University of Tennessee Athletics
Tennessee vs. South Carolina - Game Preview
January 13, 2005 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 13, 2005
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| Tennessee Volunteers vs. South Carolina Gamecocks
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TV LIVE STATS RANKINGS: THE COACHES: South Carolina Gamecocks
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Tennessee Trends
- Tennessee is embarking on a stretch where the Vols play five of six games on the road. The Vols play at South Carolina (Jan. 15), at Florida (Jan. 19), at Louisville (Jan. 22), vs. Kentucky (Jan. 25), at Auburn (Jan. 29) and at Vanderbilt (Feb. 2) during the three week period.
- UT is looking to win consecutive SEC road games for the first time since the 2002-03 season when the Vols won at Auburn (60-57 on Feb. 1) and at Arkansas (70-62 on Feb. 12).
- After opening league play with a win at Georgia, the Vols are looking to win their first two SEC road games since winning their first three SEC road games during the 1999-2000 campaign.
- Tennessee is 7-0 when leading or tied at halftime.
- Despite leading the nation in 3-point percentage (53.5 percent), Chris Lofton is shooting just 33.3 percent (6-of-18) from behind the arc over UT's last three games.
- More than 250 people from Maysville, Ky., made the trip to Knoxville to watch native son Chris Lofton play against Vanderbilt (1/8/05).
- Tennessee has shot 56.6 percent (56-of-99) from the free throw line in its last five games. The Vols shot 73.2 percent from the line in their first 10 games.
- Scooter McFadgon has registered double figure scoring in every game in which he has played this year.
- Five Vols are shooting better than 50 percent from the field. Brandon Crump (59.8), Andre Patterson (56.8), Chris Lofton (54.2), Major Wingate (55.3) and Jemere Hendrix (51.5) are all making more than half of their shots.
- Tennessee has shot 50 percent or better from the field in six of its last 10 games.
- Brandon Crump became the eighth Vol ever to have 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocked shots.
- C.J. Watson's 384 career assists are eighth all-time at Tennessee. He needs four assists to tie Fred Jenkins (1983-87) for seventh all-time.
- After shooting 42.5 percent from the field and 38.2 percent from 3-point range in their first five games, the Vols are shooting 50.5 percent (251-of-497) from the field over their last 10 games.
- UT's starters have accounted for 79.7 percent (854 of 1,071 points) of the Vols' scoring this season.
- Ten different Vols have made a 3-pointer this season.
- C.J. Watson became the first Vol in five years to record 10 or more assists in a game when he registered a career-high 10 dimes against Nebraska (12/30/04).
- C.J. Watson and Chris Lofton have tied a school record for single-game 3-point percentage by going 5-for-5 from 3-point range. Watson did it against Campbell (12/23/04) and Lofton accomplished the feat at New Mexico (12/18/04). They tied the mark set by Shane Carnes (5-for-5 against Michigan State on Dec. 20, 1994) and Thaydeus Holden (5-for-5 against Vanderbilt on Jan. 18, 2003).
- Tennessee's 70.0 percent (7-of-10) 3-point shooting against Xavier (12/11/04) established a new school record for 3-point success. It broke the record of 64.3 percent (9-of-14) set Jan. 27, 1992 against a North Carolina State team on which Buzz Peterson was an assistant coach.
- Six of Tennessee's 13 non-conference opponents this year appeared in the 2004 NCAA Tournament. Stanford, North Carolina, Texas, Xavier and Alabama State made NCAA appearances in 2004.
- Scooter McFadgon saw his streak of 31 consecutive free throws made come to an end against Xavier. It was the second-longest streak of his career. He had a streak of 32 consecutive free throws last year.
- Tennessee has an all-time record of 1,340-872-2 in its 96th season of basketball.
- Tennessee was one of six teams without a senior in 2003-04. Of those six teams, only Tennessee and Wake Forest received postseason invitations.
- 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.
- UT needs three home wins this season to reach the 200-win milestone in Thompson-Boling Arena. The Vols are 197-80 in 18 seasons of play in Thompson-Boling Arena. UT, which has averaged 12 home wins in Buzz Peterson's first three seasons in Knoxville, has 16 home games on the schedule this year.
| Team Statistical Comparisons | ||
| Tennessee | Stat Category | South Carolina |
| 71.4 | Points | 69.7 |
| 67.9 | Opponent Points | 61.4 |
| +3.5 | Scoring Margin | +8.4 |
| .476 | Field Goal % | .470 |
| .437 | Opponent Field Goal % | .412 |
| .402 | Three-Point % | .324 |
| .373 | Opponent Three-Point % | .307 |
| .679 | Free Throw % | .626 |
| 33.9 | Rebounds | 34.6 |
| 32.4 | Opponent Rebounds | 33.8 |
| +1.5 | Rebounding Margin | +0.9 |
| 14.7 | Assists | 14.6 |
| 14.5 | Turnovers | 13.9 |
| 3.7 | Blocks | 4.5 |
| 7.5 | Steals | 9.2 |
| 9-6 | Record | 9-5 |
| Individual Statistical Leaders | ||
| Tennessee | Stat Category | South Carolina |
| McFadgon, 15.7 | Points | Powell, 15.0 |
| Patterson, 6.2 | Rebounds | Powell, 6.3 |
| Watson, 5.3 | Assists | Kelley, 3.9 |
| Crump, .598 | Field Goal % | Powell, .586 |
| Lofton, .535 | Three-Point % | Kinsey, .395 |
| McFadgon, .813 | Free Throw % | Gonner, .789 |
Looking At South Carolina
South Carolina fell to 9-5 on the season and 1-2 in SEC action with a 64-79 loss at LSU Wednesday night ... The Gamecocks shot 50 percent from the field but could not overcome a 58.8 percent shooting performance from the Bayou Bengals ... Senior forward Carlos Powell is leading USC in scoring and rebounding for the second consecutive year with 15.0 points and 6.3 rebounds per game ... Powell's 58.6 percent shooting from the field rates as the second-best percentage in the SEC ... Tre' Kelley is second on the team with 10.6 points per game while leading the team with 3.9 assists per game ... The Gamecocks have three four-point losses to teams ranked in the Top 10 this season (60-64 at No. 2 Kansas, 70-74 at No. 10 Pittsburgh and 75-79 at No. 8 Kentucky) ... USC is 33-8 all-time in the Colonial Center ... The Gamecocks are 8-1 at home this season ... Antoine Tisby is the tallest projected starter at just 6-foot-8 ... South Carolina ranks third in the SEC by allowing just 61.4 points per game ... Brandon Wallace, a 6-foot-9 sophomore forward, ranks fifth in the league with 1.86 blocked shots per game ... After starting USC's first eight games Josh Gonner is averaging 13.0 points on 50 percent (10-for-20) 3-point shooting coming off the bench in USC's last five games ... On the season Gonner is averaging 8.9 points on 33.3 percent (17-of-51) 3-points shooting ... Dave Odom is 66-47 in his fourth season at South Carolina and owns a career record of 344-221 in 19 years as a head coach.
The South Carolina Series
Tennessee leads the all-time series, 22-20 ... Tennessee and South Carolina have split the season series in each of the last two years ... Last year USC took a 85-65 win in Columbia while UT won 63-56 in Knoxville ... South Carolina leads the series 12-6 when it is played in Columbia ... UT is 0-2 against South Carolina in the Colonial Center ... When the series is played in Knoxville, the Vols own a 15-7 advantage ... The Vols have won nine of the last 14 meetings between the schools ... The two teams have met two times in the Southeastern Conference Tournament with each team winning one time ... Tennessee and South Carolina met for the first time on Jan 15, 1927 in Columbia ... The two teams played off-and-on between the 1927 and 1972 seasons but did not play each other from 1972 until 1988 when the series was renewed.
