Vols Travel to Memphis

Tennessee (8-0) at Memphis

Saturday, Dec. 18, 1999
The Pyramid - Memphis, Tenn.
Tipoff: 7:30 (CST)

The Series
Tonight's game is the 14th meeting between Tennessee and Memphis. The Vols lead the series 8-5 that dates back to the 1969 All-College Tournament in Oklahoma City. The series has been one of close games, with eight of the last 12 games being decided by four points or less. Entering tonight's game, the series is tied 3-3 in games played in Memphis. The Vols are 2-2 at The Pyramid and have won the last three meetings in the series.

Last Meeting
(Dec. 2, 1998) -- Isiah Victor scored a career-high 26 points and scored the game-winning basket on a slam dunk with 16 seconds remaining to lift Tennessee to a 68-67 win over Memphis.

The Tigers had taken their first lead of the game, 67-66, on a three-pointer by Dinno Daniels that just beat the shot clock.

Following a timeout, the Vols' Brandon Wharton worked the ball inside to C.J. Black, who spotted a driving Victor, who slammed the ball through the hoop.

Victor connected on 9-of-10 from the field and paced the Vols with eight rebounds. Tony Harris added 14 points and five assists. Omar Sneed led the Tigers with 14 points.

TV
Comcast Sports Southeast: (Randy Smith, Steve Hamer)

Radio
Vol Network: (Bob Kesling & Bert Bertelkamp)...Statewide network with night time penetration into 38 states and part of Canada. The Vol Network broadcast may also be heard at www.utsports.com via broadcast.com.

Coaches
Tennessee: Jerry Green (Appalachian State 1968) 271-196 (.580) - 17th season. At UT: 49-18 (.731) - 3rd season.

Memphis: Johnnie Jones (LSU, 1985) 4-4 (.500) - 1st season. At UM: 4-4 (.500) - 4th season.

PROBABLE STARTERS

Vols-Memphis Basketball preview
Tennessee travels to Memphis to take on the Tigers in a Saturday night clash at The Pyramid. The Vols lead the series 8-5 and have won the last three games between the two intrastate rivals.

VOLS RANKED IN TOP 25
Tennessee is ranked 12th in the latest ESPN/USA Today coaches poll. The Vols are No. 13 in this week's Associated Press poll. This week's ranking is the highest for the Vols since beginning last season at No. 9 in both polls.

8-0 START RANKS AMONG SCHOOL'S BEST
Tennessee's 8-0 start to this season is one of the best in school history. The 1922-23 Vols' 14-0 mark ranks as the best start to a season, followed by a 12-0 start in 1915-16. Two years ago, UT began the season with a 10-0 mark.

BEST STARTS IN UT HISTORY

Start   Season        Final Record14-0    1922-23       (15-2)12-0    1915-16       (12-0)10-0    1997-98       (20-9)9-0     1913-14       (15-2)8-0     1999-2000     (--)8-0     1956-57       (13-9)

VOLS VS. CONFERENCE USA
Tennessee has an all-time mark of 46-43 against schools that make up Conference USA. A breakdown of UT's all-time series marks against C-USA members: UAB (2-2), Cincinnati (1-5), DePaul (1-0), Louisville (6-7), Houston (3-2), Marquette (2-3), Memphis (8-5), UNC-Charlotte (4-3), Saint Louis (0-0), South Florida (6-0), Southern Miss (1-0), Tulane (12-16). The Vols defeated South Florida 102-90 Nov. 29 at Thompson-Boling Arena and could play UNC-Charlotte in the upcoming Puerto Rico Holiday Shootout.

Series vs. Memphis

1969     (N)     72-511989     (H)     76-741990     (A)     72-91         (A*)    73-711991     (H)     72-741992     (A)     65-641993     (H)     70-591994     (A)     64-831995     (H)     46-501996     (A)     55-571997     (H)     57-471998     (A)     68-661999     (H)     68-67* NIT*

GREEN NEARING 50 WINS AT UT
Jerry Green is just one victory away from No. 50 at Tennessee. In just his third season, Green has amassed a 49-18 (.731) record at Tennessee and has a chance to reach the 50-win mark faster than any UT coach in history.

John Mauer, who coached the Vols from 1939-47) reached the 50-win mark in 69 games at UT, while Emmitt Lowery (1948-59) turned the trick in 72 games and Don DeVoe (1979-89) did it in 75 games.

FASTEST TO 50 WINS AT UT

John Mauer       50 wins in 69 gamesEmmitt Lowery    50 wins in 72 gamesDon DeVoe        50 wins in 75 gamesRay Mears        50 wins in 78 games

MEMPHIS CONNECTIONS
The Vols have two players from Memphis on this year's team. Tony Harris starred at East High School and will be playing his second game at The Pyramid against the Tigers. Harris scored 18 points in the Vols' 68-66 win at Memphis two years ago, scoring 12 in the second half as UT came back from a 13-point second half deficit.

