University of Tennessee Athletics
TENNESSEE VS. MURRAY STATE -- GAME PREVIEW
November 27, 2005 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 27, 2005
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RADIO TELEVISION: LIVE STATS RANKINGS: THE COACHES: Murray State Racers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Tennessee Trends
- Tennessee's opponents are averaging 26.0 turnovers per game against the Vols. East Tennessee State's (11/18/05) 33 turnovers are the most by a UT opponent since American-Puerto Rico (12/21/99) turned the ball over 40 times.
- The Vols have shot 50 percent or better in two of their first three games. On the season, UT is shooting 51.9 percent from the field.
- Tennessee's rebounding leader in all three of its games this season has been 6-foot-4 or shorter. Dane Bradshaw (6-4) has led the team in rebounding two times and Chris Lofton (6-2) has one time.
- The Vols play just three home games in the month of December. Tennessee hosts Appalachian State (Dec. 6), Alabama A&M (Dec. 27) and Lipscomb (Dec. 29) during the final month of the calendar year.
- Six Vols have either tied or established new career scoring marks already this season. Stanley Asumnu (18), Dane Bradshaw (13), Ryan Childress (5), Andre Patterson (21), JaJuan Smith (8) and Major Wingate (18) have all tied or established new career scoring marks this year.
- Two players (Ben Bosse and Jonah Cox) scored their first career points in UT's win over Eastern Kentucky (11/25/05).
- The Vols have scored 281 points (93.7 ppg) in their first three games this season. That is the most points the Vols have scored in their first three games since they opened the 1988-89 season by scoring 293 points (97.7 ppg).
- Tennessee won both of its exhibition games this season, taking an 86-78 win over Division II power Southern Indiana and a 106-73 win over Carson-Newman.
- The Vols are playing with just 10 scholarship players this season. UT's roster sports 11 scholarship players but Tony Passley will sit out the season under NCAA transfer guidelines.
- Not only is UT's roster short on scholarship players but it is also short on size. Tennessee's roster lists just four scholarship players -- Andre Patterson (6-7), Ryan Childress (6-9), Damion Harris (6-10) and Major Wingate (6-10) -- taller than 6-foot-5.
- Tennessee returns 64.6 percent of its scoring, 66.2 percent of its rebounding, 80.4 percent of its assists and 69.5 percent of its minutes played from the 2004-05 season.
- Six walk-ons are listed on the Vols' roster. Eddie DeBro is the only returning walk-on while Ben Bosse, Jonah Cox, Justin Jackson, Jordan Smith and Tanner Wild are each in their rookie season with the squad.
- The Vols play 18 of their 27 regular-season games within the state of Tennessee. UT will play games in Knoxville (14), Nashville (2) and Memphis (1). The SEC Tournament will also be in Nashville.
- Tennessee has an all-time record of 1,348-884-2 in its 97th season of basketball.
- UT's 598 regular season Southeastern Conference victories rank third all-time in the SEC. Only Kentucky and Alabama have won more league games.
- Tennessee is 203-84 in its 19th season in Thompson-Boling Arena. The Volunteers have posted winning home records in 16 of their 18 previous seasons in the facility.
- The Vols return their 2004-05 statistical leader in 11 of 12 categories. Andre Patterson was UT's leading rebounder with 6.2 boards per game and C.J. Watson led the Vols with 155 assists last season. The only category the Vols don't return their leader from last year is scoring. Chris Lofton is Tennessee's top returning scorer after averaging 13.2 points as a freshman.
- UT returns a total of eight letterwinners, including three starters from last season's squad.
