TENNESSEE VS. LSU -- GAME PREVIEW

January 12, 2006 | Men's Basketball

Jan. 12, 2006

QUICK FACTS

LSU Tigers
vs. Tennessee Volunteers

Game 13

Date: Jan. 14, 2006

Tipoff: 8 p.m. (EST)

Television: FOX Sports Net/Sunshine

Tickets: $17 & $19 by phone at 1-800-960-8587 or Click Here

Site: Pete Maravich Assembly Center (14,164)

The 2005-06 Records

LSU: 9-5, 1-0 SEC

Tennessee: 11-1, 2-0 SEC

The Series

Overall: UT leads 54-40

at Baton Rouge: LSU leads 23-21

at Knoxville: UT leads 26-15

at Neutral Sites: UT leads 7-2

Current Win Streak: UT one game

Last 10 Meetings: UT 8-2

Next Game

Jan. 18 at Memphis 8 p.m. ET on CSTV
Tickets: $18 by phone at 1-888-867-8636 or Click Here

RADIO:
Vol Network: Bob Kesling and Bert Bertlekamp
Listen to Vol Network Broadcast
SIRIUS: Channel 107 (LSU Broadcast)

TELEVISION:
FOX Sports Net/Sunshine: Ron Thulin and Eddie Fogler

LIVE STATS:
Live Stats

RANKINGS:
Associated Press Poll
Tennessee: not ranked / LSU: not ranked
ESPN/USA Today-Coaches Poll
Tennessee: not ranked / LSU: not ranked

THE COACHES:
Tennessee Volunteers
Bruce Pearl (Boston College 1982)
Overall Record: 328-85 (.794 / 14th year)
At Tennessee: 11-1 (.917 / 1st year)
2005-06 Roster
2005-06 Schedule
2005-06 Statistics

LSU Tigers
John Brady (Belhaven 1976)
Overall Record: 238-184 (.564 / 15th year)
At LSU: 149-107 (.582 / 9th year)
2005-06 Roster
2005-06 Schedule
2005-06 Statistics

FEATURES

Probable Starters
TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS (11-1, 2-0 SEC)
Pos	No.	Name	Ht	Wt	Yr	Hometown	PPG	RPG	APG
F	3	Stanley Asumnu	6-5	215	Sr.	Houston, Texas	9.2	3.0	1.8
F	23	Dane Bradshaw	6-4	200	Jr.	Memphis, Tenn.	6.2	6.3	4.6
C	1	Major Wingate	6-10	250	Jr.	Florence, S.C.	11.8	4.0	1.0
G	5	Chris Lofton	6-2	197	So.	Maysville, Ky.	16.8	3.3	2.1
G	32	C.J. Watson	6-2	176	Sr.	Las Vegas, Nev.	16.8	3.4	4.3

LSU TIGERS (9-5, 1-0 SEC)
Pos	No.	Name	Ht	Wt	Yr	Hometown	PPG	RPG	APG
F	0	Glen Davis	6-9	310	So.	Baton Rouge, La.	17.6	9.6	1.9
F	12	Tyrus Thomas	6-9	215	Fr.	Baton Rouge, La.	13.9	10.1	1.8
G	22	Darrel Mitchell	5-11	178	Sr.	Martinville, La.	17.4	3.9	4.8
G	14	Garrett Temple	6-5	176	Fr.	Baton Rouge, La.	4.1	2.8	2.4
G	1	Tasmin Mitchell	6-7	230	Fr.	Denham Springs, La.	11.7	6.2	2.5

Tennessee Heads To The Bayou To Face LSU

C.J. Watson

Tennessee opens a two-game road trip on Saturday, Jan. 14, when the Volunteers travel to Baton Rouge, La., to meet the LSU Tigers. Fox Sports Net will televise the game which tips off at 8 p.m. (EST). After the LSU game, UT will take a break from SEC action when the Vols visit Memphis on Jan. 18.
The Vols became just the third SEC school to win 600 all-time conference games when they defeated Georgia 89-76 Wednesday night in Knoxville. The Vols, who have an all-time record of 600-480 in SEC play, were led by C.J. Watson's 20 points, nine rebounds, six assists and five steals. JaJuan Smith came off the bench to tie his career-high with 16 points while Dane Bradshaw added eight rebounds, eight assists, a block and a steal.
Tennessee is off to its best start in five years with an 11-1 record entering the LSU game. It is the best beginning to a season since the 2000-01 squad was 11-1 through its first 12 games. It is the ninth time in school history that the Vols have won at least 11 games in their first 12 outings.
JaJuan Smith has been a spark for the Vols coming off the bench this season. The sophomore has been the first Vol off the bench in every game and is averaging 12.6 points his last five games.
The Vols are led by their backcourt of Chris Lofton and C.J. Watson. The duo are tied for fourth in the SEC with 16.8 points per game. Lofton is, once again, one of the top 3-point shooters in the nation, making 3.83 triples per game and shooting 47.4 percent behind the arc. Watson, who is shooting 53.4 percent from the field this season, is second in the SEC with 2.58 steals per game.

