University of Tennessee Athletics
Tennessee vs. Campbell - Game Preview
December 21, 2004 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 21, 2004
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| Campbell Camels vs. Tennessee Volunteers
RADIO
TV LIVE STATS RANKINGS: THE COACHES: Campbell Camels
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Tennessee Trends
- Tennessee is playing the second game of a four-game home stand before opening conference play. The Vols host Belmont (Dec. 20), Campbell (Dec. 23), Nebraska (Dec. 30) and Coastal Carolina (Jan. 2) before opening SEC play at Georgia (Jan. 5).
- The Vols are in a stretch where they play eight of nine games at home. UT's only road game during the month of December was a visit to New Mexico on the 18th.
- After shooting 42.5 percent from the field and 38.2 percent from 3-point range in their first five games, the Vols are shooting 54.3 percent (94-of-173) from the field and converting 44.4 percent (24-of-54) of their 3-point attempts over their last four games.
- Brandon Crump needs two blocked shots for 100 rejections in his career.
- Chris Lofton is second on the team in field goal percentage (57.8 percent) despite 76 percent of his field goals this season having been 3-pointers. He leads the nation by shooting 62.2 percent from 3-point range.
- Lofton has made 17 of his last 21 (62.9 percent) field goals and 11 of 14 (78.6 percent) 3-pointers.
- Lofton tied a school record for single-game 3-point percentage by going 5-for-5 from 3-point range at New Mexico (12/18/04). He tied the mark set by Shane Carnes (5-for-5 against Michigan State on Dec. 20, 1994) and Thaydeus Holden (5-for-5 against Vanderbilt on Jan. 18, 2003).
- Tennessee's 70.0 percent (7-of-10) 3-point shooting against Xavier (12/11/04) established a new school record for 3-point success. It broke the record of 64.3 percent (9-of-14) set Jan. 27, 1992 against a North Carolina State team on which Buzz Peterson was an assistant coach.
- Five of Tennessee's first nine opponents appeared in the 2004 NCAA Tournament. Stanford, North Carolina, Texas, Xavier and Alabama State made NCAA appearances in 2004.
- Brandon Crump became the 37th player in Tennessee history to score 1,000 career points when he reached the mark against UT-Chattanooga (12/5/04). Just the fourth Vol 6-foot-10 or taller with 1,000 points, he currently has 1,072 career tallys.
- UT's starters have accounted for 80.6 percent (514 of 638 points) of the Vols' scoring this season.
- Scooter McFadgon saw his streak of 31 consecutive free throws made come to an end against Xavier. It was the second-longest streak of his career. He had a streak of 32 consecutive free throws last year.
- C.J. Watson's 349 career assists are ninth all-time at Tennessee. He needs three assists to tie Jon Higgins (1999-2003) for eighth all-time.
- Tennessee has an all-time record of 1,336-871-2 in its 96th season of basketball.
- Tennessee returns all five starters and a total of nine letterwinners for the 2005 season. It is the first time that UT has returned all five starters since 1998-99.
- Every statistical category leader from 2004 returns for the 2005 season. The Vols return 88.1 percent of their scoring and 85.5 percent of their rebounding. In fact, UT returns at least 78 percent of its 2004 production in every statistical category.
- Tennessee was one of six teams without a senior in 2003-04. Of those six teams, only Tennessee and Wake Forest received postseason invitations.
- Tennessee has made postseason appearances in six of the last seven seasons. It is the second-best stretch in school history. The Vols made nine postseason appearances in 10 seasons (1976-85), including a stretch of seven in a row (1979-85).
- Freshman Chris Lofton is the third Kentucky Mr. Basketball to sign with the Vols. The 6-foot-3 guard averaged 26.7 points per game for Mason County HS. Allan Houston (1989) and Jermaine Brown (1991) also earned Mr. Basketball honors in the state of Kentucky.
- Freshman guard JaJuan Smith was invited to join the Vols as a walk-on but was awarded a scholarship prior to the start of the season.