Last Meeting With South Carolina
Tennessee enjoyed one of its best shooting games of the season against the SEC's best defense in a 63-56 win over South Carolina Saturday, March 6, 2004, at Thompson-Boling Arena ... The Vols built a 32-21 halftime lead and expanded the advantage to 13 points (40-27) when Brandon Crump put in a layup with just under 15 minutes left ... South Carolina responded with a 13-2 run to cut the lead to two points (42-40) on a Tre' Kelley bucket with 8:25 remaining ... Scooter McFadgon kept the Vols in the lead by scoring nine of the Vols' final 15 points over the last 5:21 ... McFadgon finished the game with 17 points to lead the Vols ... Crump, who was 7-of-7 from the field, added 15 points and nine rebounds ... C.J. Watson, who recorded his 300th career assist, chipped in 15 points to go with six dimes ... Josh Gonner led four Gamecocks in double figure scoring with 13 points ... Tennessee shot 55.0 percent from the field against a South Carolina team that led the SEC in virtually every defensive category entering the game ... The Gamecocks had previously allowed just one team to shoot 50 percent or better all season ... USC's bench outscored UT's 12-1 ... Tennessee's 7-1 record in home SEC games tied with Kentucky for the best home record in the league.
South Carolina Connections
Tennessee sophomore center Major Wingate and USC senior forward Carlos Powell were high school teammates during the 2000-01 season at Wilson High School in Florence, S.C. ... Wingate, a native of Florence, S.C., attended Wilson HS through his junior year ... USC's Powell attended Wilson HS for his junior and senior campaigns ... The duo were also AAU teammates ... Jemere Hendrix attended Clemson University for part of the 2001-02 season ... As a freshman for the Tigers he played three minutes in a 59-81 loss to South Carolina in Clemson, S.C. on Dec. 8, 2001 ... Hendrix was 0-for-1 from the field and gathered one rebound against the Gamecocks.
Last Game: Vols Upset 11th-Ranked Mississippi State
Tennessee ended the nation's longest road winning streak with a 64-63 victory over the 11th-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs Wednesday, Jan. 12, at Thompson-Boling Arena ... The Bulldogs entered the game having won 16 consecutive road games ... MSU had not lost a road game since March 5, 2003 when they fell 49-59 at Tennessee ... Scooter McFadgon scored all of his 14 points in the first half as the Vols built a 16-point halftime lead, 42-26 ... Two times in the second half the Vols extended the lead to as many as 18 points ... Midway through the second half the Bulldogs went on an 8-2 run to cut Tennessee's lead to five (52-49) ... A Lawrence Roberts lay-in with 1:54 left brought MSU to within two points 60-62 ... Andre Patterson followed a Scooter McFadgon miss with a putback dunk with 1:12 remaining to give the Vols a 64-60 lead ... Shane Power made a 3-pointer to bring the Bulldogs within a point and a Brandon Crump miss at the other end gave Mississippi State one final chance at the win ... MSU got three chances to inbound the ball under UT's basket with 7.4 seconds left but could not score as the Vols earned their first win over a ranked team on the season ... Crump was the only other Vol in double figure scoring with 12 points ... C.J. Watson nearly registered a double-double with nine points, nine assists and three steals ... Roberts led all scorers with 22 points and 13 rebounds ... Power added 17 points for the Bulldogs.
Time Focusing On Shot Selection Pays Off
After shooting 40.4 percent (23-of-57) from the field against UT-Chattanooga (12/5/04) Buzz Peterson spent the next week emphasizing shot selection during Tennessee's practices ... That emphasis paid off as in the 10 games since then the Vols have converted 50.5 percent (251-of-497) of their field goals ... UT has shot 50 percent or better from the field in six of its last 10 games ... UT set a school record by shooting 70.0 percent (7-of-10) from behind the 3-point arc against the Musketeers (12/11/04) ... Tennessee converted 62.5 percent (25-of-40) of its field goals against Belmont (12/20/04).
Lofton Leading The Nation In 3-Point Percentage
Freshman Chris Lofton arrived on the UT campus with a reputation as an extraordinary 3-point shooter ... Fifteen games into the season the Maysville, Ky., native has not disappointed ... According to the Jan. 10 NCAA Statistics Lofton's 56.3 percent (36-of-64) 3-point shooting is best in the nation ... He is currently shooting 53.5 percent (38-of-71) from 3-point range ... His 2.53 3-pointers made per game rank fifth in the SEC ... Against New Mexico (12/18/04) he tied a school record by going 5-for-5 from 3-point range ... His 11.3 points per game ranks fourth on the UT roster so far this season ... 65.5 percent (38-of-58) of Lofton's field goals this season have come behind the 3-point line ... His 54.2 percent shooting from the field is third on the team ... A guard has not led the Vols in field goal percentage since Bobby Carter's 46.1 percentage (142-of-310) in 1960-61.
