| VOLS LOOK TO EXTEND WIN STREAK VERSUS TECH
- Tennessee will continue its four-game homestand when the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles visit Thompson-Boling Arena at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 28.
- The Vols are riding a six-game winning streak that includes wins over No. 16 Memphis, No. 15 Oklahoma State and Texas. It is UT's longest winning streak since an eight-game win streak last season.
- Tennessee overcame a 17-point second half deficit to take a 111-105 overtime win against Texas Dec. 23. Chris Lofton scored 27 of his career-high 35 points after halftime to lead the comeback. Lofton also had a career-high 11 rebounds in recording his first career double-double.
- Lofton is leading the Southeastern Conference with 22.5 points per game. One of the top shooters in the nation, he is averaging 4.3 3-pointers per game and is connecting on 48.1 percent of his shots from beyond the arc. The junior from Maysville, Ky., is averaging 28.7 points on 51.6 percent (32-of-62) shooting from 3-point range over his last six games.
- Lofton and Duke Crews swept the SEC weekly awards. Lofton was named the SEC Player of the Week and Crews earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors.
- Bruce Pearl is looking for his 350th career win against Tennessee Tech. Pearl enters the game with a 349-94 record in his 15th season as a head coach.
- Jordan Howell is expected to miss the next 6-8 weeks after sustaining a fracture to his right (shooting) hand Thursday, Dec. 21, during practice. It is the second time this season Howell has been sidelined by a hand injury however, the injuries are not related.
Tennessee Trends
- Tennessee is 19-2 at Thompson-Boling Arena over the last two seasons.
- Chris Lofton (51) and JaJuan Smith (25) have combined to make as many 3-pointers as Tennessee's opponents have (76).
- Bruce Pearl is 5-2 against ranked teams while at Tennessee. This year he is 2-1 with wins over No. 15 Oklahoma State and No. 16 Memphis and a loss to No. 2 North Carolina.
- Chris Lofton has moved into second place on UT's career 3-pointers list with 51 triples this season pushing his career total to 258. Allan Houston (1989-93) holds the school record with 346 3-pointers.
- UT's six newcomers are combining to average 31.6 points and 19.4 rebounds.
- Tennessee leads the SEC with 15.0 offensive rebounds per game.
- 11 different Vols have hit a 3-pointer this season.
- Chris Lofton has made at least one 3-pointer in 71 of his 73 career games.
- The Vols have made at least one 3-pointer in 296 consecutive games.
- The Vols have forced 256 turnovers this season (21.3 per game).
- UT's bench is averaging 24.8 points per game this season. In 2005-06, Tennessee's bench averaged 21.0 points per game.
- Entering the 2006-07 season, six of UT's 11 scholarship players had never played in a Division I game.
- In 2005-06 games, Tennessee's SEC opponents had a 4-12 record in the game immediately following their contests against the Vols. The only teams to win their next game after playing UT were Arkansas, Georgia, LSU and Vanderbilt.
- Under Bruce Pearl, UT is 26-2 when leading or tied with five minutes left in the game.
- UT is 20-1 when scoring 80 or more points under the direction of Bruce Pearl.
- UT is 25-14 (.641) when playing before crowds of 20,000 or larger at Thompson-Boling Arena. In 2005-06 the Vols were 4-2 playing in front of 20,000 fans at home.
- Tennessee has an all-time record of 1,377-894-2 in 98 seasons of basketball.
- UT's 610 regular season Southeastern Conference victories rank third all-time in the SEC. Only Kentucky and Alabama have won more league games.
- Tennessee is 219-86 in its 20th season in Thompson-Boling Arena. The Volunteers have posted winning home records in 17 of their 19 seasons in the facility.
- Tennessee is the only Division I school ever to rank in the top five nationally in attendance for football, men's basketball and women's basketball in the same season. The Vols turned the trick for the third time in 2005-06.