- Tennessee needs six home wins this season to reach the 200-win milestone in Thompson-Boling Arena. The Vols are 194-79 in 17 seasons of play in Thompson-Boling Arena. UT, which has averaged 12 home wins in Buzz Peterson's three seasons in Knoxville, has 16 home games on the schedule this year.
| Team Statistical Comparisons | ||
| Tennessee | Stat Category | Campbell |
| 70.9 | Points | 60.4 |
| 71.2 | Opponent Points | 77.0 |
| -0.3 | Scoring Margin | -16.6 |
| .470 | Field Goal % | .415 |
| .448 | Opponent Field Goal % | .506 |
| .402 | Three-Point % | .369 |
| .358 | Opponent Three-Point % | .370 |
| .733 | Free Throw % | .541 |
| 33.4 | Rebounds | 34.0 |
| 31.8 | Opponent Rebounds | 34.9 |
| +1.7 | Rebounding Margin | -0.9 |
| 12.6 | Assists | 9.7 |
| 16.7 | Turnovers | 16.1 |
| 3.8 | Blocks | 0.9 |
| 7.6 | Steals | 6.6 |
| 5-4 | Record | 2-5 |
| Individual Statistical Leaders | ||
| Tennessee | Stat Category | Campbell |
| McFadgon, 15.8 | Points | Atkinson, 10.9 |
| Crump, 6.0 | Rebounds | Poole , 8.9 |
| Watson, 4.9 | Assists | Atkinson, 3.6 |
| Crump, .579 | Field Goal % | Aguiar, .529 |
| Lofton, .622 | Three-Point % | Pringle, .520 |
| McFadgon, .898 | Free Throw % | Pringle, .875 |
Looking At Campbell
Campbell will be looking to end a two-game losing streak when they visit Thompson-Boling Arena Thursday ... The Camels are 2-5 on the season following losses at Florida Atlantic and UCF ... Campbell has played just one home game this season, a 75-62 win over William & Mary Nov. 23 ... The Tennessee game will be their sixth consecutive road game ... Eight of their first nine games are on the road ... Anthony Atkinson, a 5-foot-10 sophomore guard, leads Campbell with 10.9 points and 3.6 assists per game ... Maurice Latham, a 6-foot-6 junior forward, is the only other Camel averaging double figure scoring with 10.4 points per game ... Two Camels are shooting 50 percent or better from behind the 3-point arc ... Ruell Pringle is converting 52.0 percent (13-of-25) of his treys while Atkinson is making 50 percent (14-of-28) of his long-range bombs ... Comerlee Poole, a junior transfer from Olive-Harvey College leads Campbell and ranks second in the Atlantic Sun Conference with 8.9 rebounds per game ... Campbell has lost 37 of its last 38 road games and saw a 35-game road losing streak come to an end Dec. 11 with a 68-67 win at North Carolina A&T ... The Camel roster lists only one senior with two juniors (both of whom are first-year transfers), six sophomores and five freshmen ... Campbell's next game is a Dec. 29 visit to Kentucky's Rupp Arena ... Robbie Laing, a former Auburn assistant coach, is 5-29 in his second season at Campbell and as a Division I head coach.
The Campbell Series
This is the first meeting between Tennessee and Campbell ... Tennessee is 9-4 all-time against teams from the Atlantic Sun Conference ... The Camels are the second consecutive A-Sun opponent the Vols have faced ... Tennessee hosted Belmont Monday.
Campbell Connections
Campbell assistant coach Myron Guillory and Tennessee graduate assistant Jenis Grindstaff started in the same backcourt at Virginia Tech during the 1997-98 season ... Guillory was a senior that season while Grindstaff was a freshman ... Campbell assistant coach Brian Alexander is a 1998 graduate of Mississippi State.
Crump's 22 Points Carries Vols Over Belmont
Tennessee's front court combined for 42 points on 17-of-23 shooting to lead the Vols to a 77-68 victory over Belmont Monday, Dec. 20, at Thompson-Boling Arena ... Senior forward Brandon Crump led the Vols with 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting to go with seven rebounds ... Andre Patterson returned to the starting lineup after a three game absence to add a career-high 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting and seven rebounds ... Junior forward Jemere Hendrix added a career-high eight points ... Chris Lofton continued his hot shooting by making all four of his field goals for 13 points ... Tennessee led by as many as 17 points in the first half but the Bruins closed the half on a 12-3 run to cut the Vols' lead to 35-17 at the break ... Belmont cut the Tennessee lead to 65-63 with 2:43 remaining and trailed by four points with 41 seconds left ... The Vols made 7 of their 8 free throws in the final 41 seconds to seal the win ... Justin Hare led Belmont with 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting while Will Peeples and Jese Snyder each had 11 points ... Tennessee had a season-high 21 turnovers but outrebounded the Bruins 39-21 ... Tennessee was without the services of leading scorer Scooter McFadgon, who was serving a one-game suspension for violation of team rules, and Major Wingate.