- The basketball court at Thompson-Boling Arena has been named "The Summitt" in honor of Pat Summitt, who recorded her 882nd career win in 2005.
| Team Statistical Comparisons | ||
| Tennessee | Stat Category | Murray State |
| 93.7 | Points | 75.5 |
| 72.3 | Opponent Points | 65.0 |
| +21.3 | Scoring Margin | +10.5 |
| .519 | Field Goal % | .433 |
| .466 | Opponent Field Goal % | .390 |
| .439 | Three-Point % | .354 |
| .373 | Opponent Three-Point % | .243 |
| .674 | Free Throw % | .818 |
| 34.0 | Rebounds | 40.0 |
| 37.7 | Opponent Rebounds | 37.0 |
| -3.7 | Rebounding Margin | +3.0 |
| 20.3 | Assists | 15.0 |
| 16.0 | Turnovers | 14.0 |
| 12.7 | Steals | 9.0 |
| 4.3 | Blocks | 5.5 |
| 3-0 | Record | 1-1 |
| Individual Statistical Leaders | ||
| Tennessee | Stat Category | Eastern Kentucky |
| Lfton, 17.7 | Points | Pearson, 19.5 |
| Bradshaw, 8.3 | Rebounds | Witherspoon, 10.5 |
| Watson, 5.3 | Assists | Jenifer, 4.5 |
| Asumnu, .667 | Field Goal % | Orr, .550 |
| Watson, .636 | Three-Point % | Pearson, .550 |
| Watson, .800 | Free Throw % | Pearson, 1.000 |
Looking At Murray State
Murray State is 1-1 on the season following a 75-79 overtime loss at Cincinnati Nov. 19 and a 76-51 victory over Campbellsville Nov. 22 ... The Racers will be playing their first game in more than a week when they take the court against Tennessee ... Trey Pearson, who leads the Racers with 19.5 points per game, was selected the OVC Preseason Player of the Year by the league's coaches ... A native of South Fulton, Tenn., Pearson has led the Racers in scoring in each of their two games this season ... Justin Orr, a 6-foot-6 sophomore forward is second on the team with 13.5 points per game ... Shawn Witherspoon, a 6-5 junior forward, is averaging a double-double with 10.5 points and a team-high 10.5 rebounds per game ... Murray State's roster features two Division I transfers ... Pearson, a 6-2 junior guard, began his career at Mississippi while Keith Jenifer, a 6-2 senior guard, started at Virginia before transferring to Murray State ... Jenifer, who played on the same high school team as Carmelo Anthony, leads the Racers with 4.5 assists per game and is 2-of-4 from 3-point range this season after connecting on just 2-of-27 (.074) 3-pointers last year ... Murray State was tabbed to win the Ohio Valley Conference in a preseason poll of the league's coaches ... All-five starters and a total of 10 lettermen return from last season's squad that posted a 17-11 record ... The Racers return 93 percent of their scoring and 82 percent of their rebounding from last season ... Mick Cronin, who spent two seasons as an associate head coach under Rick Pitino at Louisville and five years an assistant to Bob Huggins at Cincinnati, is 46-18 in his third season at the helm of the Murray State program and as a head coach.
The Murray State Series
Tennessee leads the all-time series 1-0 ... The Vols won the only previous meeting between the schools 57-38 on Feb. 24, 1945 in Knoxville ... Tennessee is 40-1 all-time against current members of the Ohio Valley Conference, including a 92-58 victory over Eastern Kentucky Nov. 25.
Tennessee-Murray State Connections
Tennessee assistant coach Scott Edgar was the head coach at Murray State for four seasons (1992-95) ... Edgar posted a 78-40 overall record, leading the Racers to three OVC championships and three NCAA Tournament appearances ... A two-time OVC Coach of the Year (1992 and 1994), Edgar directed his squads to seven offensive team records including most points in a game (138), most field goals in a game (56) and 3-pointers in a game (17) ... UT redshirt sophomore guard Jordan Howell and MSU freshman forward Tony Easley were teammates at Auburn (Ala.) High School ... Murray State junior guard Trey Pearson spent his freshman season at Mississippi ... In his only game against Tennessee, Pearson had two points, two rebounds and one assist in 23 minutes of action in a 66-64 Vols win Jan. 11, 2003, in Oxford.