- Seven walk-ons are listed on Tennessee's roster this season. Ben Bosse, Quinn Cannington, Rick Daniels-Mulholland, Justin Jackson, Marq Murden, Steven Pearl and Tanner Wild are each on the Volunteer squad.
Vanderbilt Time Change
The start time for Tennessee's Feb. 10 game against Vanderbilt has been changed to 1 p.m. EST. Lincoln-Financial Sports will televise the game from Thompson-Boling Arena. Looking At Tennessee Tech
Tennessee Tech enters Thursday's game with a 5-6 overall record and a 1-2 mark in the Ohio Valley Conference ... The Golden Eagles last saw action at the San Juan Shootout where they earned a 66-65 win over Northwestern in the opening round before falling to Vanderbilt (62-75) and UCF (66-73) ... Second team preseason All-OVC selection Belton Rivers leads TTU with 18.6 points per game ... Anthony Fisher, a 6-2 junior guard who was a first team preseason all-conference selection, is second on the team with 17.9 points while dishing out a team-high 4.1 assists per game ... An outstanding 3-point shooter, Fisher is connecting on 45.3 percent (29-of-64) of his shots from beyond the arc ... Fisher scored 35 points on 10-of-17 shooting against Austin Peay Dec. 2 ... It was the most points a Tech player had scored since 1994-95 ... Amadi McKenzie, a 6-7 junior forward, averages 12.0 points and a team-best 8.6 rebounds per game ... He has four double-doubles this season ... In a preseason poll of the league's coaches, Tennessee Tech was picked to finish third in the 11-team Ohio Valley Conference ... Former Kentucky assistant Mike Sutton is 75-56 in his fifth season directing the Tennessee Tech program and as a head coach. The Tennessee Tech Series
The Vols hold an 19-1 all-time advantage in the series, including an 18-1 mark when the series is played in Knoxville ... This is the first meeting between the two schools since a 79-61 Vol win Dec. 22, 2003 ... UT won the first 16 games in the series until a 62-73 loss to Tennessee Tech Dec. 4, 1996 ... The first meeting between the two schools resulted in a 37-23 Volunteer win Dec. 11, 1939 ... Tennessee is 42-1 all-time against current members of the Ohio Valley Conference ... The Vols defeated OVC member Murray State 89-64 earlier this season ... Tennessee's lone visit to the Eblen Center in Cookeville resulted in the largest home crowd to ever watch a game at the facility ... A crowd of 10,532 watched the Vols take a 65-62 win in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament March 14, 1985. Last Meeting with Tennessee Tech
Playing without leading scorer Scooter McFadgon, the Vols cruised to a 79-61 win over Tennessee Tech Dec. 22, 2003 ... John Winchester replaced McFadgon in the starting lineup and responded with a career-high 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field ... Brandon Crump led the Vols with 20 points to go with seven rebounds ... Stanley Asumnu added 12 points while C.J. Watson added eight points and seven assists against just one turnover ... Willie Jenkins led Tech with 21 points while Cameron Boyd was the only other Golden Eagle in double figures with 17 points ... After taking a 39-34 halftime lead, the Vols used an 11-1 run early in the second half to open a decisive lead ... Tennessee shot 50.8 percent from the field while holding Tennessee Tech to just 36.8 percent shooting, including 21.7 percent (5-for-23) from three point range ... It was UT's 19th win over the Golden Eagles in 20 games. Last Game: Vols Comeback To Beat Texas
Tennessee overcame a 17-point second half deficit to beat Texas 111-105 in overtime Saturday, Dec. 23, at Thompson-Boling Arena ... The Longhorns took a 15-point (50-35) lead into the locker room and quickly extended it to 17 points on their first possession of the second half ... Tennessee then began to rally ... Duke Crews scored six consecutive points in the first two minutes of the half to cut the lead to 10 ... By the 12 minute mark, Tennessee had cut the lead to three points but every time they made a play the Longhorns responded ... Chris Lofton finally gave the Vols their first lead when his 30-footer over Texas freshman phenom Kevin Durant with 18 seconds left in regulation put the Vols up 88-87 ... After forcing a five-second