Lofton Leading The Nation In 3-Point Percentage
Freshman Chris Lofton arrived on the UT campus with a reputation as an extraordinary 3-point shooter ... Nine games into the season the Maysville, Ky., native has not disappointed ... Lofton's 62.2 percent (28-of-45) 3-point shooting is best in the nation according to the Dec. 20 NCAA Statistics ... Against New Mexico (12/18/04) he tied a school record by going 5-for-5 from 3-point range ... His 12.0 points per game ranks third on the Tennessee roster so far this season ... 75.7 percent (28-of-37) of Lofton's field goals this season have come behind the 3-point line ... His 57.8 percent shooting from the field ranks second on the team ... A guard has not led the Vols in field goal percentage since Bobby Carter's 46.1 percentage (142-of-310) in 1960-61.
Week Focusing On Shot Selection Pays Off
After shooting 40.4 percent (23-of-57) from the field against UT-Chattanooga (12/5/04) Buzz Peterson spent the next week emphasizing shot selection during Tennessee's practices ... That emphasis paid off as in the four games since then the Vols have converted 54.3 percent (94-of-173) of their field goals ... UT set a school record by shooting 70.0 percent (7-of-10) from behind the 3-point arc against the Musketeers (12/11/04) ... Tennessee converted 55.6 percent (25-of-45) of its field goals against Alabama State (12/14/04).
Crump Bounces Back
Brandon Crump's senior season didn't start the way he wanted it to ... After the Vols' first five games he was averaging 8.8 points per game, six points less than he averaged as a junior (14.8 ppg) ... The Houston, Texas, broke out of his early season slump in style with a career-high 26 points on 11-of-14 shooting against Xavier (12/11/04) ... The 26 points were one better than his previous career high that he had accomplished two times (most recently against Mississippi in 2004) ... In his last four games he is averaging 16.8 points on 25-of-36 shooting (69.4 percent).
Milestones For Crump: 1,000 Points and 500 Rebounds Reached This Season
Brandon Crump became the 37th player in Tennessee history to score 1,000 career points when he reached the milestone against UT-Chattanooga (12/5/04) ... He became just the fourth UT player 6-foot-10 or taller to reach the 1,000-point milestone ... The 6-foot-10 senior forward has scored 1,072 points in 97 career games ... He is the first Vol to reach 1,000 career points since Ron Slay accomplished the milestone in the 2002-03 season ... Crump recorded his 500th career rebound against North Carolina (11/23/04) ... He has 549 career rebounds.
Scooter's Free Throw Streak Stops At 31
After missing two free throws in the season-opener against Stanford (11/22/04), Scooter McFadgon went on a streak where he made 31 consecutive free throws without a miss ... The streak came to an end against Xavier (12/11/04) when he went 4-of-6 from the line ... The Memphis native missed two of his first six free throws against the Cardinal but rallied to make his last two attempts to begin the streak ... It was the second-longest streak for him as he had a streak of 32 consecutive free throws made last year ... McFadgon is leading the SEC with his 89.8 percent (44-of-49) shooting from the free throw line this season.
Smith Moving Into Lineup
After playing just 11 minutes in UT's first four games, freshman JaJuan Smith seen his role increase since then ... He has been the first Vol off the bench in each of Tennessee's last two games ... He is averaging 5.0 points in 14 minutes of action over his last two games ... In his first significant action of the young 2004-05 season against UT-Chattanooga (12/5/04) he doubled his previous output on the season with six points on 2-of-2 shooting from 3-point range in 13 minutes against the Mocs.
Patterson's Up To His Old Tricks
Andre Patterson's 5.6 rebounds per game ranks second on the Tennessee team and his 57.1 percent shooting from the field is third on the squad, less than one percentage point behind leader Brandon Crump (57.9 percent) ... The transfer from UCLA, who is in his first season playing for the Vols, led the Bruins and the Pac-10 Conference win a 60.8 field goal percentage in 2002-03 and his 5.5 rebounds also led the team ... The Los Angeles native recorded a career-high 16 points against Belmont (12/20/04).
Hendrix Enjoys Best Game Of Season Against Belmont
Jemere Hendrix recorded a season-highs for scoring (8 points) and rebounding (6 rebounds) coming off the bench in the Vols' win over Belmont (12/20/04) ... The Covington, Ga., native earned three starting assignments for the Vols this year but has found his best success coming off the bench ... In three games as a starter he averaged 1.3 points and 2.0 rebounds while he is averaging 3.0 points and 2.8 rebounds coming off the bench.
Former Vols Earn Degrees
Jon Higgins (1999-2003) and C.J. Black (1996-2000) received their college degrees on Dec. 10, 2004 ... Higgins, who is currently playing professionally in France, received a degree in political science while Black, who has played professionally in the U.S. and Europe, received an interdisciplinary studies - urban studies degree as a part of Tennessee's Renewing Academic Commitments (RAC) program.
New Faces Contributing Early
Newcomers Andre Patterson, a 6-foot-7 junior transfer from UCLA, and Chris Lofton, a freshman guard from Maysville, Ky., have been in the starting lineup for most of Tennessee's games early this season ... Lofton leads the Vols in 3-point shooting (27-of-44 for 61.4 percent) and is second on the team with 11.9 points per game ... Patterson is second on the team in rebounding with 5.4 rebounds per game ... Freshman guard Jordan Howell has given the Vols an outside shooting presence coming off the bench to average 9.5 minutes per game ... JaJuan Smith, a freshman from Decatur, Tenn., has seen action in seven games.
Vols Enjoy Success On And Off The Court In Hawaii
Tennessee's win over Stanford in the first round of the EA SPORTS Maui Invitational isn't the Vols' only victory in Hawaii so far ... Pee-Wee Gash was the champion of the EA SPORTS March Madness 2005 video game tournament Saturday, Nov. 20 ... Gash defeated North Carolina's Rashad McCants in the finals ... Buzz Peterson, along with a local youth, won a free throw shooting contest that featured the tournaments head coaches Sunday, Nov. 21 ... Peterson made all 10 of his attempts in the two rounds of the competition ... The event was to raise money for local Maui schools.
Vols Trio Earn Coaches Preseason All-SEC Honors
Tennessee was one of three SEC teams to have three players selected to the inaugural SEC men's preseason All-SEC first and second teams that were selected by the league's coaches ... Senior guard Scooter McFadgon was a first team selection while senior forward Brandon Crump and junior guard C.J. Watson were second team picks.
Crump, McFadgon & Watson Named Tri-Captains
Seniors Brandon Crump and Scooter McFadgon along with junior C.J. Watson have been named team captains for the 2004-05 season ... It is the first captaincy appointment for McFadgon while Crump and Watson were also captains last season ... In 95 years of Tennessee basketball prior to this season, only four players had been two-time captains ... V.H. Klein (1913-14), Harry Anderson (1935-36), Garland O'Shields (1945-46) and Johnny Darden (1978-79) are the only other Vols to serve two terms as captain.
Crump Attending Graduate School
Senior forward Brandon Crump received a degree in sport management in May 2004 and is currently pursuing a master's degree ... A true scholar-athlete, he ranked second on the team with 14.8 points per game while leading the Vols with 6.8 rebounds per game in 2004 ... In the classroom, he was named to the 2003-04 SEC Winter Academic Honor Roll and was selected as the Edamerica Scholar-Athlete of the month in February 2004.
Scooter Looks To Build On Free Throw Shooting
Scooter McFadgon broke one of Tennessee's oldest records last year when his 91.2 percent shooting at the free throw line dispatched a school record that had stood since 1969 ... The Memphis native connected on 134 of his 147 free throw attempts to lead the SEC and rank fifth in the nation ... His free throw success rate was the second-best in SEC history ... This year he enters his senior season as the league's second-leading returning scorer with 17.6 points per game ... Only Florida's Anthony Roberson averaged more points with 17.9.
What Returns
Who could blame Buzz Peterson for being excited when he looks at what is back from last year's team ... The Vols return an unprecedented amount of their production from last season's squad ... UT returns all five starters and a total of nine letterwinners from last year's squad ... In fact, nearly 80 percent of every statistical category returns from 2003-04 ... A total of 88.1 percent of UT's scoring is back from a team that averaged 71.1 points per game ... 85.5 percent of the team's rebounding returns and 83.0 percent of the Vols' assists are also back.