Tennessee Trends

Tennessee is off to its best start through 12 games since the 2000-01 squad posted a 11-1 record. The 2000-01 squad went on to win 17 of its first 18 games.
UT's 11-1 start is tied for the second-best start in school history through 12 games. It is the eighth time the Vols have started 11-1 through 12 games. The best start in school history was in 1915-16 when the Vols posted a 12-0 record on the season.
C.J. Watson made his 100th career start against Georgia (1/11/06). He has a streak of 76 consecutive starts.
UT has had rallied to overcome deficits of nine points or more three times. South Carolina (1/8/06) led by as many as 15 points in the second half before the Vols came back to win 76-69 in Columbia.
Tennessee has had two home crowds in excess of 20,000 already this year. The season-opener against East Tennessee State (11/18/05) drew a crowd of 21,280 and the SEC home-opener against Georgia (1/11/06) saw 21,612 fans come to Thompson-Boling Arena.
Four Vols rank in the top 10 in the SEC in steals. C.J. Watson ranks second (2.58 spg), Chris Lofton is third (2.33 spg), Dane Bradshaw is sixth (1.92 spg) and JaJuan Smith is 10th (1.67 spg).
Dane Bradshaw leads the SEC in assist-to-turnover ratio with 2.93 assists for every turnover.
The Vols have recorded at least 10 steals in seven of their last eight games.
Tennessee is getting an average of 23.6 points per game from its bench. The Vols' bench has contributed 283 points in 12 games this season.
The Vols have scored 80 or more points eight times this season.
C.J. Watson is leading the SEC with his 87.5 (70-of-80) free throw percentage. Watson entered the season with a career average of 73.3 percent.
UT has recorded twice as many steals as its opponents. The Vols have 132 steals compared to just 66 by their opponents.
Tennessee's opponents are averaging 20.3 turnovers per game this year. East Tennessee State's (11/18/05) 33 turnovers are the most by a UT opponent since American-Puerto Rico (12/21/99) turned the ball over 40 times. Seven times this season UT's opponents have turned the ball over at least 20 times.
UT has shot better than its opponent in nine of its 12 games this season. The only opponents to have a better field goal percentage than the Vols are Murray State (11/30/05), Oklahoma State (12/22/05) and South Carolina (1/8/06).
Tennessee has shot 50 percent or better from the field in seven of 12 games.
The Vols are playing with just 10 scholarship players this season. UT's roster lists 11 scholarship players but Tony Passley will sit out the season under NCAA transfer guidelines.
Not only is UT's roster short on scholarship players but it is also short on size. Tennessee's roster lists just four scholarship players -- Andre Patterson (6-7), Ryan Childress (6-9), Damion Harris (6-10) and Major Wingate (6-10) -- taller than 6-foot-5.
Six walk-ons are listed on the Vols' roster. Eddie DeBro is the only returning walk-on while Ben Bosse, Jonah Cox, Justin Jackson, Jordan Smith and Tanner Wild are each in their rookie season with the squad.
The basketball court at Thompson-Boling Arena has been named "The Summitt" in honor of Pat Summitt, who recorded her 882nd career win in 2005.
Tennessee has an all-time record of 1,356-885-2 in its 97th season of basketball.
UT's 600 regular season Southeastern Conference victories rank third all-time in the SEC. Only Kentucky and Alabama have won more league games.
Tennessee is 208-84 in its 19th season in Thompson-Boling Arena. The Volunteers have posted winning home records in 16 of their 18 previous seasons in the facility.

Team Statistical Comparisons
Tennessee	Stat Category	LSU
84.7	Points	77.4
71.5	Opponent Points	63.4
+13.2	Scoring Margin	+14.0
.488	Field Goal %	.479
.462	Opponent Field Goal %	.388
.427	Three-Point %	.298
.404	Opponent Three-Point %	.354
.689	Free Throw %	.655
32.8	Rebounds	45.1
36.1	Opponent Rebounds	30.2
-3.3	Rebounding Margin	+14.9
18.7	Assists	16.9
12.2	Turnovers	16.4
11.0	Steals	8.1
3.8	Blocks	6.7
11-1, 2-0 SEC	Record	9-5, 1-0 SEC
Individual Statistical Leaders
Tennessee	Stat Category	LSU
Watson/Lofton, 16.8	Points	Davis, 17.6
Bradshaw, 6.3	Rebounds	Thomas, 10.1
Bradshaw, 4.6	Assists	Mitchell, 4.8
Wingate, .538	Field Goal %	Thomas, .617
Watson, .477	Three-Point %	Mitchell, .416
Watson, .875	Free Throw %	Mitchell, .720