Pilfering Point Guard
C.J. Watson's 31 steals through 15 games leads the Vols ... Watson finished finished his sophomore season with 45 steals ... He has averaged 1.5 steals per game over his career ... He sealed the win against Xavier (12/11/04) when he took the ball from Dedrick Finn before he could get a shot off at the final buzzer ... In the season opener he recorded a career-high five steals against Stanford in the Maui Invitational.
Crump Bounces Back
Brandon Crump's senior season didn't start the way he wanted it to when after the Vols' first five games he was averaging 8.8 points per game, six points less than he averaged as a junior (14.8 ppg) ... The Houston, Texas, broke out of his early season slump in style with a career-high 26 points on 11-of-14 shooting against Xavier (12/11/04) ... The 26 points were one better than his previous career high that he had accomplished two times (most recently against Mississippi in 2004) ... In his last 10 games he is averaging 13.2 points on 66.2 percent (51-of-77 shooting).
Watson Breaks Out Of Shooting Slump With Record Game
C.J. Watson broke out of a six-game shooting slump with a school record effort from behind the 3-point line against Campbell (12/23/04) ... Watson tied the school record for 3-point percentage by going 5-of-5 from 3-point range and finished the game with a career-high 20 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field ... Watson shot 32.6 percent (15-of-46) from the field and averaged 8.8 points per game in UT's previous six games.
Milestones For Crump: 1,000 Points and 500 Rebounds Reached This Season
Brandon Crump became the 37th player in Tennessee history to score 1,000 career points when he reached the milestone against UT-Chattanooga (12/5/04) ... He became 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 1,137 points in 103 career games ... He is the first Vol to reach 1,000 career points since Ron Slay accomplished the milestone in the 2002-03 season ... Crump recorded his 500th career rebound against North Carolina (11/23/04) ... He is the eighth player in Tennessee history to record 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocks.
Scooter's Free Throw Streak Stops At 31
After missing two free throws in the season-opener against Stanford (11/22/04), Scooter McFadgon went on a streak where he made 31 consecutive free throws without a miss ... The streak came to an end against Xavier (12/11/04) when he went 4-of-6 from the line ... The Memphis native missed two of his first six free throws against the Cardinal but rallied to make his last two attempts to begin the streak ... It was the second-longest streak for him as he had a streak of 32 consecutive free throws made last year.
Patterson's Up To His Old Tricks
Andre Patterson's 6.2 rebounds per game leads the Tennessee team and his 56.8 percent shooting from the field is second on the squad ... Over his last seven game Patterson is averaging 7.9 points on 59.5 percent (25-of-42) shooting and 7.1 rebounds per game ... The transfer from UCLA, who is in his first season playing for the Vols, led the Bruins and the Pac-10 Conference win a 60.8 field goal percentage in 2002-03 and his 5.5 rebounds also led the team ... The Los Angeles native recorded a career-high 16 points against Belmont (12/20/04).
Former Vols Earn Degrees
Jon Higgins (1999-2003) and C.J. Black (1996-2000) received their college degrees on Dec. 10, 2004 ... Higgins, who is currently playing professionally in France, received a degree in political science while Black, who has played professionally in the U.S. and Europe, received an interdisciplinary studies - urban studies degree as a part of Tennessee's Renewing Academic Commitments (RAC) program.
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.
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.
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.
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 197-81 (.709) in its 18th season in Thompson-Boling Arena.
- Since the 1998 season, the Vols are 98-22 (.817) in Thompson-Boling Arena.
- Tennessee is 84-20 (.808) 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 44-15 against SEC teams at home over the last six seasons.
- UT has won 60 of its last 67 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.
