University of Tennessee Athletics
Tennessee vs. Vanderbilt - Game Preview
January 31, 2005 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 31, 2005
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| Tennessee Volunteers vs. Vanderbilt Commodores
RADIO
TV LIVE STATS RANKINGS: THE COACHES: Vanderbilt Commodores
Coach Peterson | More Peterson | Peterson on playing aggressive
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Tennessee Trends
- Brandon Crump, who suffered a sprained ankle early in UT's game at Louisville (1/22/05), has missed Tennessee's last two games. Crump, who is expected to miss 2-4 weeks of action, is the first Vol to miss back-to-back games because of an injury since the 2001-02 season when Ron Slay missed the Vols' final 15 games with a knee injury.
- Major Wingate has picked up his game since Crump's injury, averaging 11.0 points and 5.7 rebounds in UT's last three games.
- The Vols have used nine or fewer players in each of Tennessee's last six games.
- Shot selection and controlling the tempo have been a focus for Tennessee this season. The Vols are 5- 2 when taking 50 or fewer shots this year. UT is 3-1 when limiting its opponents to 50 or fewer shots.
- Tennessee is in the midst of 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.
- Tennessee is 7-1 when leading or tied at halftime.
- The Vols are 8-2 when leading at the first media time out. They are 2-8 when trailing or the score is tied.
- More than 250 people from Maysville, Ky., made the trip to Knoxville to watch native son Chris Lofton play against Vanderbilt (1/8/05).
- Four Vols are shooting better than 50 percent from the field. Brandon Crump (59.4), Andre Patterson (58.9), Major Wingate (51.4) and Chris Lofton (50.9) are all making at least half of their shots.
- Four different players have led the Vols in scoring this season. Scooter McFadgon (6 times), Chris Lofton (5), C.J. Watson (5) and Brandon Crump (4) have all led UT in scoring.
- Brandon Crump became the eighth Vol ever to have 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocked shots.
- C.J. Watson became the sixth Tennessee player to have 400 career assists when he dished out seven assists against Kentucky (1/25/05). He ranks sixth all-time at UT with 402 career assists. He needs three assists to have 100 this season.
- 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 48.2 percent (370-of-767) from the field over their last 15 games.
- UT's starters have accounted for 80.9 percent (1,133 of 1,400 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, Alabama State and Louisville made NCAA appearances in 2004.
- Tennessee has an all-time record of 1,341-876-2 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 197-81 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 | Vanderbilt |
| 70.0 | Points | 72.5 |
| 69.6 | Opponent Points | 65.3 |
| +0.4 | Scoring Margin | +7.2 |
| .467 | Field Goal % | .472 |
| .449 | Opponent Field Goal % | .413 |
| .385 | Three-Point % | .405 |
| .368 | Opponent Three-Point % | .345 |
| .699 | Free Throw % | .690 |
| 33.0 | Rebounds | 33.8 |
| 33.0 | Opponent Rebounds | 33.0 |
| 0.0 | Rebounding Margin | +0.8 |
| 14.2 | Assists | 16.6 |
| 14.1 | Turnovers | 15.6 |
| 3.6 | Blocks | 3.1 |
| 7.2 | Steals | 6.3 |
| 10-10 | Record | 12-8 |
| Individual Statistical Leaders | ||
| Tennessee | Stat Category | Vanderbilt |
| McFadgon, 15.0 | Points | Moore, 13.3 |
| Patterson, 6.4 | Rebounds | Terrell, 4.6 |
| Watson, 4.9 | Assists | Moore, 3.8 |
| Patterson, .589 | Field Goal % | Holwerda, .653 |
| Lofton, .495 | Three-Point % | Foster, .479 |
| Lofton, .862 | Free Throw % | Foster, .826 |
Looking At Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt ended a four-game losing streak with a 73-51 victory over Mississippi Saturday afternoon at Memorial Gym in Nashville ... The victory improved the Commodore's record to 12-8 on the season and 3-4 in the Southeastern Conference ... The `Dores shot 61.4 percent from the field while limiting the Rebels to 35.4 percent shooting ... Junior guard Mario Moore leads Vandy with 13.3 points and has made a teamhigh 45 3-pointers this season ... Corey Smith, a senior guard/forward is the only other Commodore averaging in double figures with 11.2 points per game ... Shan Foster, a 6-foot-6 freshman, is making 57.9 percent (22-of-38) of his 3-pointers in league play, the second-best average in the conference ... Foster's 3.14 treys in SEC games are also second in the conference standings ... Foster is averaging 7.8 points on the season and a team-best 11.9 points in SEC games ... Vanderbilt's 40.5 percent shooting from 3-point range leads the SEC this season and ranked fifth in the Jan. 25 NCAA statistics ... The Commodore's 10.1 triples per game lead the league and are more than second-place Auburn's 8.53 3-pointers per game ... Vandy's 16.71 assists per game against league foes is the best in the SEC ... Vanderbilt is playing its second consecutive home game after playing four of five contests on the road ... Ten Commodores are averaging 11 or more minutes per game in conference games ... The Commodores are led by Kevin Stallings, who is 97-77 in his sixth year at Vanderbilt and 220-140 in his 12th season as a head coach.
