| VOLS FACE IN-STATE RIVAL MEMPHIS
- Tennessee will renew its cross-state rivalry with Memphis at 9 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 6, when the Tigers visit Thompson-Boling Arena. ESPN2 will show the game to a national television audience.
- Since dropping two games in New York for the NIT Season Tip-Off finals the Vols have bounced back to win their last two outings. Chris Lofton led the Vols with 20 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field in an 89-64 victory over Murray State Friday, Dec. 1, in Knoxville.
- After playing five of their first seven games away from home this season, the Vols are in a stretch where they do not leave the state again until mid-January. UT plays seven of its next eight at home, its only game away from home in that stretch is against Oklahoma State in Nashville on Dec. 18.
- Lofton leads the Vols and ranks second in the Southeastern Conference with 18.6 points per game. One of the top shooters in the nation, he is averaging 3.8 3-pointers per game and is connecting on 48.4 percent of his shots from beyond the arc. The junior from Maysville, Ky., needs four 3-pointers to move into second place on UT's career 3-pointers made list.
- UT's freshman post tandem of Duke Crews and Wayne Chism is combining to average 18.6 points and 11.6 rebounds per game. Crews is third on the team with 9.4 points and second with 5.0 rebounds. Chism leads the team with 6.6 rebounds and is fourth on the squad with 9.3 points. Neither is averaging more than 21 minutes per game.
- Tennessee has forced an average of 23.8 turnovers per game this season. Seven of eight opponents have turned the ball over at least 20 times against the Vols.
Tennessee Trends
- Chris Lofton needs four 3-pointers to move into second-place on Tennessee's career 3-pointers made lists. Lofton enters the Memphis game with 237 treys. Tony Harris (1997-01) currently ranks second with 240 triples.
- Freshmen post players Wayne Chism and Duke Crews had not been on the court at the same time until the 4:49 mark of the Vols' win over Murray State (12/1/06). The duo played 1:35 together against the Racers.
- In his last three games Dane Bradshaw is averaging 6.0 assists against 1.3 turnovers and 4.0 steals.
- UT's six newcomers are combining to average 31.5 points and 18.9 rebounds.
- Tennessee leads the SEC with 15.50 offensive rebounds per game.
- 11 different Vols have hit a 3-pointer this season.
- Tennessee changed its starting lineup for the first time this season when Jordan Howell replaced Ramar Smith at the point guard position against Louisiana-Lafayette (11/27/06). It marked Howell's first career start.
- Chris Lofton has made at least one 3-pointer in 67 of his 69 career games.
- The Vols have made at least one 3-pointer in 292 consecutive games.
- Ten Vols are averaging at least 10 minutes per game.
- The Vols have forced 190 turnovers in its first eight games this season (23.8 per game).
- UT's bench has scored 219 points in seven games (27.4 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 before.
- UT is faced with replacing more than half of its scoring (54 percent), rebounds (51.8) and minutes played (51.3%) from the 2005-06 squad.
- UT's roster lists just three scholarship players taller than 6-foot-5. Duke Crews (6-7), Wayne Chism (6-9) and Ryan Childress (6-9) are the only Vols topping the 6-5 mark.
- 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 24-2 when leading or tied with five minutes left in the game.
- UT is 18-1 when scoring 80 or more points under the direction of Bruce Pearl.
- UT is 24-14 (.632) 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 1,373-894-2 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 216-86 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.