Freshman guard Terrence Woods will be making his first appearance in a UT uniform before his hometown tonight. Woods was the Memphis city scoring champion last year, averaging 27 points per game last season at Treadwell High School.

Former UT center, Steve Hamer, who is the analyst on Comcast's TV broadcast tonight, is from nearby Grand Junction, and Clarence Swearengen, the Tigers' Administrative Assistant, is a graduate of UT and played for the Vols 1987-89.

HARRIS CARRIES VOLS DOWN THE STRETCH; NOTCHES CAREER ASSIST HIGH
Tony Harris scored two critical 3-point field goals in the final two minutes in Tennessee's 78-77 win over MTSU last week.

Harris, who also dished out a career-high 10 assists against the Blue Raiders, connected on 8-of-13 from the field, including 4-of-7 from long range.

Harris ranks 10th in the SEC in field goal percentage (.466) and fifth in 3-point field goal percentage (.469). In the Vols' last two games, Harris has scored 40 points (20.0), while connecting on 58 percent from the field (14-of-24) and 58 percent from beyond the 3-point arc (7-of-12). He has also dished out 18 assists in those games.

HARRIS LEADS VOLS IN ASSISTS; RANKS SECOND IN SEC
Tony Harris enters tonight's game averaging 7.0 assists per game this season to lead the Vols and rank second in the SEC. Harris recorded a career-high 10 assists in the Vols' 78-77 win over Middle Tennessee last week.

Harris, who has led the Vols in assists the past two seasons, is also one of the SEC's most consistent scoring threats, scoring double figures in 48 of his 65 games in a UT uniform, including seven games this season.

YARBROUGH RANKS HIGH IN SEC STATS
Sophomore forward Vincent Yarbrough leads the Vols in scoring and ranks high in the latest SEC stats in several categories.

Yarbrough's 2.9 steals per game rank first in the SEC, and his 15.9 points per game rank 8th. He also ranks sixth in field goal percentage (.518), seventh in free throw percentage (.844), and eighth in blocked shots (1.5/game).

Yarbrough has scored 89 points (17.8) and has connected on 56.3 percent (31-of-55) from the field in the last five games.

Yarbrough's 25 points Nov. 29 against South Florida was his career scoring high, connecting on 7-of-11 from the field (4-of-7 treys) and 7-of-8 from the free throw line. On the defensive end, he tied his season-high with five steals.

He grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds in the Vols' win over West Virginia Dec. 8. His previous career high was 12 which game in last season's win over Kentucky in Lexington.

Yarbrough had 10 of his rebounds in the first half which matched the team total for West Virginia at halftime.

Yarbrough, a member of last season's SEC All-Freshman Team, has shown improvement over his rookie season so far this year with more aggressive play. He averaged 7.6 points last season after a stellar high school career at nearby Cleveland High.

VICTOR LEADS VOLS IN REBOUNDING; RANKS SIXTH IN SEC
Isiah Victor leads the Vols in rebounding this season, entering tonight's game averaging 8.3 per game. Victor currently ranks eighth in the SEC in rebounding.

Victor, who is averaging 13.4 points per game, has reached double figures in scoring in the six of the Vols eight outings.

Victor has gotten off to a quick start this season with two double-doubles to his credit so far and 10 for his career.

BLACK RANKS AS UT CAREER BLOCKED SHOT LEADER; VOLS/BLACK LEAD SEC
C.J. Black is Tennessee's all-time leader in blocked shots with 192 after blocking four shots in last week's win against Middle Tennessee. Black became the Vols' all-time leader late last season and began this year with 157.

Black currently leads the SEC in blocked shots this season, averaging 3.6/game. The Vols also currently pace the SEC, averaging 8.3 per game. The Chattanooga senior led the SEC in blocked shots as a sophomore, recording a UT single-season record with 73. The Vols have led the SEC blocked shots the past two seasons and enter tonight's game with 29 swats in eight games. Black has blocked a career-high 5 shots five times during his career, including two games this season.

Black became Tennessee's 32nd member of its 1000-point club earlier this season in the Vols' 78-59 win over Miami (Ohio) Dec. 1.

The Chattanooga senior has been a consistent scoring threat during his career, connecting on 335-of-680 (.493) from the field and 327-of-430 (.760) from the free throw line. He has scored double figures in four of the past six games.