The Vanderbilt Series
Tennessee leads the all-time series, 102-64 ... Vanderbilt won this year's first meeting with an 88-63 victory in Knoxville on Jan. 8 ... UT leads the series 62-16 when playing in Knoxville ... Vanderbilt leads 47-34 when it is played on the Commodores' home court ... Tennessee's 102 wins over Vanderbilt is the most by the Vols over any opponent ... Tennessee and Vanderbilt have played every season since their first meeting during the 1922 season except for the war years of 1944 and 1945 ... Only Kentucky has been an opponent of the Vols more times than Vanderbilt ... The Vols have played the Wildcats 197 times while Wednesday's game will be their 167th against the Commodores ... UT has won nine of the last 14 meetings between the schools and 13 of the last 21 games ... Tennessee has won more games at Vanderbilt (36) than any other place outside of Knoxville.
Vanderbilt Connections
Tennessee head coach Buzz Peterson is no stranger to Vanderbilt ... The fourth year Vol mentor spent three seasons as the associate head coach on Jan van Breda Kolff's coaching staff ... During that three-year run the Commodores were 51-41 and made two appearances in the National Invitation Tournament, including an appearance in the 1994 championship game ... Peterson and Vanderbilt assistant coach Brad Frederick are both North Carolina grads ... Peterson played for the Tar Heels from 1981-85 while Frederick played from 1996-99 ... C.J. Watson's sister, Vonyette, along with his grandparents live in Nashville ... Tennessee's Brandon Crump and Stanley Asumnu along with Vandy's Mario Moore are all natives of Houston, Texas, but attended different high schools.
Last Meeting With Vanderbilt
The Vanderbilt Commodores broke their school record with 18 3-pointers on their way to an 88-63 victory over the Vols Saturday, Jan. 8, at Thompson-Boling Arena ... The Commodores set a Thompson- Boling Arena record with their 18 treys and tied a record with just two free throws made ... The Vols started the game with a one-point deficit after being called for a technical foul for dunking during pre-game warmups and Vanderbilt making one of the two free throws ... Vanderbilt jumped out to a 7-1 lead at the first media time out and built a 10-point (38-28) lead at halftime ... The Vols were able to cut the Commodore's lead to eight points two times in the second half but VU responded with 3-pointers to stop any UT rally ... Scooter McFadgon led the Vols with 17 points while C.J. Watson contributed 16 points ... Andre Patterson had a game-high 10 rebounds ... Mario Moore led Vanderbilt with 18 points on 5-of- 12 shooting from 3-point range ... Vandy shot 54.8 percent from the field and 56.3 percent from behind the 3-point arc.