Vols In Nashville
The Vols are 40-51 all-time when playing in Nashville ... Eighty-three of Tennessee's games in Nashville have been against Vanderbilt with the Commodores holding a 48-34 advantage ... The Vols are 2-1 all-time when playing in the Gaylord Entertainment Center ... UT defeated Middle Tennessee State 99-83 Dec. 15, 2000 at the GEC and then went 1-1 at the 2001 SEC Tournament at the facility ... When the SEC Tournament is played in Nashville, the Vols have registered a 5-3 record.
Last Game: Wingate Leads UT Over EKU
Major Wingate scored a career-high 18 points and grabbed five rebounds to lead the Vols to a 92-58 victory over Eastern Kentucky Friday, Nov. 25, at Thompson-Boling Arena ... Wingate, who improved on his previous career scoring mark by four points, converted 6-of-8 field goals and went 6-of-6 from the free throw line ... Tennessee shot 55.2 percent from the field in the first half to build a 44-29 lead at the break ... The Colonels trimmed the lead to 11 points (46-35) on a basket by Alonzo Hird with 16:12 remaining in the game ... The Vols responded with a 13-3 run that was capped by a Chris Lofton 3-pointer with 12:35 left ... Lofton scored 15 of his 17 points in just 12 minutes of action in the second half ... C.J. Watson added 12 points and six assists ... Mike Rose led the Colonels with 13 points while Jason McLeish and Hird each had 12 points ... UT had 14 steals off 25 Eastern Kentucky turnovers ... The Vols had 21 assists and finished the game shooting 54.8 percent from the field.
Watson Reaches 1,000 Points In Unique Way
C.J. Watson became the 38th player in Tennessee history to reach the 1,000 career point milestone in a 17-point outing against Louisiana-Lafayette (11/22/05) ... Watson, who now has 1,017 career points, reached the milestone when he was fouled on a made 3-pointer and then scored his 1,000th point on the free throw ... Watson became just the third Tennessee player to have 1,000 points and 400 career assists (joining Allan Houston and Tony Harris) ... With 476 career assists, the Las Vegas native has more assists than any member of Tennessee's 1,000-point club.
Watson Leads SEC In Assists For Second Time In Three Years
C.J. Watson averaged 5.0 assists in 16 Southeastern Conference games in 2004-05 ... It marked the second time in three years the point guard has been the conference's assists leader in league games ... He also led the league with 5.44 assists against SEC foes as a freshman in 2002-03 ... His 476 career assists are fifth all-time at Tennessee ... Watson owns three of the top 13 single-season assist marks in Tennessee history.
Watson And Lofton Receive Preseason Accolades From SEC Coaches
Tennessee's backcourt combination of C.J. Watson and Chris Lofton were named to the second annual men's basketball preseason All-SEC first and second teams as announced by the Southeastern Conference office October 21 ... Watson, a senior point guard, earned first team honors while Lofton, a sophomore shooting guard, was named to the season team ... The preseason All-SEC first and second teams consist of a minimum of eight players on each squad, voted on by the SEC men's basketball coaches.
Lofton Is A Triples Threat
Chris Lofton, a 6-foot-2 sophomore, took the SEC by storm as a freshman by leading the league in 3-point percentage (.465) and 3-pointers made per game (3.00 3pg) ... He ranked fourth nationally in 3-point accuracy on his way to earning a spot on the SEC All-Freshman team ... His 93 3-pointers were the most ever by an SEC freshman ... With 13 3-pointers already this season, Lofton ranks 10th on Tennessee's career lists with 106.
Straight Shooter: Patterson LLeads Vols In Field Goal Percentage
When Andre Patterson led the Vols with his 56.8 percent field goal shooting in 2004-05, it marked the second school he had led in field goal percentage ... As a sophomore at UCLA in 2002-03 he led the Bruins and Pac-10 Conference with a 60.8 field goal percentage ... As a junior at Tennessee last season, Patterson averaged 7.4 points per game while leading the Vols and ranking 10th in the SEC with 6.2 rebounds per game.