Looking At LSU
LSU improved to 9-5 on the season and 1-0 in SEC action with a 63-58 win at Arkansas Wednesday ... Tasmin Mitchell led the Tigers with 19 points while Tyrus Thomas added 13 points and 14 rebounds ... The Tigers have played a difficult road schedule, winning at No. 13 West Virginia (71-68 in overtime) and dropping games at No. 21 Ohio State (76-78) and No. 2 Connecticut (66-67) ... LSU's five losses have been by a combined 11 points ... LSU leads the nation in rebounding margin (+14.9) and ranks second in the SEC in blocked shots (6.71 bpg) ... Thomas, a 6-foot-9 freshman forward, is averaging a double-double with an SEC-best 10.1 rebounds per game to go with 13.9 points ... The freshman also leads the league in field goal percentage (.617) and is second in blocked shots (2.86 bpg) ... Glen Davis, a 6-9, 310-pound sophomore forward, ranks second in the SEC in scoring with 17.6 points per game and is third in the league in rebounds with 9.6 ... A preseason first team All-SEC selection by the league's coaches and a preseason Naismith Award candidate, Davis leads the conference with 4.14 offensive rebounds per game ... Darrel Mitchell, a 5-11 senior guard, ranks third in the SEC with 17.4 points per game and is fifth in assists with 4.79 dimes ... LSU's starting lineup features three freshman, a sophomore and a senior ...At least one player has registered double-figure rebounds in 13 of LSU's 14 games ... Tack Minor, a junior guard, is out for the season after suffering a left meniscus tear after playing just three games this season ... John Brady is 149-107 in his ninth season at LSU and 238-184 in his 15th year as a head coach.

The LSU Series
Tennessee leads the all-time series 54-40 ... The Vols own a 26-15 advantage when playing in Knoxville ... Tennessee is 21-23 all-time when playing LSU in Baton Rouge ... UT won last year's meeting in Knoxville 77-55 ... Tennessee has won nine of the last 11 games in the series but the Tigers have won two of the last three meetings... The series dates back to the 1933 season when the two teams met in the second round of the SEC Tournament in Atlanta ... UT and LSU have played each other eight times in the SEC Tournament with the Vols winning six of those meetings.

Last Meeting With LSU
Tennessee went with a small lineup against much bigger LSU and earned a 77-55 victory over the Tigers on Saturday, Feb. 5, 2005 ... The Vols' starting lineup listed just one player taller than 6-foot-5 and did not include the team's leading scorer ... Meanwhile the Tigers boasted a front line that included 6-foot-8, 252-pound forward Brandon Bass and 6-foot-9, 310-pound forward Glen Davis ... A Chris Lofton 3-pointer gave the Vols a 3-0 lead and Tennessee never looked back ... All the closer LSU got was when Tack Minor hit jumper to make the score 3-2 ... The Vols led by as many as 16 in the first half but LSU went on a 9-0 to cut the lead to 40-33 at halftime ... UT stayed in control of the game in the second half building their lead to 60-46 on a 3-pointer by C.J. Watson with 11:04 remaining ... The Tigers fought back, cutting the lead to 62-55 on a Bass jumper with 5:50 left but weren't able to score again as the Vols finished the game on a 15-0 run ... Watson led all scorers with 18 points to go with six assists and three steals ... Watson hit back-to-back 3-pointers to start UT's 15-0 run to end the game ... Andre Patterson recorded his second career double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds ... Scooter McFadgon came off the bench for the first time all season to contribute 12 points ... Davis, who was saddled with foul trouble early in the game and eventually fouled out with 4:32 remaining in the contest, led the Tigers with 17 points and 13 rebounds ... Antonio Hudson had 13 points while Bass, who also struggled with foul trouble, added a dozen points.

Did You Know?
The Maravich Center is serving as one of two home courts for the New Orleans Hornets this season ... The Hornets' other home court is the Ford Center in Oklahoma City ... Tennessee is the only college basketball team scheduled to play on both of the NBA team's home courts this season ... The Vols played Oklahoma State at the Ford Center on Dec. 22.