Looking At Memphis
Memphis is 5-1 on the season heading into a Monday night game against Marshall at FedEx Forum in Memphis ... The Tigers have won three consecutive games after their lone setback this season, an 85-92 loss to Georgia Tech at the Maui Invitational ... Sophomore guard Chris Douglas-Roberts leads four Tigers in double figure scoring with 14.8 points per game ... Jeremy Hunt adds 13.2 points while Robert Dozier and Antonio Anderson average 12.2 and 11.3 points, respectively ... Joey Dorsey averages 9.0 points and a team-high 8.3 rebounds per game ... Four of UM's five starters are taller than all but one of UT's starters ... Memphis is averaging 86.0 points and is forcing 21.5 turnovers per game ... The Tigers finished in third place at the Maui Invitational this year with wins over Oklahoma and Kentucky ... Memphis is playing the fourth game in a stretch where the Tigers play five games in 11 days ... The Tigers were a consensus preseason pick to win the Conference USA championship this year ... John Calipari is 153-60 in his seventh season at Memphis and 346-131 in his 15th year has a head coach. The Memphis Series
Tennessee leads the all-time series 10-7 ... Memphis has won the last two meetings after Tennessee had won the previous five ... The Tigers took an 88-79 win last year at the FedEx Forum ... The Vols are 5-2 against the Tigers when playing in Knoxville ... The Tigers lead the series 4-4 when playing in Memphis ... The last six meetings have been decided by a total of 29 points ... Thirteen of the 17 all-time meetings between the two schools have been decided by 10 points or less ... Tennessee is 42-35 all-time against current members of Conference USA. Last Meeting With Memphis
Dane Bradshaw's career game wasn't enough as the Vols fell 79-88 to fourth-ranked Memphis Jan. 18, 2006, at the FedExForum ... Playing his first collegiate game in his hometown of Memphis, Bradshaw scored a career-high 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting to go with 10 rebounds, five steals and four assists ... Memphis used a 10-0 run to turn a 69-69 tie with 6:45 left in the game into a 79-69 advantage with just over four minutes remaining to finally take control of the game ... Shawne Williams scored seven of the Tigers' points during the run ...Bradshaw then scored four consecutive points to cut it to 80-74 with 2:54 remaining but the Vols could get no closer ... The two teams had battled back-and-forth in the first half with Memphis leading by as many as nine points but the Vols finish the half on a 16-6 run to take a 45-41 lead at the break ... Chris Lofton scored 16 points and had three steals for the Vols while C.J. Watson added 14 points ... Major Wingate and Stanley Asumnu each had 11 points ... Rodney Carney led the Tigers with 22 points while Shawne Williams had a double-double with 21 points and 14 rebounds ... Tennessee shot a season-low 35.1 percent from the field and 28.0 percent from 3-point range ... Memphis registered 10 blocks in the game. Last Game: Vols Return Home With 89-64 Win
Tennessee returned home for the first time in nearly two weeks and earned an 89-64 victory over Murray State Friday, Dec. 1, at Thompson-Boling Arena ... The Vols took an early 19-4 lead but the Racers went on an 11-0 run to cut the lead the four points ... Tennessee responded with a run of its own, scoring 12 points in a row to take a 31-15 lead and taking control of the game ... The Vols took a 42-28 lead at the half ... After Murray State opened the second half on a 7-0 run to cut UT's lead to 42-35, Duke Crews hit a shot in the paint to start a 15-0 Vols run that put UT up 57-35 with 15:05 remaining ... Chris Lofton hit his first four shots and finished with 20 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field ... Wayne Chism came off the bench to add 13 points and a game-high nine rebounds ... Dane Bradshaw had 12 points, five assists and no turnovers ... Crews also had 12 points ... Murray State did not have any players reach double figure scoring, the first for a Tennessee opponent in five years ... Danero Thomas and Marvin Williams led the Racers with nine points each ... UT had 11 steals on 23 MSU turnovers ... The Vols outreounded Murray State 43-30 and had 18 offensive rebounds. Bench Contributing
| Opponent | Bench Pts | Total Pts | % Bench Pts | | Middle Tennessee | 42 | 83 | .506 | | Fordham | 18 | 78 | .231 | | UNCW | 28 | 87 | .322 | | Coppin State | 46 | 99 | .465 | | Butler | 29 | 44 | .659 | | North Carolina | 25 | 87 | .287 | | La.-Lafayette | 16 | 77 | .208 | | Murray State | 32 | 89 | .360 | Tennessee's bench has played a key role in the Vols' success early this season ... Through eight games, UT's bench is averaging 27.4 points per game ... Two times this season the bench has contributed at least 40 points in a game ... Wayne Chism is giving the Vols 9.3 points and 6.6 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 10 players who play at least 10 minutes per game and no one averages more than 27 minutes ... Following is a breakdown of UT's bench scoring. Lineup Change Helps Limit Turnovers
Since Jordan Howell moved into the starting lineup against Louisiana-Lafayette (12/1/06) Tennessee has gotten a better handle on its turnovers ... Over UT's first six games the Vols averaged 19.5 turnovers per game ... Since Howell moved into the starting lineup UT has cut its turnovers to 15.0 per game ... Tennessee's assist-to-turnover ratio has improved from 0.8 over the first six games to 1.1 since the lineup change. - As a starter Ramar Smith had an assist-to-turnover ratio of 0.9 but since he has been coming off the bench, that number has improved to 1.3.