Bradshaw Is Tennessee's Power/Point
With only four scholarship players taller than 6-foot-5 on the roster, junior guard Dane Bradshaw has been called upon to play big, quite literally ... The 6-4 backup point guard has earned starting assignments at power forward for each of the Vols' games this year ... He recorded a career game against East Tennessee State (11/18/05) with 13 points and 12 rebounds to go with six assists ... His 8.3 rebounds per game lead the team this season while his 9.0 points are sixth ... Playing in the paint isn't anything new for the Memphis native ... In 2005 he drew difficult defensive assignments by guarding 6-8, 252-pound Brandon Bass against LSU (2/5/05) and 6-10 Jermareo Davidson of Alabama (2/9/05).
Asumnu Hopes To Build On Strong Finish To 2005
Senior guard/forward Stanley Asumnu started his senior season like he ended his junior year ... The Houston native scored a career-high 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting in the Vols' season-opening win over East Tennessee State (11/18/05) ... In three games he is averaging 11.7 points per game ... The ultra-athletic Asumnu scored 24 points in 27 minutes of playing time over Tennessee's final four games of the 2005 season ... Against Georgia (3/5/05), the 6-foot-5 Asumnu scored a then career-high 14 points on 6-of-6 shooting from the field in just 10 minutes of action.
Wingate Plays Through Pain
Major Wingate wasn't going to let anything stop him from playing against Louisiana-Lafayette Tuesday, Nov. 22 ... After suffering a foot injury in practice two days earlier that left him on crutches, Wingate spent the next two nights in the training room rehabbing the injury so he could play ... When it came time to play, Wingate was there standing in the center circle ready for the jump ball ... The junior center from Florence, S.C., scored 12 points and blocked three shots in 28 minutes of action against the Ragin' Cajuns ... Defensively he held Louisiana's star center Michael Southall in check, allowing just four points and four rebounds ... On the season he is averaging 13.7 points per game.
JaJuan Smith Already Setting Career Marks
JaJuan Smith, a 6-foot-2 guard from Decatur, Tenn., has seen his role grow from 8.0 minutes per game as a freshman last year to 24.3 minutes per game this season ... Already this year he has tied or established new career marks for scoring (8), rebounds (4), assists (6), steals (3), blocks (1) and minutes played (25) ... Smith, who has been the first player off the bench in each of Tennessee's games this season, is averaging 5.7 points per game ... His 10 assists are third on the team.
Showing Their Appreciation
Immediately following their season-opening win over East Tennessee State, Bruce Pearl and the Vols went out on the concourse of Thompson-Boling Arena to thank the fans for their support ... The 21,680 fans in attendance for the Vols' season-opening win over East Tennessee State (11/18/05) was the fourth-largest crowd to see a season-opener in school history ... It was the largest crowd to watch a basketball game that night (including both NCAA and NBA attendance figures).
Five Of UT's Non-Conference Opponents Picked To Win Their Leagues
Tennessee's non-conference schedule features the favorites to win the Big 12, Conference USA, Ohio Valley, Sun Belt and SWAC regular season titles in polls of each respective league's coaches ... Eight of the Vols' 11 non-conference games will be against teams picked to finish no worse than second in their respective divisions ... Additionally, the Vols will play against four players who earned preseason player of the year honors from the league's coaches.
- East Tennessee State was picked to finish second in the Atlantic Sun Conference and was picked to win the league's postseason tournament. Tim Smith was named the league's preseason player of the year.
- Louisiana-Lafayette, a team that has been to the NCAA Tournament the last two years, is picked to win the Sun Belt Conference's West Division. Senior guard Dwayne Mitchell was a preseason first team all-conference pick.
- Murray State is tabbed to win the Ohio Valley Conference while Eastern Kentucky is picked second. Murray State junior Trey Pearson was named the league's preseason player of the year while EKU's Matt Witt earned preseason first team all-conference honors.
- Appalachian State was picked to tie for second in the Southern Conference North Division while D.J. Thompson earned a spot on the Preseason All-Southern Conference Men's Basketball Team.
- Texas is an overwhelming favorite to win the Big 12 Conference title while Oklahoma State is picked fourth. The Longhorns list two preseason first team all-conference selections (Daniel Gibson and P.J. Tucker) while the Cowboys had one (JamesOn Curry).