Last Game: Packed House Sees UT Beat Georgia
More than 21,000 fans came to see the Vols' SEC home-opener against Georgia on a Wednesday night in Thompson-Boling Arena ... The crowd of 21,612 wasn't disappointed as UT improved to 11-1 on the season and 2-0 in SEC play with an 89-76 victory over the Bulldogs ... Tennessee took a 40-36 halftime lead despite 57.7 percent shooting from the field and 57.1 percent shooting from behind the 3-point arc by the Bulldogs ... In the second half it was Tennessee that was hot from the field, shooting 53.3 percent from the field while scoring 49 points ... C.J. Watson put on a show with 20 points, nine rebounds, six assists, five steals and just two turnovers in 31 minutes of action ... The senior point guard made 5-of-6 field goals and 9-of-10 free throws in leading the Vols ... JaJuan Smith came off the bench to tie a career-high with 16 points ... Chris Lofton scored all of his 16 points in the second half ... Major Wingate added 14 points and six rebounds ... Dane Bradshaw had eight assists, eight rebounds, a block and a steal ... Sundiata Gaines led Georgia with 17 points while Channing Toney and Mike Mercer each had 15 ... Tennessee had 13 steals off 22 Georgia turnovers ... It was the 600th all-time SEC win for the Vols.

UT Wins 600th SEC Game
Tennessee won its 600th all-time Southeastern Conference game with an 89-76 victory over Georgia (1/11/06) ... In their 73rd season of SEC play, the Vols have posted a 600-480 mark in league games ... Only Kentucky (823) and Alabama (675) have won more SEC games.

Watson Dishes Out 500th Career Assist
Senior guard C.J. Watson became just the fourth player in Tennessee history to record 500 career assists when he reached the milestone against South Alabama (1/4/06) ... The Las Vegas native has recorded 512 assists in 101 career games ... Watson, who also has 1,167 career points, joins Tony Harris (1998-01) as the only players in school history to have 1,000 career points and 500 assists ... Watson is just the ninth player in Southeastern Conference history to be a member of the 1,000/500 club.

Watson's 512 career assists rank third all-time in Tennessee history. He needs 14 assists to pass Rodney Woods (525 from 1972-75) for second on UT's career lists.
His 512 career assists are 15th on the SEC's career lists. Mississippi State's Derrick Zimmerman (514 from 2000-03) ranks 14th and UT's Rodney Woods (525 from 1972-75) is 13th all-time in SEC history.

Volunteer Bombardiers
While Chris Lofton has bogarted much of the attention as a dangerous 3-point shooter, he is not the only member of Tennessee's squadron of long-range bombers ... Lofton, C.J. Watson and JaJuan Smith have formed to make one of the most dangerous shooting backcourts in the nation ... The trio have combined to make 91 3-pointers in 12 games this season ... UT leads the SEC and ranks eighth in the nation with 9.08 3-pointers per game ... The Vols are making 42.7 percent of their 3s, a figure that ranks first in the SEC and fourth nationally.
Lofton is leading the SEC and ranks third in the nation with 3.83 triples per game. He is shooting 47.4 percent (46-of-97) from behind the arc.
Watson has improved upon his 37.5 percent shooting last season to convert 47.7 (21-of-44) of his 3-pointers this year. His 1.75 triples per game are 10th in the SEC.
Smith has given the Vols a huge scoring boost coming off the bench. He is second on the team with 24 3-pointers on the season and ranks seventh in the SEC with his 42.1 3-point percentage.

Lofton, Watson and Smith are not the only 3-point bombers on the Vols' roster. Jordan Howell has made 57.1 percent (8-of-14) of his 3-point attempts this season. Dane Bradshaw has shown a propensity for hitting the big 3-point shot like when he sealed UT's win at South Carolina (1/8/06).

Improved Vols

Player	2005 Pts	2006 Pts	Differential
Smith	1.9	9.1	+7.2 ppg
Asumnu	2.4	9.2	+6.8 ppg
Wingate	5.0	11.8	+6.8 ppg
Watson	11.9	16.8	+4.9 ppg
Lofton	13.2	16.8	+3.6 ppg
Bradshaw	3.0	6.2	+3.2 ppg
Patterson	7.4	9.8	+2.4 ppg
Howell	1.1	2.5	+1.4 ppg

Several Vols have seen their offensive production increase exponentially this season ... Three key players have passed their scoring totals from all of last season already ... Stanley Asumnu scored 63 points in 26 games last year as a junior, this year it took him just seven games to pass his scoring total from a season ago ... JaJuan Smith needed eight games to surpass his 2005 scoring total of 48 points (he scored 62 points in his first eight contests this season) ... Jordan Howell, who scored 21 points in 19 games last season, reached the 21-point mark after just eight games this year ... Following is a list of players who have seen increased scoring totals this year:

Crowded House
The crowds at Tennessee's home games this season have increased by more than 3,000 fans per game over last season.