call on an inbounds play, Ramar Smith was fouled and made one of two free throws ... Durant sent the game into overtime with a bucket with 1.1 seconds left ... Tennessee never trailed in the extra period, making six-of-seven field goals in outscoring the Longhorns 22-16 ... Lofton scored 27 of his career-high 35 points after halftime and turned in his first career double-double with a career-high 11 rebounds ... JaJuan Smith added 19 points ... Wayne Chism had a career-best 18 points while Crews chipped in 16 ... Ramar Smith had 16 points, nine assists and no turnovers ... Durant led the Longhorns with 26 points while D.J. Augustin added 20 ... Tennessee committed a season-low eight turnovers. Lofton And Crews Sweep SEC Honors
Following wins over No. 15 Oklahoma State and Texas, Chris Lofton was named the SEC Player of the Week and Duke Crews was named SEC Freshman of the Week on Dec. 24 ... Lofton earned the conference honors for the third time this season and sixth time of his career after recording career marks for points (35) and rebounds (11) in Tennessee's come-from-behind win over Texas ... Crews earned his first freshman honor after averaging 16.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in the two games. Fab Freshmen? Don't Forget These Guys
The Vols will play against three of the most highly-rated freshmen in the nation this season ... Tennessee has faced North Carolina's Brandan Wright and Texas' Kevin Durant and will meet Ohio State's Greg Oden before the season is over ... However, Tennessee's freshmen are deserving of some attention too ... UT's recruiting class was rated sixth in the nation by Rivals.com and they have not disappointed so far. - Duke Crews (Rivals.com No. 26 overall) is averaging 10.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. The 6-foot-7 forward is shooting 53.7 percent from the field and has started 11 games this season.
- Wayne Chism (Rivals.com No. 34 overall) leads the Vols with 6.0 rebounds and is fourth on the team with 8.7 points.
- Ramar Smith (Rivals.com No. 20 overall) has shown a lot of versatility and athleticism to his game as he learns the point guard position after playing primarily the two-guard spot for much of his career. Against Texas (12/23/06) he had nine assists and no turnovers to go with 16 points.
Comeback Kids
Tennessee has overcome a late deficit to win each of its last two games ... The Vols won both contests, a 79-77 decision over No. 15 Oklahoma State and a 111-105 overtime thriller against Texas. - Oklahoma State led by as many as seven points in the second half and it took a Dane Bradshaw tip-in with 1.9 seconds left to give the Vols the win.
- Against Texas, the Vols trailed by as many as 17 points in the second half and were down by seven with less than two minutes left. Chris Lofton made a pair of 3s, Duke Crews scored a bucket and Ramar Smith hit a free throw to send the game to overtime.
Lofton Leading UT On Six-Game Win Streak
Tennessee has won each of its six games since dropping consecutive games to Butler and North Carolina at the NIT Season Tip-Off finals in New York ... During the six-game winning streak Chris Lofton has been averaging 28.7 points on 54.1 percent (53-of-98) shooting, including 51.6 percent (32-of-62) 3-point shooting ... Four times in the last six games he has scored 30 or more points ... As a team, UT is averaging 87.5 points and is outscoring its opponents by 12.5 points per game. Lofton Joins 1,000-Point Club At MSG
He reached the 1,000 career scoring mark Nov. 22 against Butler in New York's Madison Square Garden ... He currently ranks 31st on UT's career scoring lists with 1,197 career points ... Only Allan Houston (1,415), Bernard King (1,290), Mike Edwards (962) and Ernie Grunfeld (928) scored more points in their first two seasons at Tennessee. Lofton Lately
- Leads the SEC with 22.5 points per game.
- Leads the SEC with 4.25 3-pointers per game.
- Last six games is averaging 28.7 points on 54.1 percent (53-98) shooting from the field and 51.6 percent (32-62) 3-point shooting.
- Made at least five 3-pointers in a game six times.
- Made at least two 3s in 23 consecutive games.
- Owns four of the top five scoring performances in the SEC this year.