- Alabama A&M is predicted to win SWAC. Senior guard Obie Trotter was selected the league's preseason player of the year while Joseph Martin earned preseason first team all-conference honors.
- Memphis, led by preseason conference player of the year Rodney Carney, is the unanimous favorite to win the Conference USA title.
Vols' Recruiting Class Ranked Among Top 10 In The Nation
Bruce Pearl's first recruiting class at the University of Tennessee has drawn rave reviews and has been rated as one of the best classes in the Southeastern Conference and among the top 10 classes in the nation. The Vols signed four players during the early signing period in November: Wayne Chism, Duke Crews, Marques Johnson and Josh Tabb.
- Chism, a 6-foot-9 forward from Bolivar, Tenn., is a four-star prospect who is rated the No. 42 overall player in the country. As a junior he led Bolivar Central High School to the Class AA state title while averaging 13.6 points, 10 rebounds, seven blocks and 2.2 assists per game. At the Reebok ABCD Camp last summer he was rated the No. 2 center.
- One of the highest-rated players to sign with the Vols in recent years, Crews is a 6-7 forward from Hampton, Va. Rated the No. 14 player in the nation, he is considered a five-star prospect. As a junior he averaged 16 points per game while leading Bethel High School to a 22-4 record last year. Last summer Crews was rated as the No. 2 player at the 2005 Nike Camp in Indianapolis.
- Ranked among the top-50 players by several scouting services, Johnson is a 6-5 guard from Fort Wayne, Ind. A starter since his freshman season, the two-time all-conference selection has led Snider High School to a 50-15 record in his three years. As a junior he averaged 21 points, 6.2 rebounds and four assists.
- A four-star prospect, Tabb is a 6-4 guard from Harmony Christian Prep in Cincinnati. A two-time Class A All-State selection who is originally from Carbondale, Ill., Tabb averaged 21 points, five assists and six rebounds as a senior while leading Carbondale High School to the 2005 state championship game.
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 203-84 (.707) in its 19th season in Thompson-Boling Arena.
- Since the 1998 season, the Vols are 104-25 (.806) in Thompson-Boling Arena.
- The Vols are 47-16 against SEC teams at home over the last six seasons.
- UT has won 63 of its last 70 home games against non-conference opponents.
SEC Throwback Week
Each Southeastern Conference school has designated a previous year's uniform to be worn as a part of "SEC Throwback Week" ... The week of February 18-26 (Saturday through Sunday) has been designated as "SEC Throwback Week" ... Additionally, the uniforms will be worn during the SEC Tournament in Nashville ... Tennessee took a poll of fans on UTsports.com to determine which era to choose their uniforms ... The fans selected the Ernie & Bernie era so UT's uniforms will resemble those worn in the 1970s.
Parking
Limited individual game parking for the 2005-06 men's basketball season will be sold for $5 for the following parking lots on a first come, first served basis:
- Lot 23 Corner of Volunteer Blvd and Pat Head Summitt Street
- Lot 23B (next to Music Building) - Corner of Pat Head Summitt Street and Volunteer Blvd.
- Lot 4 and Lot 5 - Phillip Fulmer Way between Thompson-Boling Arena and Neyland Stadium
- Lot 30A - Peyton Manning Pass, off of Volunteer Blvd.
- Lot C15 - Chamique Holdsclaw Drive
- Lot 9A - Volunteer Blvd. between the Humanities Plaza & the Architecture Bldg.
- Lot C18/Staff 7 - accessed from Cumberland Avenue at 11th Street, or from Neyland Drive across from the Tennessee Grill
- Lot G10 on Phillip Fulmer Way between Thompson-Boling Arena and Neyland Stadium
Special parking arrangements for disabled persons may be requested by calling Parking Services at (865) 974-6031. The UT Athletic Department also provides FREE parking at the Ag Campus with a free shuttle service to and from Thompson-Boling Arena. The KAT shuttle begins 1 1/2 hours prior to game time, and runs for one hour postgame.