Tennessee ranks second in the SEC in home attendance with an average of 15,570. Kentucky leads the league with 21,934.
The Vols' attendance of 15,570 this season is an increase of 3,120 fans per game over last year's average of 12,450 per game.
The 21,280 fans in attendance for the Vols' season-opening win over East Tennessee State (11/18/05) was the fourth-largest crowd to see a season-opener in school history.
Two of the largest holiday crowds (games between Dec. 20 and Jan. 4) in school history came to see the Vols play. Against Lipscomb (12/29/05) 15,967 fans were in attendance and against Alabama A&M (12/27/05) 15, 797 fans came to see the Vols.

A Band Of Thieves
Tennessee's pressure defense has given its opponents all kinds of trouble this season as the Vols' opponents are averaging 20.3 turnovers per game this year.
UT leads the SEC in steals (11.00 spg) and turnover margin (+8.08).
Four Vols rank in the top 10 in the SEC in steals. C.J. Watson ranks second (2.58 spg), Chris Lofton is third (2.33 spg), Dane Bradshaw is sixth (1.92 spg) and JaJuan Smith is 10th (1.67 spg).
Bradshaw leads the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.93) while Watson is fifth (2.17).
The Vols have had more assists than turnovers in 11 of their 12 games this year.
On the season, UT has 224 assists to 146 turnovers (1.53 assists-to-turnovers).
Conversely, the Vols' opponents have had more turnovers than assists in nine of 12 games (0.75 assists-to-turnovers).

Vols In The NCAA Stats
Tennessee is prominently listed among the national leaders according to the Jan. 9 NCAA statistics. Following is where the Vols rank nationally:
Scoring offense: 84.3 ppg / 4th
3-point percentage: 43.2 percent / 4th
3-pointers per game: 9.3 3pg / 8th
Steals per game: 10.8 spg / 9th
Assists per game: 18.5 apg / 11th
Turnovers per game: 12.1 tpg / 14th
Field goal percentage: 48.7 percent / 23rd
Scoring margin: +13.2 ppg / 29th
3-pointers per game: Chris Lofton - 4.0 3pg / 3rd
3-point percentage: Chris Lofton - 48.4% / 12th
FT percentage: C. J. Watson - 87.1 % / 46th
Steals per game: Chris Lofton - 2.5 spg / 41st
Steals per game: C.J. Watson - 2.4 spg / 48th

Las Vegas Dealer: Watson Deals Assists
One could only dream of sitting down at a blackjack table and seeing a dealer as friendly as Tennessee's point guard C.J. Watson ... The senior from Las Vegas has dealt nothing but aces and face cards while running the Vols' attack ... Twice he has led the Southeastern Conference in assists and this year he has taken on a larger scoring role while also dishing out the assists ... This year the 6-foot-2 Watson is averaging 16.8 points and 4.3 assists per game.
In 2004-05 (5.00 apg) and 2002-03 (5.44 apg) he led the SEC in assists against league opponents.
Watson owns three of the top 13 single-season assist marks in Tennessee history.
Watson is the Southeastern Conference's active career leader in assists with 512.
His 512 career assists are third all-time at UT.
He ranks 15th in SEC history in assists with 512.
Watson's 4.33 assists per game are currently eighth in the SEC.

Watson Reaches 1,000 Points In Unique Way
C.J. Watson became the 38th player in Tennessee history to reach the 1,000 career point milestone in a 17-point outing against Louisiana-Lafayette (11/22/05) ... Watson, who now has 1,167 career points, reached the milestone when he was fouled on a made 3-pointer and then scored his 1,000th point on the free throw.

Lofton Is A Triples Threat
Chris Lofton, a 6-foot-2 sophomore, took the SEC by storm as a freshman by leading the league in 3-point percentage (.465) and 3-pointers made per game (3.00 3pg) ... He ranked fourth nationally in 3-point accuracy on his way to earning a spot on the SEC All-Freshman team ... His 93 3-pointers were the most ever by an SEC freshman.
He ranks fourth in the SEC with 16.8 points per game and is third in the league with 2.33 steals per game.
With 46 3-pointers already this season, Lofton ranks eighth on Tennessee's career lists with 139.
He is currently leading the Southeastern Conference with 3.83 3-pointers per game.
Against Murray State (11/30/05) he scored 12 consecutive points to help the Vols rally to a 64-53 win.
Two times this season he has made six 3-pointers in a game. He had six against East Tennessee State (11/18/05) and at South Carolina (1/8/06).

