Xavier Game Preview

Tennessee		Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	APG
F	1 Tyler Smith	6-7	215	So.	13.2	5.3	3.4
F	4 Wayne Chism	6-9	242	So.	7.7	5.0	0.8
G	5 Chris Lofton	6-2	200	Sr.	15.3	3.3	2.6
G	2 JaJuan Smith	6-2	195	Sr.	14.8	2.1	2.7
G	15 Jordan Howell	6-2	200	So.	7.7	1.4	3.4
Xavier		Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	APG
F	1 Josh Duncan	6-9	238	Sr.	10.4	5.7	1.4
F	5 Derrick Brown	6-8	225	So.	11.4	6.3	1.7
F	11 B.J. Raymond	6-6	226	Jr.	12.3	4.7	1.1
G	24 Drew Lavender	5-7	153	Sr.	12.3	2.9	5.0
G	34 Stanley Burrell	6-3	210	Sr.	10.9	1.9	3.1

Vols Look For Third Straight Win Over Musketeers

Tennessee will be hitting the road for the third time in its last four games when the Vols meet the Xavier Musketeers at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 22, at the Cintas Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Four of Tennessee???s five games in the month of December will be away from Thompson-Boling Arena. In fact, the Vols are in the middle of a 39-day period in which they play just one game in Knoxville.
The Vols earned their fifth consecutive victory with an 86-73 win over UNC Asheville Wednesday night in Knoxville. Chris Lofton led all scorers with 24 points while JaJuan Smith and J.P. Prince each added 13 points. The game against UNCA was Tennessee???s only home game during the month of December.
Chris Lofton broke Allan Houston???s school record (346 from 1989-93) for career 3-pointers made with his second triple against UNC Asheville. Lofton???s four 3-pointers against the Bulldogs increased his career total to 349 which ranks second in SEC history behind only Arkansas??? Pat Bradley (366 from 1995-99) and 21st in NCAA history.
Tennessee has won 10 of its first 11 games for the second time in three seasons under Bruce Pearl. Pearl???s 2005-06 squad won 11 of its first 12 games before suffering its second loss of the season.
Senior guard Chris Lofton leads the Vols with 15.3 points while backcourt mate JaJuan Smith is adding 14.8 points per game. Sophomore forward Tyler Smith adds 13.2 points and is tied for the team lead with 3.4 assists. Freshman center Brian Williams has come on strong the last two games and is averaging 5.1 points and a team-best 6.0 rebounds on the season.
J.P. Prince, a sophomore transfer from Arizona, is averaging 10.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists in his two games since fulfilling NCAA transfer requirements earlier this month.
Xavier is 8-2 on the season and riding a 14-game winning streak at the Cintas Center. Drew Lavender (12.3 ppg) and B.J. Raymond (12.3 ppg) lead a balanced Musketeer scoring attack which features six players that average double figure scoring.

Tennessee Trends

Tennessee is averaging 25.5 points per game off turnovers this season (280 points in 11 games).
No UT player ranks among the SEC???s top 30 in minutes played.
After opening the season by making just 3-of-17 (17.6 percent) of his 3-pointers, Lofton has made 38.8 percent (33-of-85) over the last seven games.
Lofton???s 1,740 career points rank eighth on UT???s all-time scorers list.
Tennessee has forced an average of 22.8 turnovers off an SEC-best 12.2 steals per game this year.
The Vols are leading the SEC with 21.4 assists per game.
UT???s 69-point (109-40) win over Middle Tennessee is the second-largest margin of victory in school history.
The Vols tied a school record with 16 3-pointers against Middle Tennessee (11/20/07). Their 30 assists were one dime shy of tying a school record.
The 21,817 fans for Tennessee???s game against Temple (11/9/07) was the largest crowd for a home opener in the nation this year.
Chris Lofton and JaJuan Smith were the highest scoring duo in the Southeastern Conference in 2006-07. Lofton averaged 20.8 points while Smith added 15.2 points.
Tennessee is 36-2 at Thompson-Boling Arena since the start of the 2005-06 season.
UT has a 23-game homecourt winning streak. The Vols??? last home loss was a 78-80 decision to Kentucky in the final home game of the 2005-06 season.
The Vols are 22-0 in non-conference home games under Bruce Pearl.
Bruce Pearl is 9-6 against ranked teams while at Tennessee.
The Vols have made at least one 3-pointer in 330 consecutive games.
Under Bruce Pearl, UT is 50-4 when leading or tied with five minutes left in the game.
UT is 37-4 when scoring 80 or more points under the direction of Bruce Pearl.
UT is 31-14 (.689) when playing before crowds of 20,000 or larger at Thompson-Boling Arena. In 2006-07 the Vols were 6-0 playing in front of 20,000 fans at home.
Tennessee has an all-time record of 1,401-904-2 in its 99th season of basketball.
UT???s 620 regular season SEC victories rank third all-time in the SEC. Only Kentucky and Alabama have won more league games.
Tennessee is 236-86 in its 21st season in Thompson-Boling Arena. The Vols have winning home records in 18 of their 20 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 fourth time in 2006-07.