Last Game: Vols Fall At Auburn
C.J. Watson's game-high 17 points weren't enough as the Vols fell 59-62 at Auburn on Saturday, Jan. 29 ... Quinnel Brown broke a 51-51 tie and started a 7-0 Auburn run with a layup with 2:45 remaining in the game ... A Chris Lofton 3-pointer with 15 seconds left cut the Tiger's lead to 60-56 but Nathan Watson sank of pair of free throws to give Auburn a 62-56 lead ... Scooter McFadgon hit a 3-pointer with one second left to bring the final deficit to 59-62 ... Auburn did not score its first points until the 14:20 mark in the first half when Daniel Hayles made a layup ... The Tigers were able to overcome the slow start to tie the score 28-28 at halftime ... Auburn shot 50 percent from the field in the second half, including 57.1 percent from 3-point range, to finish the game shooting 44.2 percent ... McFadgon added 14 points to the Vols' effort, including a season-high nine rebounds ... Andre Patterson scored all of his 10 points in the second half ... Nathan Watson led four Tigers in double figure scoring with 15 points.
Watson Named Finalist For Cousy Award
The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced Jan. 14 that Tennessee junior guard C.J. Watson is one of 19 finalists for the 2005 Bob Cousy Collegiate Point Guard of the Year Award ... This is the second year that the Cousy Award, which considers outstanding point guards from all three NCAA divisions, has been given ... Watson is the only other player from the Southeastern Conference listed among the finalists ... The award will be presented at a press conference at the Final Four in St. Louis. Mo., on April 4.
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 14 games since then the Vols have converted 48.4 percent (345-of-713) of their field goals ... UT has shot 50 percent or better from the field in seven of its last 14 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).
Shirts vs. Skins
On the Monday (1/10/05) following Tennessee's loss to Vanderbilt, head coach Buzz Peterson told the team that they would have to bring their own clothes to practice in and that they had to earn the right to wear their Tennessee gear again ... The result of the motivational tactic was a 64-63 upset of 11th-ranked Mississippi State on Wednesday, Jan. 12 ... When Peterson arrived at practice on Thursday, the team's captains told him that they wouldn't earn the right to wear their normal practice gear until they won a road game and the team continued to practice against each other as shirts against skins ... After earning an 83-76 overtime at Florida (1/19/05) the team voted to continue wearing their own clothes for practice.
Buzz's Bombers
Tennessee's starting backcourt of C.J. Watson, Scooter McFadgon have combined to make 117 3-pointers this season ... As a unit, they are shooting 39.5 percent (117-of-296) from beyond the 3-point arc ... Lofton, a freshman, is second in the Southeastern Conference with his 49.5 percent (53-of-107) 3-point shooting ... Watson is shooting 35.6 percent (31-of-87) from 3-point range while McFadgon is converting 32.4 percent (33-of-102) of his triples.
Lofton Among Nation's Top 3-Point Shooters
Freshman Chris Lofton arrived on the UT campus with a reputation as an extraordinary 3-point shooter ... In just the second game of his career he scored 22 points on 6-of-10 3-point shooting against nationally- ranked North Carolina at the Maui Invitational ... Since then, he has established himself as one of the best 3-point shooters in the nation.
- Lofton ranks fourth in the Jan. 25 NCAA statistics with a 50.5 percent (47-of-93) success rate behind the arc ... He currently ranks second in the Southeastern Conference with his 49.5 percent (53-of-107) from 3-point range ... He is averaging 2.65 3-pointers per game.
- His 49.5 percent (53-of-107) 3-point shooting qualifies him for UT's single season record books ... A minimum of 100 attempts is needed to qualify ... Jon Higgins has held the school record since making 48.6 percent (53-of-109) of his 3-pointers as a sophomore in 2000-01.
- Against New Mexico (12/18/04) he tied a school record by going 5-for-5 from 3-point range.
- Two times this season he has made six 3-pointers in a game (against North Carolina and at Florida).
- 65.4 percent (53-of-81) of Lofton's field goals this season have come behind the 3-point line.
- His 12.0 points per game ranks second on the UT roster this season. In conference game he is averaging 12.0 points per game ... He has led Tennessee in scoring five times.
- His 50.9 percent shooting from the field is fourth 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.
Watson Running The Point
Entering his junior season C.J. Watson had accumulated more assists over the previous two seasons (305) than any other player in the Southeastern Conference during that period ... This year the Las Vegas, Nev., native ranks fifth in the SEC with 4.9 assists per game ... He currently ranks third on the team with 11.9 points per game.