VOLS 27-6 IN NON-CONFERENCE GAMES UNDER GREEN
Tennessee is 27-6 in non-conference games in three years under Jerry Green, including a 2-0 mark against Memphis. Green's Volunteers are 21-0 in home non-conference games since taking over the program before the 1997-98 campaign.

SLAY: PRODUCTIVE OFF BENCH
Freshman forward Ron Slay has been a productive force off the UT bench so far this season. Slay comes into tonight's game ranked fourth on the team in scoring, averaging 10.0 points and is connecting on 51 percent from the field (29-of-57). He ranks eighth in the SEC in free throw percentage (.833).

Slay had an impressive UT debut scoring 17 points off the bench (all in the 2nd half) in the season opener against Elon. The Nashville freshman had knee surgery to remove torn cartilage Nov. 1, missed the Vols' two exhibitions, and was not cleared to play in the season opener until just days before the game.

HAISLIP: HAS NOT MISSED IN 4 GAMES
Marcus Haislip has not missed from the field in the Vols' last four games, connecting on 12-of-12 (3-of-3 treys) over that period.

He scored a career-high 22 points in the Vols' 94-54 victory over West Virginia last week. The freshman from Lewisburg connected on all nine of his shots from the field including two 3-pointers. He also hit both of his free throw attempts. Haislip is also 4-of-4 from the free throw line last four games.

HIGGINS STARTS AT GUARD; RANKS 7TH IN SEC 3-POINTERS
Jon Higgins is the first of a talented Vol freshman class start this season. Higgins has started the Vols' last seven games, replacing Jenis Grindstaff, who suffered a torn ACL in his left knee in the season opener vs. Elon. The Shaker Heights, Ohio, native scored career-high 11 points (4-of-9 FGs, 3-of-6 treys) against South Florida Nov. 29.

He ranks second on the team in three-point FGs made with 16 and is sixth in the SEC in 3-point FGs/game (2.0/game).

HARRIS NAMED TO PRESEASON WOODEN CHECKLIST/ALL-SEC
Tennessee's Tony Harris is one of 25 preseason candidates for the 1999-2000 John R. Wooden Award as the nation's most outstanding college basketball player.

The junior from Memphis was selected as a member of the media's five-man preseason All-SEC squad during the league's annual Media Days Nov. 3-4 along with Auburn's Chris Porter (F) and Doc Robinson (G), Florida's Mike Miller (F) and Jamaal Magloire (C) of Kentucky. Porter was the media's choice for player of the year honors.

VOLS LEAD SEC IN THREE-POINT FG% AND ASSISTS
Tennessee is leading the SEC in 3-point field goal percentage, connecting on 43 percent (76-of-179) from beyond the arc. The Vols rank second in the league in 3-point field goals per game, averaging 9.5.

The Vols enter tonight's game ranked No. 1 in assists (18.8/game), third in scoring (86.0) and second in scoring margin (+24.0/game).

GRINDSTAFF HAS SURGERY
Jenis Grindstaff, who opened the season in the Vols' starting lineup at shooting guard, had successful knee surgery Dec. 14 to repair a torn ACL in his left knee. Grindstaff injured the knee in the season opener against Elon after playing just 14 minutes. He transferred to Tennessee prior to last season after earning All-Freshman honors at Virginia Tech in 1997-98.

ORANGE SLICES
The Vols travel to San Juan to participate in the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic Dec. 21-23. The Vols open against the host team American University-Puerto Rico Dec. 21 in a 6:30 p.m. (EST) tipoff. UT's next home game is Jan. 2 against Radford at Thompson-Boling Arena (2 p.m.).

Probable Starters

TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS (8-0)Pos.    No. Name               Ht   Cl  Hometown           PPG  RPGF   22  Vincent Yarbrough  6-7  So. Cleveland          15.9 6.0F   44  Isiah Victor       6-9  Jr. Hopkinsville, Ky.      12.2 8.1C   43  C.J. Black     6-8  Sr. Chattanooga         7.9 7.2G   42  Jon Higgins    6-3  Fr. Shaker Heights, Ohio    7.1 3.9G   14  Tony Harris    6-0  Jr. Memphis                15.6 2.1MEMPHIS TIGERS (4-4*)Pos.    No. Name            Ht  Cl  Hometown            PPG RPGF   14  Paris London    6-8 So. Memphis, Tenn.           7.0    5.9F   40  Shannon Forman  6-5 Jr. Baton Rouge, La.     6.4    4.2C   45  Kelly Wise  6-10    So. Fort Walton Beach, Fla. 12.4    9.0G   5   Courtney Trask  6-3 Fr. Baton Rouge, La.     5.1    1.6G   32  Marcus Moody    6-5 Jr. Memphis, Tenn.          13.8    3.5* Memphis plays at Arkansas State Dec. 16

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