Bradshaw Playing Power/Point
With only four scholarship players taller than 6-foot-5 on the roster, junior guard Dane Bradshaw has been called upon to play big, quite literally ... The 6-4 backup point guard has earned starting assignments at power forward for each of the Vols' games this year ... Playing in the paint isn't anything new for the Memphis native ... In 2005 he drew difficult defensive assignments by guarding 6-8, 252-pound Brandon Bass against LSU (2/5/05) and 6-10 Jermareo Davidson of Alabama (2/9/05).
He recorded a career game against East Tennessee State (11/18/05) with 13 points and 12 rebounds to go with six assists.
Bradshaw is leading in rebounding (6.3 rpg) and assists (4.6 apg) and is third in steals (1.9 spg) and blocks (0.6 bpg).
His assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.93 leads the SEC.
His 1.92 steals per game are eighth in the SEC.
His 4.58 assists per game are seventh in the SEC.
Five times this season he has led the Vols in rebounding, including a career-high 12 boards against ETSU (11/18/05).
Seven times he has led UT in assists, including a career-high eight against South Alabama (1/4/06) and Georgia (1/11/06).
Against South Alabama (1/4/06) he recorded a career-high eight assists while gathering five rebounds, scoring six points and making three steals.
He had a streak of 181 minutes (seven games) without a turnover come to an end in the first half of the Vols' game against Georgia (1/11/06). During the streak, which started in the first half of the Appalachian State (12/6/05) game, he recorded 34 assists.

Wingate Stepping Up In The Paint
Major Wingate wasn't going to let anything stop him from playing against Louisiana-Lafayette on Nov. 22 ... After suffering a foot injury in practice two days earlier that left him on crutches, Wingate spent the next two nights in the training room rehabbing the injury so he could play ... When it came time to play, Wingate was there standing in the center circle ready for the jump ball ... The junior from Florence, S.C., scored 12 points and blocked three shots in 28 minutes of action against the Ragin' Cajuns ... Defensively, he held Louisiana's star center Michael Southall to just four points and four rebounds.
On the year he ranks third on the team with 11.8 points per game.
Wingate has scored in double-figures in nine of UT's 12 games ... In two previous season at Tennessee he had reached double-figure scoring just three times.
Against sixth-ranked Texas (12/19/05) Wingate played a key role in limiting LaMarcus Aldridge to just four field goals. Aldridge, who finished with 15 points total, scored just one point when Wingate was guarding him.

JaJuan Smith Giving Vols A Spark Off The Bench
JaJuan Smith, a 6-foot-2 guard from Decatur, Tenn., has seen his role grow from 8.0 minutes per game as a freshman last year to 24.5 minutes per game this season ... Already this year he has tied or established new career marks for scoring (16), rebounds (6), assists (6), steals (3), blocks (1) and minutes played (27) ... Smith, who has been the first player off the bench in each of Tennessee's games this season, is averaging 9.1 points per game ... His 28 assists are third on the team.
Smith had his best game of his career at sixth-ranked Texas when he came off the bench to score 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from 3-point range.
He scored a career-high 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field to go with five assists and two steals against Alabama A&M (12/27/05).
His last five games he is averaging 12.6 points on 47.7 percent (21-of-44) shooting from the field and 44.0 percent (11-of-25) 3-point shooting.

Patterson Making His Shots
When Andre Patterson led the Vols with his 56.8 percent field goal shooting in 2004-05, it marked the second school he had led in field goal percentage ... As a sophomore at UCLA in 2002-03 he led the Bruins and the Pac-10 Conference with a 60.8 field goal percentage ... As a junior at UT last season, Patterson averaged 7.4 points per game while leading the Vols with 6.2 rebounds per game.
He is currently shooting 50.6 percent (45-of-89) from the field and is averaging 9.8 points per game off the bench.
Patterson recorded a career-high 14 rebounds against Murray State (11/30/05) while recording his third career-double-double.

Asumnu Builds On Strong Finish To 2005
Senior guard/forward Stanley Asumnu started his senior season like he ended his junior year ... The Houston native scored a career-high 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting in the Vols' season-opening win over East Tennessee State (11/18/05) ... In 12 games he is averaging 9.2 points per game ... The ultra-athletic Asumnu scored 24 points in 27 minutes of playing time over Tennessee's final four games of the 2005 season ... Against Georgia (3/5/05), the 6-foot-5 Asumnu scored a then career-high 14 points on 6-of-6 shooting from the field in just 10 minutes of action.
It took Asumnu just seven games this season to score 67 points, surpassing the 63 points he scored in 26 contests as a junior.