- His 35.6 percent (31-of-87) 3-point shooting ranks second on the team ... He ranks eighth all-time at Tennessee with 99 career 3-pointers made ... Against Campbell (12/23/04) he tied a school record for 3- point percentage in a game by going 5-of-5 from behind the 3-point arc.
- His 402 career assists are sixth all-time at Tennessee ... He became just the sixth Vol to record 400 career assists ... Recorded a career-high 10 assists against Nebraska (12/30/04) and had his best effort against a conference opponent with nine assists against Mississippi State (1/12/05).
- Watson's 39 steals through 20 games leads the Vols ... His 1.95 steals per game rank fourth in the SEC ... Watson 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 at the Maui Invitational.
Crump Reaching Milestones This Season
Brandon Crump's senior season has been a year full of milestones ... The Houston, Texas, native has reached the 1,000 point mark, 600 rebounds and 100 blocked shot marks this year ... The 6-foot-10 senior forward has scored 1,170 points in 106 career games ... He currently ranks third on the team with 11.6 points and is second with 5.4 rebounds this year.
- He 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 ... He is the first Vol to reach 1,000 career points since Ron Slay accomplished the milestone in the 2002-03 season.
- He is the eighth player in Tennessee history to record 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocks ... Crump needs eight rebounds to become the 23rd Vol to record 600 in a career.
- He ranks 31st all-time at Tennessee with 1,170 career points and 11th with 104 career rejections.
- Crump has overcome a slow start to his senior season ... 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) ... He 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 13 games he is averaging 12.7 points on 64.1 percent (66-of-103 shooting).
- Crump suffered a sprained ankle just two minutes into the Louisville game (1/22/05) and did not return ... He was dressed in street clothes for the Kentucky game and his status for the Auburn game is undetermined.
McFadgon Leading Vols In Scoring
Scooter McFadgon has led the Vols in scoring in each of his two seasons in Knoxville ... After leading Tennessee and ranking fourth in the SEC with 17.6 last season, McFadgon is leading the Vols with 15.0 points per game in his senior season ... Six times this season he has led the Vols in scoring, including a season-high 23 point effort in Tennessee's overtime victory at Florida (1/19/05) ... He has scored in double figures in 17 of his 19 games this season.
- McFadgon ranks 10th all-time at Tennessee with 98 career 3-pointers made and ninth with 273 career 3-point attempts.
- After missing two free throws in the season-opener against Stanford (11/22/04), 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 ... 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 6.4 rebounds per game leads Tennessee and his 58.9 percent shooting from the field is second on the squad ... The transfer from UCLA, who is in his first season playing for UT, 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) ... Three times this season he has recorded double figure rebounding marks, including two times against SEC opponents.
Bradshaw Breaking In
After averaging just 12.4 minutes in UT's first 12 games, Dane Bradshaw has seen his role increase with the start of conference play ... In seven SEC games the sophomore guard is averaging 16.7 minutes per game ... In non-conference games he averaged 1.7 assists but has improved that to 2.6 in league games.
Wingate Moves Into Starting Lineup
Looking for a bigger lineup, Buzz Peterson inserted Major Wingate in the Vols' starting lineup at Florida (1/19/05) ... In his four games this year as a starter, Wingate is averaging 9.3 points and 4.5 rebounds in 29.5 minutes per game ... Wingate had earned 15 starting assignments as a freshman last season.
- When Brandon Crump went down with an ankle injury early in the game at Louisville (1/22/05), Wingate responded with his best game as a Volunteer ... The Florence, S.C., native scored 13 points and had eight rebounds against the Cardinals.
- Since moving into the starting lineup he has responded with career marks ... Against Louisville (1/22/05) he had career marks in six categories including scoring (13 points) and rebounding (8 boards) ... He improved his scoring mark in his next game against Kentucky (1/25/05) with 14 points against the seventh-ranked Wildcats.
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.
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 197-82 (.706) in its 18th season in Thompson-Boling Arena.
- Since the 1998 season, the Vols are 98-23 (.810) in Thompson-Boling Arena.
- Tennessee is 84-21 (.800) 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 44-16 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.