- Scored 30 or more points five times this season.
- Shooting 48.1 percent (51-of-106) from behind the arc this season. Jon Higgins (2000-01) owns the school record at 48.6 percent (53-of-109).
- According to the Dec. 18 NCAA statistics, he ranks 16th in the nation in scoring (21.5), fourth in 3-pointers per game (4.1), 18th in 3-point percentage (50.0).
- Scored 28 of his career-high 35 points after halftime to lead the Vols from a 17-point second half deficit to a 111-105 overtime win over Texas (12/23/06).
- Scored his first career double-double with 35 points and 11 rebounds against Texas (12/23/06).
- Scored a 34 points in Tennessee's win over 16th-ranked Memphis (12/6/06). With less than a minute left in the first half his 21 points were more than the Tigers' 20 points.
Vols Bring The Pressure
Tennessee's pressure defense has made the simple act of inbounding the ball a headache for its opponents ... The Vols are forcing 7.0 turnovers per game off inbounds plays, most of which are coming off their press ... Three times their opponents have had 10 or more turnovers just from trying to inbound the ball ... Tennessee has forced and average of 21.3 turnovers per game this year. - Opponents have had to call timeout 13 times because they could not get the ball inbounds.
- They have been whistled for a five-second count 14 times on inbounds plays.
Scholarly Vols
Nine of the 18 players on Tennessee's roster, including two starters, have earned the right to wear the VOLScholar patch on their jersey following the fall semester ... The VOLScholar program, an initiative of UT's Thornton Athletics Student Life Center in cooperation with the men's and women's athletics departments, is a comprehensive academic and citizenship-building program that has gained enthusiastic support from several of UT's athletic teams. Student-athletes earn the right to wear the VOLScholar patch by achieving a 3.0 grade-point average in the previous fall and/or spring semester. Small Lineup Not Keeping Vols Off The Boards
Much has been made about Tennessee's lack of size this year ... Who can blame them when the Vols' starting lineup lists just one player taller than 6-foot-4, and that player is only 6-7 ... That hasn't stopped the Vols from crashing the boards ... Wayne Chism leads the Vols 6.0 rebounds per game and Duke Crews is adding 5.8 boards. - UT has outrebounded eight of its 12 opponents.
- The Vols own a +2.4 rebounding advantage.
- UT leads the SEC with 15.0 offensive rebounds.
Bench Contributing
Tennessee's bench has played a key role in the Vols' success early this season ... UT's bench is averaging 24.8 points per game ... Two times this season the bench has contributed at least 40 points in a game ... Wayne Chism is giving the Vols 8.7 points and 6.0 rebounds per game coming off the bench ... Last year UT got 21.0 points per game from its bench ... Part of the reason for the production off the bench is that UT has nine players who play at least 10 minutes per game and no one averages more than 30 minutes. Thompson-Boling Provides Homecourt Advantage
Thompson-Boling Arena is celebrating its 20th season in 2006-07 ... The Vols have won 71.7 percent of their games in Thompson-Boling Arena and have ranked in the top 10 nationally in attendance nine times, including in 2005-06 when UT ranked fifth nationally with 17,954 fans per game ... The arena is getting ready to undergo its first major facelift as construction has already begun on a practice facility and construction will begin on the inside of the arena immediately following the 2006-07 season. - Tennessee is 219-86 (.718) in its 20th season in Thompson-Boling Arena.
- Since the 1998 season, the Vols are 120-27 (.816) in Thompson-Boling Arena.
- The Vols are 52-20 against SEC teams at home over the last nine seasons.
- UT has won 73 of its last 80 home games against non-conference opponents.
- UT is 13-0 in home games against non-conference opponents under Bruce Pearl.
- Tennessee is 6-0 at home this season.