Eddie "The Show" DeBro
Senior walk-on Eddie DeBro needed just eight minutes to put on a show in Tennessee's win over South Alabama (1/4/06) ... DeBro, inserted into the lineup when Stanley Asumnu got into early foul trouble, recorded two assists, two rebounds and a steal in eight minutes of first half action against the Jaguars ... Each of those numbers are career-highs for the native of Smyrna, Tenn. ... One play in particular saw the 5-foot-11 DeBro get a steal and then run the fastbreak, making an impressive bounce pass to C.J. Watson for the lay up.

Watson & Lofton Earn Back-To-Back SEC Player Of The Week Honors
Chris Lofton was named the co-SEC Player of the Week on Dec. 19 after leading the Vols to a 95-78 upset at sixth-ranked Texas ... Lofton, who shared the award with Kentucky's Rajon Rondo, scored a game-high 21 points on 5-of-9 3-point shooting against the Longhorns ... It marked the second consecutive week a UT player earned the honor ... C.J. Watson took home player of the week honors Dec. 12 after scoring a season-high 23 points against Appalachian State Dec. 5.

National Recognition For Vols
UT was named the national team of the week on Dec. 19 by Dick Vitale and Andy Katz on ESPN.com and by Mike DeCourcy of The Sporting News.
ESPN commentator Dick Vitale took time in his weekly "Roundball Chatter" column on Dec. 16 to mention a pair of Vols by saying, "The backcourt of C.J. Watson and Chris Lofton is one of the most underrated in America... ."
Lofton was called by ESPN's Dick Vitale, "... one of the most underrated players in America"
CBS SportsLine.com's Gregg Doyel named Bruce Pearl as one of his 10 best stories for 2005.

Rally Vols
Tennessee has rallied from deficits of at least nine points in three games this season ... Two of the rallys have been away from Thompson-Boling Arena.
Murray State (11/30/05) built a nine-point lead early in the second half before the Vols rallied for a 64-53 victory in Nashville ... At one point during the Tennessee rally, Chris Lofton outscored the Racers 12-1.
Appalachian State (12/5/05) took a 12-point lead with just over six minutes left in the first half but UT went on a 19-2 run to take a 48-46 lead at halftime.
UT rallied from a 15-point second half deficit to defeat South Carolina (1/8/06) in Columbia.
Against Oklahoma State (12/22/05) the Vols rallied from a 16-point halftime deficit to cut the lead to one point but could never overtake the Cowboys.

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 208-84 (.712) in its 19th season in Thompson-Boling Arena.
- Since the 1998 season, the Vols are 109-25 (.813) in Thompson-Boling Arena.
- The Vols are 48-16 against SEC teams at home over the last six seasons.
- UT has won 69 of its last 74 home games against non-conference opponents.

Pearl Won 87 Percent Of Games In 2005

Coach (team)	2005 Record	Pct.
1. Bruce Weber (Illinois)	37-2	.949
2. Rick Pitino (Louisville)	34-4	.895
3. Bruce Pearl (UT/UWM)	27-4	.871
4. Mike Krzyzewski (Duke)	31-5	.861
5. Roy Williams (North Carolina)	29-5	.853
6. Gregg Marshall (Winthrop)	25-5	.833
7. Lorenzo Romar (Washington)	29-6	.829
8. Billy Donovan (Florida)	28-6	.824
9. Bob Thomason (Pacific)	28-6	.824
10. Mark Fox (Nevada)	27-6	.818

Frank Sinatra may have had Bruce Pearl in mind when he crooned that "It Was A Very Good Year" ... In fact, 2005 was a great year for Pearl as he won 87.1 percent of his games during the calendar year ... Pearl was 19-3 at UW-Milwaukee and 8-1 at Tennessee in 2005 ... That ranks as the third-best winning percentage in the nation in 2005 ... Bruce Weber at Illinois posted the best winning percentage in 2005 with a 37-2 record (94.9 percent).

Pearl's Start Second Best All-Time
Bruce Pearl came to Tennessee as one of the winningest coaches in the nation, having won 79.1 percent (317-84) of his career games entering the season ... Pearl did not disappoint the UT faithful, winning his first six games as the leader of the Vols program ... Pearl's 6-0 record was the second-best start to a career amongst UT's all-time coaches:

Great Starts
Tennessee's 6-0 start to the 2005-06 season was the 14th time in school history that the Vols have begun a season by winning its first six games ... It was the eighth time in the modern era (since World War II) that UT has started 6-0 ... Following is how this year's start ranks with past years in the modern era:

Vols' Recruiting Class Ranked Among Top 10 In The Nation
Bruce Pearl's first recruiting class at the University of Tennessee has drawn rave reviews and has been rated as one of the best classes in the Southeastern Conference and among the top 10 classes in the nation. The Vols signed four players during the early signing period in November: Wayne Chism, Duke Crews, Marques Johnson and Josh Tabb.

