UT Faces Tough Field at Old Spice Classic

• 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 defeated Middle Tennessee 76-66 in Murfreesboro, Tenn., last Friday. The Vols had at least four players score in double figures for the third straight game.
• The Vols shot 76.9 percent (20-26) from the free-throw line at Middle Tennessee.
• UT head coach Bruce Pearl is three wins shy of logging his 400th career victory. Pearl was the second-fastest to reach 300 wins among active head coaches (382) games, trailing only current UNC head coach Roy Williams (370 games). See Page 3 for more on Pearl's march to win No. 400.
• Tennessee owns a 5-2 all-time record against current members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference but has never faced a MAAC opponent during the Bruce Pearl era.
• The Vols own a 2-1 record in the state of Florida during the Bruce Pearl era, with all games taking place in Gainesville against Southeastern Conference rival Florida.
• The Vols return 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.
• UT newcomers include four true freshmen, one junior-college transfer and a redshirt freshman.
• A panel of SEC and national media tabbed the Vols as the preseason favorite to win the Southeastern Conference championship this season. Tyler Smith was named the preseason SEC Player of the Year by the panel and also was a first-team All-SEC selection by the league's coaches.

Tennessee Trends

• Tennessee has had two players record double-doubles in each of its first two games this season.
• Tennessee is 47-2 at Thompson-Boling Arena since the start of the 2005-06 season.
• UT has a 34-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 25-0 in non-conference home games under Bruce Pearl.
• Bruce Pearl is 16-8 against ranked teams while at Tennessee.
• The Vols have made at least one 3-pointer in 358 consecutive games.
• Under Bruce Pearl, UT is 73-6 when leading or tied with five minutes left in the game.
• UT is 52-5 when scoring 80 or more points under the direction of Bruce Pearl.
• Tennessee has an all-time record of 1,425-908-2 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 247-86 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 season. The Vols turned the trick for the fifth time in 2007-08.

The Siena Series

Thursday's Thanksgiving matchup marks the first ever meeting between Tennessee and Siena on the hardwood ... Like Bruce Pearl, Siena assistant coach Mitch Buonaguro is an alum of Boston College.

Noting Siena

Siena (2-0) was unanimously picked by the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference head coaches to win the MAAC championship this season as the Saints are led by head coach Fran McCaffery and preseason conference player of the year Kenny Hasbrouck (Sr., 6-3, 194) ... Hasbrouck is one of three Saints named to the preseason All-MAAC first team, joining teammates Edwin Ubiles and Alex Franklin ... Sports Illustrated placed the Saints 29th in its preseason poll ... Siena junior Ronald Moore is a candidate for The Bob Cousy Award, presented to the nation's top point guard ... Siena, which posted a 23-11 (13-5 MAAC) record last season and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, is considered to boast the MAAC's top backcourt and frountcourt this year ... All five starters return from the 2007-08 team that defeated Vanderbilt in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament ... McCaffery owns a 60-36 record in his fourth season with the Saints and has put together a respectable non-conference schedule that features Pittsburgh and defending national champion Kansas, in addition to Tennessee ... The Saints experimented with lineup combinations while posting a 4-1 record during a trip to Italy this past summer ... One of the most talented and experienced mid-majors in the coutry, Siena's intangibles are among its biggest strengths this season.

Vols Getting Boost Off Bench

Through UT's first three games, the Vols are getting an average of 36.3 points off the bench ... Tennessee's bench has outscored the opponents' bench in all three of UT's games thus far for a total of 109-46 ... The Vols' bench totaled 44 and 47 points in home wins over Chattanooga and UT Martin, respectively ... Backup center Brian Williams scored a game-high 21 points against UT Martin for UT's highest non-starter output of the season.

Double-Doubles the Norm Early This Season

Tennessee players have recorded five double-doubles in just three games this season ... Two Vols posted double-doubles in each of UT's two home wins ... Junior center Wayne Chism is nearly averaging a double-double with 11.0 ppg and 9.7 rpg ... Chism's two double-doubles on the year lead the team ... Other Vols who have logged a double-double include Bobby Maze (12 pts, 11 rebs vs. Chattanooga), Tyler Smith (18 pts, 10 rebs at Middle Tennessee) and Brian Williams (21 pts, 12 rebs vs. UT Martin).

Vols Dish Out School-Record 32 Assists in Season-Opening Rout

The Vols made history Nov. 15 in their season-opening rout of Chattanooga by dishing out a school record 32 assists ... The previous record was 31 assists against Tennessee Tech on Nov. 25, 1988 ... Ironically, that game also was a season-opening rout, as UT pounded the Golden Eagles 118-86 to open coach Don DeVoe's 11th and final season on Rocky Top ... Junior point guard Bobby Maze led the way in this season's record-breaking performance with a game-high 11 assists (against only one turnover) in his official Tennessee debut ... Forward Tyler Smith added seven assists apiece, and guard J.P. Prince logged five ... Nine of the 11 Vols who played against the Mocs recorded at least one assist ... It tied for the 15th-highest single-game assist total in SEC history and was the most by an SEC team since 2006.

Hopson's Debut Nets Him SEC Freshman of the Week Honors

Scotty Hopson's 17-point performance in UT's season-opening win over Chattanooga (11/15/08) earned him SEC Freshman of the Week honors ... In his 19 minutes played, he also logged three rebounds, one block and one steal while going 7-of-11 from the floor (3-of-6 from 3-point range) ... One of his four dunks in the 114-75 rout was featured on ESPN SportsCenter's Top-10 Plays ... Hopson was one of two freshman starters for the Vols in the opener (guard Renaldo Woolridge was the other).