UT Seeks 38th Consecutive Home Win

• 2008-09 marks Tennessee's 100th season of varsity basketball. A season-long centennial celebration includes the selection of a Tennessee Basketball All-Century Team. Ballots are available in the Thompson-Boling Arena concourse for all home games.
• In its last game, Tennessee lost at Kansas 92-85 on Saturday. Tyler Smith scored 21 points to lead UT, and he was one of five Vols to score in double figures. Tennessee shot just 39 percent from the floor.
• Junior Wayne Chism is averaging 16.8 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks over the last four games.
• Tennessee's school-record 37-game home win streak is the second-longest active home win streak among NCAA Division I programs.
• Tennessee owns a 5-4 all-time record against current members of the West Coast Conference, including a 1-1 mark during the Bruce Pearl era.
• Wednesday's game marks the third meeting between Tennessee and Gonzaga since December of 2007. The programs had never met prior to last season's Battle in Seattle. This is the first meeting that will take place at either of the schools' home arenas.
• In the most recent NCAA statistics (through the games of Jan. 4), the Vols were ranked seventh nationally in scoring, 11th nationally in assists per game and 14th nationally in rebounding margin.
• Tennessee navigates some rough waters during the month of January, as the Vols' opponents this month include Kansas, Gonzaga, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Memphis, LSU and Florida.
• UT's win over UNC Asheville on Dec. 3 marked head coach Bruce Pearl's 400th career victory. Pearl was the sixth-fastest collegiate coach to reach the 400-win milestone (second among active coaches).
• This season's Tennessee team features a total of six letterwinners, including two starters, from last year's squad that posted a 31-5 overall record and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

Tennessee Trends

• Through the games of Jan. 4, Tennessee led the SEC in scoring (84.6 ppg) and rebounding (42.3 rpg) while ranking second in assists (18.00 apg).
• UT remains the highest-ranked Southeastern Conference team in the national polls (No. 15 AP; No. 25 Coaches). No SEC team has been ranked higher than the Vols at any point this season.
• The Vols' bench has outscored the opponent's bench in all 12 games this season.
• Tennessee is 50-2 at Thompson-Boling Arena since the start of the 2005-06 season.
• UT has a 37-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 28-0 in non-conference home games under Bruce Pearl.
• Bruce Pearl is 18-9 against ranked teams while at Tennessee.
• The Vols have made at least one 3-pointer in 367 consecutive games.
• Under Bruce Pearl, UT is 79-6 when leading or tied with five minutes left in the game.
• UT is 56-6 when scoring 80 or more points under the direction of Bruce Pearl.
• Tennessee has an all-time record of 1,431-911-2 in 100 seasons of basketball.
• UT's 634 regular-season SEC victories rank third all-time in the SEC. Only Kentucky and Alabama have won more league games.
• Tennessee is 250-86 in 22 seasons in Thompson-Boling Arena. The Vols have posted winning home records in 18 of their 21 full 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 year. The Vols turned the trick for the fifth time in 2007-08.

NBA Bloodlines

Sunday's Tennessee-Gonzaga matchup features an underclassman starter on each team whose father played in the NBA ... UT's Renaldo Woolridge (1981-94) is the son of Orlando Woolridge ... Gonzaga newcomer Austin Daye is the son of Darren Daye (1983-88).

The Gonzaga Series

The only other meeting in the series came last season in the "Battle in Seattle;" Tennessee posted an 82-72 victory at KeyArena in Seattle, Wash., (12/29/07) ... The Vols, who led 36-31 at the half, started the second half on an 8-2 run to stretch their lead to 11 points ... Chris Lofton made back-to-back 3-pointers to give Tennessee its biggest lead at 64-46 ... The Zags trimmed UT's lead to 74-64 with 3:16 left in the game on a Jeremy Pargo jumper, his only field goal of the game ... Matt Bouldin drilled a 3- pointer with 1:15 remaining to cut the lead to five points (76-71) but the Vols withstood the rally ... J.P. Prince was fouled by Bouldin on UT's next possession ... After making the first attempt, Prince missed the second but the Vols kept possession when Wayne Chism tipped the rebound out to Jordan Howell ... Prince made two more free throws to give UT a 79-71 lead with 40 seconds left ... JaJuan Smith led six Vols in double figures with 18 points ... Tyler Smith finished with 11 points, 11 rebounds and six assists without a turnover ... Tennessee shot 51.5 percent in the second half and finished the game shooting 46.3 percent from the field ... UT had 10 steals off 18 Gonzaga turnovers ... The Vols had 28 points off turnovers ... Bouldin led the Zags with a game-high 21 points.