Chism, a 6-foot-9 forward from Bolivar, Tenn., is a four-star prospect who is rated the No. 42 overall player in the country. As a junior he led Bolivar Central High School to the Class AA state title while averaging 13.6 points, 10 rebounds, seven blocks and 2.2 assists per game. At the Reebok ABCD Camp last summer he was rated the No. 2 center.
One of the highest-rated players to sign with the Vols in recent years, Crews is a 6-7 forward from Hampton, Va. Rated the No. 14 player in the nation, he is considered a five-star prospect. As a junior he averaged 16 points per game while leading Bethel High School to a 22-4 record last year. Last summer Crews was rated as the No. 2 player at the 2005 Nike Camp in Indianapolis.
Ranked among the top-50 players by several scouting services, Johnson is a 6-5 guard from Fort Wayne, Ind. A starter since his freshman season, the two-time all-conference selection has led Snider High School to a 50-15 record in his three years. As a junior he averaged 21 points, 6.2 rebounds and four assists.
A four-star prospect, Tabb is a 6-4 guard from Harmony Christian Prep in Cincinnati. A two-time Class A All-State selection who is originally from Carbondale, Ill., Tabb averaged 21 points, five assists and six rebounds as a senior while leading Carbondale High School to the 2005 state championship game.

SEC Throwback Week
Each Southeastern Conference school has designated a previous year's uniform to be worn as a part of "SEC Throwback Week" ... The week of February 18-26 (Saturday through Sunday) has been designated as "SEC Throwback Week" ... Additionally, the uniforms will be worn during the SEC Tournament in Nashville ... Tennessee took a poll of fans on UTsports.com to determine which era to choose their uniforms ... The fans selected the Ernie & Bernie era so UT's uniforms will resemble those worn in the 1970s.

Five Of UT's Non-Conference Opponents Picked To Win Their Leagues
Tennessee's non-conference schedule features the favorites to win the Big 12, Conference USA, Ohio Valley, Sun Belt and SWAC regular season titles in polls of each respective league's coaches ... Eight of the Vols' 11 non-conference games will be against teams picked to finish no worse than second in their respective divisions ... Additionally, the Vols will play against four players who earned preseason player of the year honors from the league's coaches.

East Tennessee State was picked to finish second in the Atlantic Sun Conference and was picked to win the league's postseason tournament. Tim Smith was named the league's preseason player of the year.
Louisiana-Lafayette, a team that has been to the NCAA Tournament the last two years, is picked to win the Sun Belt Conference's West Division. Senior guard Dwayne Mitchell was a preseason first team all-conference pick.
Murray State is tabbed to win the Ohio Valley Conference while Eastern Kentucky is picked second. Murray State junior Trey Pearson was named the league's preseason player of the year while EKU's Matt Witt earned preseason first team all-conference honors.
Appalachian State was picked to tie for second in the Southern Conference North Division while D.J. Thompson earned a spot on the Preseason All-Southern Conference Men's Basketball Team.
Texas is an overwhelming favorite to win the Big 12 Conference title while Oklahoma State is picked fourth. The Longhorns list two preseason first team all-conference selections (Daniel Gibson and P.J. Tucker) while the Cowboys had one (JamesOn Curry).
Alabama A&M is predicted to win SWAC. Senior guard Obie Trotter was selected the league's preseason player of the year while Joseph Martin earned preseason first team all-conference honors.
Memphis, led by preseason conference player of the year Rodney Carney, is the unanimous favorite to win the Conference USA title.

Parking
Limited individual game parking for the 2005-06 men's basketball season will be sold for $5 for the following parking lots on a first come, first served basis:

Lot 23 Corner of Volunteer Blvd and Pat Head Summitt Street
Lot 23B (next to Music Building) - Corner of Pat Head Summitt Street and Volunteer Blvd.
Lot 4 and Lot 5 - Phillip Fulmer Way between Thompson-Boling Arena and Neyland Stadium
Lot 30A - Peyton Manning Pass, off of Volunteer Blvd.
Lot C15 - Chamique Holdsclaw Drive
Lot 9A - Volunteer Blvd. between the Humanities Plaza & the Architecture Bldg.
Lot C18/Staff 7 - accessed from Cumberland Avenue at 11th Street, or from Neyland Drive across from the Tennessee Grill
Lot G10 on Neyland Drve between Thompson-Boling Arena and Neyland Stadium

Special parking arrangements for disabled persons may be requested by calling Parking Services at (865) 974-6031. The UT Athletic Department also provides FREE parking at the Ag Campus with a free shuttle service to and from Thompson-Boling Arena. The KAT shuttle begins 1 1/2 hours prior to game time, and runs for one hour postgame.

UT Parking Lot Map