UT Looks to Break KU's 31-Game Home Winning Streak

• 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 Louisiana 89-62 on Monday. Junior Wayne Chism tallied 18 points and grabbed 15 rebounds before falling hard and leaving the floor on a stretcher. After undergoing tests at UT Medical Center, Chism was released with elbow and spine contusions. He is listed as day-to-day.
• Junior guard J.P. Prince, the Vols' third-leading scorer (10.9 ppg), played 14 minutes and scored eight points vs. Louisiana after missing UT's previous three games with an ankle injury suffered on Dec. 12.
• Tennessee owns a 14-13 all-time record against current members of the Big 12 Conference, including a 3-2 mark during the Bruce Pearl era.
• In the most recent NCAA statistics (through Dec. 21), the Vols were ranked eighth nationally in scoring, 10th nationally in assists per game and 13th nationally in rebounding margin.
• The Kansas game opens a tough stretch of four games in 11-days during which UT will face the Jayhawks and Georgia on the road and also will host Gonzaga and Kentucky. Those teams are a combined 36-11 (.766). Tennessee's other January opponents include South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Memphis, LSU and Florida. Only three of UT's nine games in January are on the road.
• 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).
• 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's newcomers include four true freshmen, one junior-college transfer and a redshirt freshman.

Tennessee Trends

• Through the games of Dec. 30, Tennessee led the SEC in scoring (84.5 ppg) and rebounding (42.7 rpg) while ranking third in assists (18.36 apg).
• UT remains the highest-ranked Southeastern Conference team in the national polls (No. 14 AP; No. 18 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 11 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 366 consecutive games.
• Under Bruce Pearl, UT is 79-6 when leading or tied with five minutes left in the game.
• UT is 56-5 when scoring 80 or more points under the direction of Bruce Pearl.
• Tennessee has an all-time record of 1,431-910-2 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.

Vols, Jayhawks Renew Dormant Major-Sport Rivalry

Tennessee and Kansas have not squared off in any of the three major men's sports (basketball, football or baseball) in nearly 15 years ... The Vols and Jayhawks have never previously met on the hardwood ... The schools' football programs have met only twice, with Tennessee winning in both 1973 and 1974 in Memphis and Knoxville, respectively ... And on the baseball diamond, UT owns a 2-1 all-time edge, with the most recent tilt taking place in Kissimmee, Fla., in 1994 ... Saturday's basketball clash marks the first time that Tennessee will play any of the major three sports in Lawrence, Kan.

Noting Kansas

Defending national champion Kansas owns an 9-3 (0-0 Big 12) record, including an 8-1 mark at home ... Kansas head coach Bill Self is 151-35 in his sixth season at KU and 358-139 in his 16th overall campaign ... The Jayhawks are replacing all five starters and seven of of their nine primary rotation players from last season ... Junior guard Sherron Collins, who was recently named to the Naismith Trophy watch list, leads the Jayhawks in scoring at 16.9 ppg and has been the team's top scorer in nine games thus far ... Sophomore center Cole Aldrich averages 14.2 ppg and a team-best 9.6 rpg ... Junior guard Tyrone Appleton attended the same prep school (Harmony Prep in Cincinnati, Ohio) as current Vols Josh Tabb and Brian Williams ... Tabb was teammates with Appleton for two seasons, while Williams and Appleton were teammates for one year ... Junior guard Mario Little was tabbed as the Preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year but has been sidelined all season due to two separate injuries: a stress fracture in his lower left leg (suffered in mid-October) and a broken left hand (suffered on Dec. 16) ... Kansas has outrebounded nine of 12 opponents this season ... The Jayhawks are outscoring their opponents by 16.8 ppg (79.4 ppg to 62.7 ppg) ... KU opponents are shooting just 37.7 percent from the floor ... Kansas also enjoys a +7.3 rebounding margin this season (40.0 rpg to 32.7 rpg) ... KU is averaging 16,406 fans through its first nine home games ... Named in honor the late Dr. F.C. "Phog" Allen, the Jayhawks' head coach for 39 years, Allen Fieldhouse is labeled by many as one of the best places in America to watch a college basketball game ... Dedicated on March 1, 1955, Allen Fieldhouse is the largest basketball arena in the state of Kansas and the second largest in the Big 12.

Rebounding A Strength For Tennessee This Season

Tennessee has been strong on the boards this season, outrebounding its opponents by an average of 9.9 per game and winning the battle of the glass in nine of 11 contests thus far ... The Volunteers lead the SEC in total rebounds per game (42.7) and offensive rebounds per game (15.18) ... 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 six rebounders, as Wayne Chism ranks fifth (8.5 rpg) and Brian Williams ranks sixth (7.5 rpg) ... Tyler Smith ranks 19th in the league with 5.6 rpg.

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 five games ... The Vols are leading the battle of the benches 360-176 this season (32.7 ppg to 16.0 ppg).

Vols Boast Recent Winning History Against Defending National Champions

Tennessee is 5-1 in its last six games against the national champion from the previous season ... Under head coach Bruce Pearl, the Vols own a 3-1 record against the defending champs.

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 4-0 on Rocky Top this season ... In his fourth season at UT, Bruce Pearl is 50-2 in Thompson-Boling Arena ... Tennessee's 36-game streak is the third-longest active streak in NCAA Division I.

Smith Records Program's First Triple-Double

It took 100 seasons and 2,339 all-time games, but a Tennessee player has finally recorded the triple-double that had eluded the program for so long ... Tyler Smith needed just 26 minutes to record 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists during UT's 87-69 win over UNC Asheville on Dec. 3, 2008 ... Smith had no turnovers in the game and also added one steal while going 4-for-11 from the floor and 4-for-6 from the free-throw line ... Said UT coach Bruce Pearl after the game: "He's probably the most productive player I've ever coached."

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

Returners Wayne Chism, J.P. Prince and Brian Williams each are shooting more than 10 percentage points better at the free-throw line this season compared to last: