VOLS TAKE ON EAST TENNESSEE STATE ON SATURDAY NIGHT
Tennessee will close the books on 2006 when the Vols play host to the East Tennessee State Buccaneers at 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 30, at Thompson-Boling Arena.
The Vols are riding a seven-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 reached the century mark for the second consecutive game with a 101-77 victory over Tennessee Tech Thursday. The Vols defeated Texas 111-105 in overtime on Dec. 23.
Bruce Pearl earned his 350th career victory Thursday against the Golden Eagles.
Ryan Childress (13 points, 11 rebounds) and Duke Crews (10 points, 10 rebounds) recorded doubledoubles in the win over Tennessee Tech. It is the first time since the 2002-03 season two Vols had double-doubles in the same game.
Chris Lofton is leading the Southeastern Conference with 21.8 points per game. One of the top shooters in the nation, he is averaging 4.1 3-pointers per game and is connecting on 47.7 percent of his shots from beyond the arc. The junior from Maysville, Ky., is averaging 26.6 points on 50.7 percent (34-of-67) shooting from 3-point range over his last seven games.
The East Tennessee State game is Tennessee's final non-conference contest before opening Southeastern Conference action Jan. 7 against Mississippi State.
A win over ETSU would give Tennessee its first undefeated month of December since 1997-98. The Vols are 6-0 this year in the month of December. In 1997-98 UT went 5-0 in December.
Tennessee Trends
UT has scored 100 or more points in each of its
last two games. The only other time in school history
that the Vols reached the century mark in back-toback
games was during the 1957-58 season when the
Vols won at Florida (100-91) and over Mississippi
State (104-83).
Tennessee is 20-2 at Thompson-Boling Arena over
the last two seasons.
The Vols are 14-0 in non-conference home games
under Bruce Pearl.
Chris Lofton (53) and JaJuan Smith (30) have
combined to make nearly as many 3-pointers as
Tennessee's opponents have (84).
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 53 triples this season pushing
his career total to 261. Allan Houston (1989-93)
holds the school record with 346 3-pointers.
UT's six newcomers are combining to average
32.5 points and 19.7 rebounds.
Tennessee leads the SEC with 15.5 offensive
rebounds per game.
11 different Vols have hit a 3-pointer this season.
Chris Lofton has made at least one 3-pointer in 72
of his 74 career games.
The Vols have made at least one 3-pointer in 297
consecutive games.
The Vols have forced 272 turnovers this season
(20.9 per game).
UT's bench is averaging 25.5 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 27-2 when leading or
tied with five minutes left in the game.
UT is 21-1 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 1,378-894-2 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 220-86 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 East Tennessee State
East Tennessee State enters Saturday's game with an
8-5 overall record and have won six of their last
seven outings ... The Bucs are already 2-0 in the
Atlantic Sun Conference with wins on the road at
Mercer and Stetson ... This is ETSU's first game
since a 71-51 victory over Radford Dec. 21 ... The
Bucs have played just two games in the past three
weeks due to final exams and a holiday break ...
ETSU has received NCAA Tournament invitations in
two of the last four years ... Sophomore guard
Courtney Pigram, a teammate of Dane Bradshaw's at
White Station High School in Memphis, leads ETSU
with 16.0 points per game ... Brad Nuckles, a 6-foot-
9 senior forward, averages 10.8 points per game
while leading the team with 7.5 rebounds ... Nuckles,
who is one of only two seniors that are currently
active on the ETSU roster, ranks fourth in school history
with 125 career blocked shots ... Murry Bartow
is 60-43 in his fourth year in Johnson City and 163-
126 in 11 years as a head coach.
The Tennessee Tech Series
Tennessee leads the all-time series 10-2 ... The Vols
won last year's meeting 106-83 in Bruce Pearl's first
game at the helm of the UT program ... Tennessee has
a four-game winning streak in the series ... The Vols
are 6-2 against the Bucs when playing in Knoxville ...
Tennessee is 16-5 all-time against current members
of the Atlantic Sun Conference.
Last Meeting With East Tennessee State
The Tennessee debut of Bruce Pearl's fact-paced
style of play brought more than 20,000 fans to
Thompson-Boling Arena to see the Vols take a 106-
83 victory over East Tennessee State Nov. 18, 2005 ...
Chris Lofton led the Vols with 24 points on 6-of-12
shooting from 3-point range while C.J. Watson added
22 points and six assists ... Junior Dane Bradshaw
recorded his first career double-double with 13 points
and 12 rebounds to go with six assists ... Stanley
Asumnu registered a career-high 18 points for the
Vols ... Tennessee built a 27-10 lead less than 10 minutes
into the game and took a 46-31 advantage at
halftime ... The Vols' lead never got below 13 points
in the second half ... ETSU committed 33 turnovers,
including 20 in the first half ... Both teams shot better
than 50 percent from the field ... UT shot 53.8 percent
while ETSU converted 53.3 percent of its shots
... Tim Smith led all scorers with 26 points but turned
the ball over nine times ... The crowd of 21,280 was
the fourth-largest crowd in school history for a homeopener
... The 106 points scored were the most since
December 2003 ... The win marked UT's seventh
consecutive victory in a season opener ... The UT has
won 38 of its last 40 home-openers.
