opener ... Patterson scored seven points and grabbed five rebounds while Lofton had five points, four rebounds and two assists ... Jordan Howell came off the bench to give the Vols 13 quality minutes and JaJuan Smith saw four minutes of action.
Crump, McFadgon & Watson Named Tri-Captains
Seniors Brandon Crump and Scooter McFadgon along with junior C.J. Watson have been named team captains for the 2004-05 season ... It is the first captaincy appointment for McFadgon while Crump and Watson were also captains last season ... In 95 years of Tennessee basketball prior to this season only four players had been two-time captains ... V.H. Klein (1913-14), Harry Anderson (1935-36), Garland O'Shields (1945-46) and Johnny Darden (1978-79) are the only other Vols to serve two terms as captain.
Watson Is Top Assist Man In SEC Over Last Two Seasons
C.J. Watson's 305 assists in the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons are the most of any Southeastern Conference player during that period ... Watson's 160 assists as a freshman in 2003 were the second-most in the SEC that year, and his 145 assists as a sophomore in 2004 tied for second-most in the league ... Kentucky's Cliff Hawkins ranks second with 277 assists over the last two seasons.
Vols Trio Earn Coaches Preseason All-SEC Honors
Tennessee was one of three SEC teams to have three players selected to the inaugural SEC men's preseason All-SEC first and second teams that were selected by the league's coaches ... Senior guard Scooter McFadgon was a first team selection while senior forward Brandon Crump and junior guard C.J. Watson were second team picks.
Crump Attending Graduate School
Senior forward Brandon Crump received a degree in sport management in May 2004 and is currently pursuing a master's degree ... A true scholar-athlete, he ranked second on the team with 14.8 points per game while leading the Vols with 6.8 rebounds per game in 2004 ... In the classroom, he was named to the 2003-04 SEC Winter Academic Honor Roll and was selected as the Edamerica Scholar-Athlete of the month in February 2004.
Scooter Looks To Build On Free Throw Shooting
Scooter McFadgon broke one of Tennessee's oldest records last year when his 91.2 percent shooting at the free throw line dispatched a school record that had stood since 1969 ... The Memphis native connected on 134 of his 147 free throw attempts to lead the SEC and rank fifth in the nation ... His free throw success rate was the second-best in SEC history ... This year he enters his senior season as the league's second-leading returning scorer with 17.6 points per game ... Only Florida's Anthony Roberson averaged more points with 17.9.
What Returns
Who could blame Buzz Peterson for being excited when he looks at what is back from last year's team ... The Vols return an unprecedented amount of their production from last season's squad ... UT returns all five starters and a total of nine letterwinners from last year's squad ... In fact, nearly 80 percent of every statistical category returns from 2003-04 ... A total of 88.1 percent of UT's scoring is back from a team that averaged 71.1 points per game ... 85.5 percent of the team's rebounding returns and 83.0 percent of the Vols' assists are also back.
Home Court Advantage
Thompson-Boling Arena has provided the Vols with a definite home court advantage since the facility opened in time for the 1987-88 season.
- Tennessee is 190-78 (.709) in its 18th season in Thompson-Boling Arena.
- Since the 1998 season, the Vols are 91-19 (.827) in Thompson-Boling Arena.
- Tennessee is 77-17 (.819) since the 1999 season at home. UT recorded a 14-1 record in 1999, a 15-1 mark in 2000, 12-3 in 2001, 10-4 in 2002, 12-5 in 2003 and 14-3 in 2004.
- The Vols are 43-14 against SEC teams at home over the last six seasons.
- UT has won 54 of its last 59 home games against non-conference opponents.
Vols Sign Three In Early Period
Buzz Peterson announced that three players signed national letters of intent to play basketball at the University of Tennessee in the November signing period.
- Tyler Smith, a 6-foot-7, 230-pound forward from Pulaski, Tenn., was selected as one of the top 10 high school players in the nation when Street & Smith's named him a second team selection on the 2004 Boys High School All-America Team. As a junior at Giles County High School the first team all-state selection averaged 24 points, nine rebounds and five assists while leading the Bobcats to the state tournament. As a sophomore he earned tournament MVP honors after leading Giles County to a state championship. Rated a four-star prospect by Rivals.com, he was named the MVP of the all-star game at the adidas Superstar camp last summer in Atlanta.
- Matthew Dotson, a 6-foot-8, 210-pound forward from Centerville, Tenn., is rated a three-star prospect by Rivals.com. He was named the Class 3A Player of the Year for Hickman County High School's district last year. A big man who has a deft outside shooting touch that extends beyond the 3-point arc, he averaged 23 points and 14.5 rebounds as a junior.
- Damion Harris, a 6-foot-10, 275-pound center from Greenville, S.C., was a Class AAA All-State selection at Wade Hampton High School last season. As a senior in 2003-04 he led the Generals to the state tournament and as a junior he averaged 16 points, 14 rebounds and 6.5 blocks in leading Wade Hampton to the Class AAA Upper State finals. He first signed with the Vols last year, but is spending the 2004-05 season playing for Prince Avenue Prep in Pickens, S.C.
Preseason Honors & Predictions
| Team Predictions | |
| SEC Media | 3rd/SEC East |
| Athlon Sports | 3rd/SEC East |
| Street & Smith's | 3rd/SEC East |
| Basketball Time In TN | 3rd/SEC East |
| Lindy's Basketball | 3rd/SEC East |
| Blue Ribbon | 4th/SEC East |
| The Sporting News | 4th/SEC East |
| Basketball News | 4th/SEC East |
| Postseason Predictions | |
| Athlon Sports | NCAA Tournament |
| Basketball News | NCAA Tournament |
| Lindy's Basketball | NCAA Tournament |
| Individual Predictions | |
| Scooter McFadgon | First Team All-SEC (SEC Coaches) |
| First Team All-SEC (SEC Media) | |
| First Team All-SEC (Athlon Sports) | |
| First Team All-SEC (Basketball News) | |
| First Team All-SEC (Blue Ribbon CBY) | |
| Second Team All-SEC (The Sporting News) | |
| Second Team All-SEC (Lindy's Basketball) | |
| No. 9 "Slasher" nationally (Athlon Sports) | |
| No. 15 "SG" nationally (Lindy's Basketball) | |
| No. 16 "SG" nationally (The Sporting News) | |
| SEC's "Most Entertaining" (Lindy's Basketball) | |
| C.J. Watson | Second Team All-SEC (SEC Coaches) |
| Third Team All-SEC (Athlon Sports) | |
| SEC's "Best Playmaker" (The Sporting News) | |
| SEC's "Best Passer" (Street & Smith's) | |
| SEC's "Top Playmaker" (Lindy's Basketball) | |
| Brandon Crump | Second Team All-SEC (SEC Coaches) |
| Third Team All-SEC (Athlon Sports) | |
| Third Team All-SEC (Lindy's Basketball) | |
| Andre Patterson | No. 7 "Top Transfer" nationally (Lindy's Basketball) |
| Top Transfer (Athlon Sports) | |
| Top Transfer (Basketball News) | |
| SEC's "Best Transfer" (Street & Smith's) | |
| Chris Lofton | Top 100 Freshmen (Street & Smith's) |