Noting Gonzaga

Riding 10 straight NCAA Tournament appearances, Gonzaga (8-4) under head coach Mark Few is receiving votes in both the AP and ESPN/USA Today Coaches' polls ... The Bulldogs posted an 83-74 win over the Vols in the Old Spice Classic championship game in Orlando, Fla., on Nov. 30 ... Zags senior Josh Heytvelt is averaging a team-high 14.9 ppg on 52.4 percent shooting and is one of four Zags who stand 6-11 or taller ... Gonzaga enjoys a +10.2 scoring margin and a +2.5 rebounding margin while blocking 5.7 shots per game ... Sophomore forward Austin Daye leads the Zags with 2.17 blocks per game while also averaging 12.5 points ... Point guard Jeremy Pargo (10.1 ppg, 6.9 apg) is the returning WCC Player of the Year and joins Vols forward Tyler Smith on this year's John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 list ... Senior guard Matt Bouldin was an All-WCC selection last season and is one of five Bulldogs averaging double digits in scoring (11.3 ppg) ... Gonzaga shoots 46.8 percent from the floor, 35.3 percent from 3-point range and 70.0 percent from the free-throw line ... Wednesday's game marks the second of two regular-season meetings between Tennessee and Gonzaga this season ... It will be the third between the teams since December of 2007; the programs had never met prior to last season ... Mark Few (.793) and Bruce Pearl (.784) are the second- and third-winningest active Division I head coaches, respectively.

Last Clash With Gonzaga

Gonzaga handed Tennessee its first loss this season Nov. 30, downing the Vols 83-74 in the Old Spice Classic Championship Game in Orlando, Fla. ... The Bulldogs used an effective zone defense to stifle the Vols' offensive attack while also shooting 51.9 percent fron the floor (including 11-of-20 from 3-point range) ... Tennessee turned the ball over 21 times against just 14 turnovers for Gonzaga, but UT did win the battle on the boards, outrebouding the Zags 50-26 with 27 boards on the offensive glass ... The Vols shot just 35.5 percent in the game ... Tyler Smith led the Big Orange with 17 points, while guards Scotty Hopson and J.P. Prince added 16 and 12 points off the bench, respectively ... Sophomore center Brian Williams grabbed 15 rebounds (eight offensive) ... The Vols led by four with five minutes to play in the first half, but a sloppy close to the half saw the Zags hold a 35-31 edge at the break ... Gonzaga's second-half lead grew to 18 points with five minutes remaining, but a 3-pointer by UT's Cameron Tatum cut the Vols' deficit to six with 1:34 to play in the game ... Gonzaga was led by guard Steven Gray's 19 points; he was one of five Bulldogs to score in double figures.

Vols Riding School-Record 37-Game Home Win Streak

Tennessee's 37-game home winning streak is the longest in school history ... The last team to leave Knoxville with a win was Kentucky after an 80-78 decision on March 1, 2006 ... The Vols were 16-0 at home each of the last two seasons and 5-0 on Rocky Top this season ... In his fourth season at UT, Bruce Pearl is 50-2 in Thompson-Boling Arena ... Tennessee's 37-game streak is the second-longest active streak in NCAA Division I.

Chism, Prince and Williams Much-Improved at Free-Throw Line

Returners Wayne Chism, J.P. Prince and Brian Williams each are shooting significantly better from the free-throw line this season compared to last:

Bench Dominance

The Tennessee bench has outscored the opposition's bench in every game this season, and UT's backups have also outscored the opponents' non-starters by at least 20 points in three of the last six games ... The Vols are leading the battle of the benches 380-192 this season (31.7 ppg to 16.0 ppg).

Rebounding A Strength For Tennessee This Season

Tennessee has been strong on the boards this season, outrebounding its opponents by an average of 8.6 per game and winning the battle of the glass in nine of 12 contests thus far ... The Volunteers lead the SEC in total rebounds per game (42.3) and offensive rebounds per game (15.50) ... Three times this season UT has pulled down at least 50 rebounds in a game, with a high of 58 against UT Martin on Nov. 18 (a Thompson-Boling Arena record and the Vols' most since at least 1980) ... Tennessee also boasts two of the SEC's top rebounders, as Wayne Chism ranks fifth (8.5 rpg) and Brian Williams ranks 11th (6.8 rpg) ... Tyler Smith ranks 18th in the league with 5.9 rpg.

Nine Different Vols Have Started Games

Nine different Volunteers have started for UT this season, including eight players who have made multiple starts ... Junior forward Tyler Smith and junior point guard Bobby Maze are the only two Vols who have started all nine games ... Head coach Bruce Pearl has used six different combinations of starters thus far ... Freshman forward Emmanuel Negedu is the only scholarship Vol who has yet to start.