Tough Stretch

Beginning with the UNC Asheville game Dec. 19, Tennessee started a stretch where the Vols??? next four games were against opponents entering the game with a combined 33-6 record ... UNCA was off to its best start since 1983-84 with an 8-2 record while Xavier (8-2), Gonzaga (9-2) and Ole Miss (8-0) are also off to exemplary starts.

Lofton Breaks Houston???s 3-Point Record

Chris Lofton became Tennessee???s all-time 3-point leader against UNC Asheville (12/19/07), passing the legendary Allan Houston ... Lofton???s 349 career treys rank first at Tennessee, second in SEC history (Arkansas??? Pat Bradley had 366) and 21st in NCAA history ... The senior All-America candidate has made 36 3-pointers this season and is shooting 35.3 percent from behind the arc ... He currently holds Tennessee career records for 3-pointers made (349), 3-pointers per game (3.38) and 3-point percentage (.429) ... His 816 career 3-point attempts rank second all-time behind Houston???s 817 ... The Maysville, Ky., native has produced the top two single-season 3- point efforts in school history ... In 2005-06 he set a school record with 114 triples and as a junior in 2006-07 he made 106 shots behind the arc.

Looking At Xavier

Xavier is 8-2 on the season after their seven-game winning streak came to an end last weekend with a 55-77 loss at Arizona State ... XU has posted impressive wins over No. 8 Indiana, Creighton and Cincinnati already this season ... The Musketeers are taking the term ???balanced scoring attack??? to a whole new level with six players averaging in double figures, but none of them scoring more than 12.3 points per game ... Drew Lavender and B.J. Raymond are tied for the team lead with 12.3 ppg ... A Cousy and Naismith award candidate, the 5-foot-7 Lavender is leading the Musketeers with 5.0 assists and 1.8 steals per game ... Stanley Burrell, a preseason second team all-conference selection, averages 10.4 points ... Xavier is 6-0 at home this season and owns a 14-game winning streak at the Cintas Center ... XU???s 12.0 turnovers per game rank 12th in the nation ... The Musketeers were an overwhelming favorite to win the Atlantic 10 Conference in a preseason poll of coaches and media ... Sean Miller is 71-34 in his fourth season as Xavier???s head coach.

Tennessee - Xavier Connections

UT junior forward Ryan Childress is a native of Cincinnati ... Childress and Xavier senior forward Josh Duncan were high school teammates at Bishop Moeller High School where they led the Crusaders to a 2003 state championship ... In 2004 they led Moeller to a 22-3 record and a national ranking before they were upset in the Elite Eight of the state tournament ... Tennessee???s Duke Crews and Xavier???s Jamel McLean were high school teammates at Bethel High School in Hampton, Va. ... Crews averaged 21 points and 13 rebounds while McLean had 14.5 points and 15 rebounds while leading Bethel to a 27-1 record their senior year in 2006 ... Chris Lofton is from Maysville, Ky., located 60 miles southeast of Cincinnati along the banks of the Ohio River ... The Xavier game will be the closest the Vols will play to Lofton???s hometown during his career at Tennessee (previous was Lexington, Ky., which is located 64 miles southwest of Maysville) ... Sophomore guard Josh Tabb attended Harmony Community Prep in Cincinnati ... Tennessee radio play-by-play announcer Bob Kesling is a native of Kettering, Ohio.

Tennessee Triplets

The senior trio of Chris Lofton, JaJuan Smith and Jordan Howell have comprised to make Tennessee one of the most dangerous 3-point shooting teams in the nation ... The threesome are a key reason the Vols lead the SEC and rank among the national leaders with 10.1 3-pointers per game ... All three players rank among the SEC leaders in terms of 3-pointers made per game ... Lofton leads the team and ranks second in the SEC with 3.27 triples per game ... Smith is fourth with 2.82 and Howell is 11th with 2.00 treys per game.

It Doesn???t Rain 3s, It Pours Them

The 3-point shot has been a key part of Tennessee???s repertoire this season ... The Vols are averaging 28.5 3-point shots per game this season ... 43.9 percent (313 of 713) of the Vols??? shots have been from 3-point range ... UT is averaging 10.1 3-pointers made per game on the year ... 12 different Vols have made a 3-pointer this season.

UT shattered the previous school record of 37 3-point attempts by firing up 50 shots from beyond the arc against North Carolina A&T (11/27/07). It is the third-highest total in SEC history.
Chris Lofton broke his own single-game record for attempts by going 8-of-20 from 3-point range against North Carolina A&T (11/27/07). It tied for the third-highest number of attempts in SEC history.
The Vols have tied the school record for 3-pointers made in a game with 16 two times this season. They performed the feat less than a week between games, doing it against Middle Tennessee State (11/20/07) and then against Texas (11/24/07).
Lofton???s eight 3-pointers against North Carolina A&T are tied for second-most in school history. Lofton already holds the school record with nine triples in a game against Georgia his sophomore season.
Lofton became UT???s career leader for 3-pointers made against UNC Asheville. The senior guard???s 349 triples rank second in SEC history.
JaJuan Smith???s seven 3-pointers against Middle Tennessee (11/20/07) rank in a tie for fourth on UT???s single-game lists.

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