Home Court Advantage
Thompson-Boling Arena has provided the Vols with a definite home court advantage since the facility opened in time for the 1987-88 season.
- Tennessee is 194-79 (.711) in its 18th season in Thompson-Boling Arena.
- Since the 1998 season, the Vols are 95-20 (.826) in Thompson-Boling Arena.
- Tennessee is 81-18 (.818) since the 1999 season at home. UT recorded a 14-1 record in 1999, a 15-1 mark in 2000, 12-3 in 2001, 10-4 in 2002, 12-5 in 2003 and 14-3 in 2004.
- The Vols are 43-14 against SEC teams at home over the last six seasons.
- UT has won 58 of its last 64 home games against non-conference opponents.
Vols Sign Three In Early Period
Buzz Peterson announced that three players signed national letters of intent to play basketball at the University of Tennessee in the November signing period.
- Tyler Smith, a 6-foot-7, 230-pound forward from Pulaski, Tenn., was selected as one of the top 10 high school players in the nation when Street & Smith's named him a second team selection on the 2004 Boys High School All-America Team. As a junior at Giles County High School the first team all-state selection averaged 24 points, nine rebounds and five assists while leading the Bobcats to the state tournament. As a sophomore he earned tournament MVP honors after leading Giles County to a state championship. Rated a four-star prospect by Rivals.com, he was named the MVP of the all-star game at the adidas Superstar camp last summer in Atlanta.
- Matthew Dotson, a 6-foot-8, 210-pound forward from Centerville, Tenn., is rated a three-star prospect by Rivals.com. He was named the Class 3A Player of the Year for Hickman County High School's district last year. A big man who has a deft outside shooting touch that extends beyond the 3-point arc, he averaged 23 points and 14.5 rebounds as a junior.
- Damion Harris, a 6-foot-10, 275-pound center from Greenville, S.C., was a Class AAA All-State selection at Wade Hampton High School last season. As a senior in 2003-04 he led the Generals to the state tournament and as a junior he averaged 16 points, 14 rebounds and 6.5 blocks in leading Wade Hampton to the Class AAA Upper State finals. He first signed with the Vols last year, but is spending the 2004-05 season playing for Prince Avenue Prep in Pickens, S.C.
Preseason Honors & Predictions
| Team Predictions | |
| SEC Media | 3rd/SEC East |
| Athlon Sports | 3rd/SEC East |
| Street & Smith's | 3rd/SEC East |
| Basketball Time In TN | 3rd/SEC East |
| Lindy's Basketball | 3rd/SEC East |
| Blue Ribbon | 4th/SEC East |
| The Sporting News | 4th/SEC East |
| Basketball News | 4th/SEC East |
| Postseason Predictions | |
| Athlon Sports | NCAA Tournament |
| Basketball News | NCAA Tournament |
| Lindy's Basketball | NCAA Tournament |
| Individual Predictions | |
| Scooter McFadgon | First Team All-SEC (SEC Coaches) |
| First Team All-SEC (SEC Media) | |
| First Team All-SEC (Athlon Sports) | |
| First Team All-SEC (Basketball News) | |
| First Team All-SEC (Blue Ribbon CBY) | |
| Second Team All-SEC (The Sporting News) | |
| Second Team All-SEC (Lindy's Basketball) | |
| No. 9 "Slasher" nationally (Athlon Sports) | |
| No. 15 "SG" nationally (Lindy's Basketball) | |
| No. 16 "SG" nationally (The Sporting News) | |
| SEC's "Most Entertaining" (Lindy's Basketball) | |
| C.J. Watson | Second Team All-SEC (SEC Coaches) |
| Third Team All-SEC (Athlon Sports) | |
| SEC's "Best Playmaker" (The Sporting News) | |
| SEC's "Best Passer" (Street & Smith's) | |
| SEC's "Top Playmaker" (Lindy's Basketball) | |
| Brandon Crump | Second Team All-SEC (SEC Coaches) |
| Third Team All-SEC (Athlon Sports) | |
| Third Team All-SEC (Lindy's Basketball) | |
| Andre Patterson | No. 7 "Top Transfer" nationally (Lindy's Basketball) |
| Top Transfer (Athlon Sports) | |
| Top Transfer (Basketball News) | |
| SEC's "Best Transfer" (Street & Smith's) | |
| Chris Lofton | Top 100 Freshmen (Street & Smith's) |