- Jordan Howell has 16 assists against six turnovers on the season.
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 6.6 rebounds per game and Duke Crews is adding 5.0 boards. - UT has outrebounded six of its eight opponents.
- The Vols own a +4.5 rebounding advantage.
- Tennessee is averaging 15.5 offensive rebounds.
Thompson-Boling Provides Homecourt 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 215-86 (.714) entering its 20th season in Thompson-Boling Arena.
- Since the 1998 season, the Vols are 116-27 (.811) in Thompson-Boling Arena.
- The Vols are 52-20 against SEC teams at home over the last nine seasons.
- UT has won 69 of its last 76 home games against non-conference opponents.
Bomb Squad Returns
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 averaging 9.8 3-pointers per game this year.
- Lofton is leading UT with 3.8 triples per game.
- Tennessee's 15 3-pointers against second-ranked North Carolina (11/24/06) came just one short of tying the school record of 16.
Lofton A Wooden & Naismith Award Candidate
Junior guard Chris Lofton was named one of the top 50 preseason candidates for the 2006-07 Wooden Award All-American Team and the Naismith Trophy ... The Maysville, Ky., native was one of six players from the Southeastern Conference named to the Wooden Award and one of 10 for the Naismith Trophy watch list ... A finalist for the 2005-06 Wooden All-American Team, Lofton led the Vols with 17.2 points while breaking the school record for 3-pointers in a season with 114, the second-highest total in SEC history. Lofton Reaches 1,000-Point Mark
When Chris Lofton hit his first bucket against Butler (11/22/06) in the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off in New York City's Madison Square Garden, he became the 39th player in Tennessee history to score 1,000 career points ... The Maysville, Ky., native entered the Butler game with 999 career points in 65 career games ... 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 almost reached the milestone against Coppin State (11/19/06) but his last shot, a 3-pointer from the corner, rattled out. He entered the game needing 20 points to reach 1,000 for his career but came up one short.
- He currently ranks 36th on UT's career scoring lists with 1,076 career points.
Lofton Hits Them Often
Chris Lofton has established himself as one of the top shooters in the nation in his first two seasons on Rocky Top ... As a sophomore in 2005-06 he set school records for 3-pointers made (9) and attempted (18) in a game and 3-pointers made (114), attempted (261) and 3-pointers per game (3.80) in a single-season ... His 43.7 3-point percentage (114-of-261) was the third-best percentage in school history and was best in the nation among players who had at least 260 attempts. - Lofton ranks third all-time with 237 career 3-pointers made and sixth with 523 triples attempted.
- Three times he has made at least five 3-pointers in a game this season.
- He ranks second in the SEC with 18.6 points per game this year.
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 has led the Vols in assists seven out of eight games this year and recorded a career-high nine dimes against Coppin State (11/19/06).
- He leads the team with 2.5 steals and ranks fourth with 4.0 rebounds per game.
- He had 10 points, seven assists and seven steals against second-ranked North Carolina (11/24/06).
- His last three games he is averaging 6.0 assists and 4.0 steals.
JaJuan Smith Finally Gets Starting 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.
- Led UT's scoring efforts in four of eight games this season after leading the Vols in scoring once last year.
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 as he ranks sixth on the team with 6.6 points and averages 3.9 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.
- Already this season he has set or tied career marks for points (14), rebounds (5), assists (4), blocks (2) and steals (2).
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 9.4 points and 5.0 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.
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 6.6 rebounds and is fourth on the squad with 9.3 points per game. - Chism has been the first Vol off the bench in each of Tennessee's eight games.
- His last two games he is averaging 11.0 points and 9.0 rebounds per game.
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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