Bomb Squad Is Back
Tennessee returns 80.3 percent of its SEC-leading 8.80 3-point field goals per game from last season ... Leading the way is junior guard Chris Lofton who set a single-season school record with 114 triples in 2005-06 ... Junior JaJuan Smith was second on the team with 61 treys while senior Dane Bradshaw contributed 20 3-pointers and Jordan Howell had 15 ... Tennessee's 264 3-pointers in 2005-06 fell two shy of tying the school record set in 1999-2000. - UT is leading the SEC 9.5 3-pointers per game this year.
- Lofton is leading the SEC with 4.3 triples per game.
- JaJuan Smith adds 2.1 treys per game.
- Combined, Lofton (51) and Smith (25) have made as many 3-pointers as Tennessee's opponents (76).
- Tennessee's 15 3-pointers against second-ranked North Carolina (11/24/06) came just one short of tying the school record of 16.
JaJuan Smith Earns Star(ting) Role
Named the "Best Player Off The Bench" in the SEC by The Tennessean, JaJuan Smith has worked his way into the starting lineup for the Vols this season ... The Cleveland, Tenn., native saw his minutes increase from 8.0 per game as a freshman in 2005 to 24.0 as a sophomore last season ... Smith saw his production increase along with his minutes as he averaged 11.3 points against SEC opponents 2005-06 ... His 61 3-pointers ranked second and 57 assists were third on the team last season. - Against UNC Wilmington (11/14/06) in the NIT Season Tip-Off he recorded career-highs with 21 points and five steals in just 27 minutes of action.
- He scored 19 points in UT's win over Texas.
- He tied that mark with 21 points on 5-of-11 3-point shooting against Western Kentucky (12/16/06).
- Led UT's scoring efforts four times this season after leading the Vols in scoring once last year.
- He ranks second on the team with 14.2 points per game.
Big Game Dane
Three times in his career Dane Bradshaw has made a late shot to knock off a nationally ranked team ... Two of the teams that fell victim to his late-game heroics were unbeaten entering the game. - Jan. 21, 2006 his lay-up with 20 seconds left gave UT a 78-76 lead and eventually an 80-76 victory over No. 2 Florida. The Gators entered the game with a 17-0 record and were the last unbeaten team in the nation.
- Feb. 22, 2006 his steal of an inbounds pass and layup with 15 seconds left gave Tennessee a 74-72 lead and a 76-72 win at 12th-ranked Florida. The win gave the Vols the 2005-06 SEC Eastern Division title.
- Dec. 18, 2006 against 11-0 and 15th-ranked Oklahoma State he stole the ball with 20 seconds left and then hit the game-winning tip-in over OSU's 6-7 Mario Boggan and 6-8 David Monds with 1.9 seconds left to give the Vols a 79-77 victory.
Bradshaw Does It All
One of the most versatile players in the nation, Dane Bradshaw can and will play any position for the Vols from point guard through power forward ... Originally recruited to UT as a point guard, the 6-foot-4 Bradshaw started every game last season at power forward for the Vols ... In 2005-06 the Memphis native was second on the team in assists (116), rebounding (5.4 rpg), and third in steals (56) and blocks (11) while his assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.76 led the SEC ... Had a streak of 181 minutes (seven games) without a turnover as a junior last year. - Bradshaw leads the Vols in assists (52), blocks (10) and is tied for the team lead in steals (27).
- He has led the Vols in assists eight out of 12 games this year and recorded a career-high nine dimes against Coppin State (11/19/06).
Crews Missile
One of the most heralded freshmen in the Southeastern Conference this season, Duke Crews has not disappointed ... The 6-foot-7 forward earned a starting assignment in the Vols season-opener and has won over Tennessee fans with his hustle and athleticism ... Named the SEC Newcomer of the Year by Lindy's and Athlon, the Hampton, Va., native is averaging 10.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. - In the South Region championship game of the NIT Season Tip-Off against UNC Wilmington (11/14/06) he narrowly missed a double-double with 13 points and eight rebounds.
- Scored career marks with 17 points and nine rebounds against a larger Oklahoma State (12/18/06) frontline. Five of his game-high nine rebounds came at the offensive end of the floor.