Tennessee - ETSU Connections
UT's Dane Bradshaw and ETSU's Courtney Pigram
and Travis Strong were teammates at White Station
High School in Memphis ... Together they helped
lead the Spartans to Class AAA state titles in 2002
and 2003 ... ETSU freshman guard Ben Williamson
prepped at Central High School in Knoxville ... In
2002-03, the year before taking over as the head
coach at ETSU, Murry Bartow provided color commentary
for two of Tennessee's games on television.
Last Game: Vols Hit Century Mark Against Tech
Tennessee scored at least 100 points for the second
consecutive game with a 101-77 win over Tennessee
Tech Thursday, Dec. 28, in Thompson-Boling Arena
... Less than a week earlier the Vols had beaten Texas
111-105 in overtime ... Tennessee Tech took a 29-26
lead on a Belton Rivers 3-pointer with 8:17 left in the
first half ... The Vols responded with a 19-0 run to
take a 45-29 advantage with 4:03 left in the half ...
UT took a 56-38 lead at the half and extended its
advantage to 26 points (70-44) less than five minutes
into the second half ... JaJuan Smith led the second
half charge, scoring eight points in the half's first two
minutes ... Smith finished the game with a careerhigh
23 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field and
5-of-10 3-point shooting ... Ryan Childress scored his
first career double-double with 13 points and 11
rebounds ... Duke Crews also had a double-double
with 10 points and 10 rebounds ... Chris Lofton
added 14 points and Ramar Smith had 13 ... Dane
Bradshaw had nine assists ... Rivers led the Golden
Eagles with 20 points on 5-of-19 shooting ...
Tennessee tied its season low with eight turnovers
while dishing out 25 assists ... The win was Bruce
Pearl's 350th career victory.
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 highlyrated
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 Jan. 13 in Columbus, Ohio ... 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.
Duke Crews (Rivals.com No. 26 overall) is averaging
10.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. The 6-
foot-7 forward is shooting 53.4 percent from the field
and has started 12 games this season.
Wayne Chism (Rivals.com No. 34 overall) is second
on the team with 5.9 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 Seven-Game Win Streak
Tennessee has won each of its seven games since
dropping consecutive games to Butler and North
Carolina at the NIT Season Tip-Off finals in New
York ... During the seven-game winning streak Chris
Lofton has been averaging 26.6 points on 53.2 percent
(58-of-109) shooting, including 50.7 percent
(34-of-67) 3-point shooting ... Four times in the last
seven games he has scored 30 or more points ... As a
team, UT is averaging 89.4 points and is outscoring
its opponents by 14.1 points per game.
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 6.9 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 20.9 turnovers
per game this year.
Opponents have had to call timeout 14 times because they could not get the ball inbounds.
They have been whistled for a five-second count 14 times on inbounds plays.
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 ... Duke Crews
leads the Vols 6.2 rebounds per game and Wayne
Chism is adding 5.9 boards.
UT has outrebounded nine of its 13 opponents.
The Vols own a +2.5 rebounding advantage.
UT leads the SEC with 15.5 offensive rebounds.
Lofton Lately
Leads the SEC with 21.8 points per game.
Leads the SEC with 4.1 3-pointers per game.
Last six games is averaging 26.6 points on 53.2
percent (58-109) shooting from the field and 50.7
percent (34-67) 3-point shooting.
Made at least five 3-pointers in a game six times.
Made at least two 3s in 24 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 47.7 percent (53-of-111) 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).
Bench Contributing
Tennessee's bench has played a key role in the Vols'
success early this season ... UT's bench is averaging
25.5 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 5.9
rebounds per game coming off the bench ... Last year
UT got 21.0 points per game from its bench ... Part
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 9.4 3-pointers per game.
Lofton is leading the SEC with 4.1 triples per
game.
Combined, Lofton (53) and Smith (30) have made
as nearly many 3-pointers as Tennessee's opponents
(84).
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 21 points and five steals
in just 27 minutes of action.
He scored 19 points in UT's win over Texas
(12/23/06).
Scored a career-high 23 points on 5-of-10 3-point
shooting against Tennessee Tech (12/28/06).
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 five times this season
after leading the Vols in scoring once last year.
He ranks second on the team with 14.8 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 (61), blocks (11)
and is second on the team in steals (28).
He has led the Vols in assists nine out of 13 games
this year and recorded a career-high nine dimes against
Coppin State (11/19/06).
Had nine assists against one turnover while adding
seven points and seven rebounds against Tennessee
Tech (12/28/06).
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 6.2 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)
front line. 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.
Earned his first career double-double with 10
points and 10 rebounds against Tennessee Tech
(12/28/06).
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 ... A6-9 native of Boliver, Tenn., Chism
became the first Vols freshman to record a doubledouble
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 second on the
team with 5.9 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 13 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 6.8 points,
2.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 22.1 minutes per game
this year.
He has earned eight starting assignments on the
season.
Against 15th-ranked Memphis (12/6/06) he gathered
seven rebounds.
Against Texas (12/23/06) he turned in a careerhigh
16 points to go with nine assists and no
turnovers.
Since returning to the starting lineup against Texas
(12/23/06) he is averaging 14.5 points, 6.5 assists and
0.5 turnovers 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 5.9 points and 4.6 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 (11), 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).
Recorded his first career double-double with 13
points and 11 rebounds against Tennessee Tech
(12/28/06).
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.
FB Live Game Audio - 11/21 @ 5:30 p.m. ET