- He earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors on Dec. 24 after averaging 16.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in victories over No. 15 Oklahoma State and Texas.
Big Wayne Strong In The Paint
Freshman center Wayne Chism has played a key role for a Tennessee team that lists just two players taller than 6-foot-7 ... A 6-9 native of Boliver, Tenn., Chism became the first Vols freshman to record a double-double since Vincent Yarbrough (22 points and 11 rebounds vs. Georgia) did it during the 1998-99 season when he had 11 points and 11 rebounds against Coppin State (11/19/06) ... Chism is leading the team with 6.0 rebounds and is fourth on the squad with 8.7 points per game. - Chism has been the first Vol off the bench in 10 of Tennessee's 12 games.
- Had nine points and six rebounds in 14 minutes of action against 15th-ranked Oklahoma State (12/18/06).
- Scored a career-high 18 points to go with eight rebounds in the win over Texas (12/23/06).
Ramar Rebounds
Freshman point guard Ramar Smith has shown several different dimensions to his game this season ... Having played primarily the two-guard in high school, the 6-foot-2 Smith is averaging 6.3 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 21.6 minutes per game this year. - He has earned seven starting assignments on the season.
- Against 15th-ranked Memphis (12/6/06) he gathered seven rebounds.
- He had five assists in the NIT Season Tip-Off semifinal game against Butler (11/22/06).
- Against Texas (12/23/06) he turned in a career-high 16 points to go with nine assists and no turnovers.
- Last three games he is averaging 10.1 points per game.
Hard Work Pays Off For Childress
There is an old saying that goes, "The best thing about freshmen is that they become sophomores." .. That couldn't be more true for UT sophomore forward Ryan Childress ... As a true freshman last season the Cincinnati, Ohio, product averaged 1.2 points and 1.2 rebounds in 29 appearances for the Vols ... After a summer of hard work that resulted in him dropping 20 pounds and adding more than seven inches to his vertical leap ... That hard work in the offseason has paid huge dividends for the 6-foot-9 Childress is averaging 5.3 points and 4.1 rebounds. - Childress needed just four games this season to score more points than he did all season as a freshman. He scored 43 points through UT's first four games after having 33 points in 29 games as a freshman.
- This season he has set or tied career highs for points (14), rebounds (10), assists (4), blocks (2) and steals (2).
- He doubled his previous career rebounding best of five when he grabbed 10 boards against Western Kentucky (11/16/06).
Injury Interrupts Strong Season For Howell
Jordan Howell suffered a fracture to his right (shooting) hand during practice Dec. 21 that is expected to keep him out of the lineup for 6-8 weeks ... The injury has interrupted what was a very strong season for the junior point guard ... A starter for five games before the injury, Howell hadn't been putting up big numbers and that was just fine with head coach Bruce Pearl ... Howell, who made his first career start against the Louisiana-Lafayette (11/27/06), is averaging 3.1 points, 2.2 assists and 0.9 rebounds per game ... But the most significant statistic for Howell has been his assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.75-to-1 ... In 174 minutes played this season, the 6-foot-3 junior guard has turned the ball over just eight times. Two Sign In Early Period
On the first day of the early signing period Cameron Tatum and Brian Williams signed national letters of intent to play basketball at the University of Tennessee beginning with the 2007-08 season. - Tatum, a versatile 6-foot-5, 190-pound wing from Patterson Prep in Lenoir, N.C., can put the ball on the floor and create, hit the 3-pointer or take the ball to the rim ... Rated as a four-star prospect and the No. 13 shooting guard in the nation by Rivals.com, he averaged 21 points and 7.7 rebounds as a senior at Tucker High School in Tucker, Ga.
- A 6-9, 300-pound post player at Harmony Community Prep in Cincinnati, Williams will give the Vols much needed depth and size in the paint ... A player with exceptional hands, good feet and a soft shooting touch, he attended Christopher Columbus High School in Bronx, N.Y., before going to Harmony Prep where he was a teammate of current Vols freshman Josh Tabb.
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