| VOLS PLAY BUTLER IN NIT SEMIFINALS
- Tennessee will meet Midwest Region champion Butler University in the semifinals of the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 22, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The game will be televised on ESPN2.
- The Vols are making their first appearance in the "World's Most Famous Arena" since 1985 when the Vols advanced to the semifinals of the postseason edition of the NIT.
- UT qualified for the NIT Season Tip-Off semifinals by winning the South Region in Nashville. UT defeated Fordham (78-71) in the first round before taking an 87-75 win over UNC Wilmington in the finals.
- Tennessee improved to 4-0 on the season with a 99-65 victory over Coppin State Sunday in Knoxville. The Vols shot 56.3 percent from the field and forced 24 CSU turnovers in the win. Chris Lofton led five Vols in double figures with 19 points while Wayne Chism had his first career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
- The Vols are averaging 86.8 points per game while forcing their opponents into committing 26.8 turnovers. Each of Tennessee's opponents has turned the ball over at least 20 times, including 32 errors by UNC Wilmington.
- Chris Lofton leads four Vols in double figure scoring on the season. Lofton is averaging 18.0 points per game while JaJuan Smith is adding 13.5. Ryan Childress is coming off the bench for 10.8 and Duke Crews contributes 10.5 points. Freshman center Wayne Chism adds 8.8 points and team-high 6.8 boards.
Tennessee Trends
- With 11 points and 11 rebounds against Coppin State (11/19/06), Wayne Chism became the first Tennessee freshman to record a double-double since Vincent Yarbrough had 22 points and 11 rebounds against Georgia on Jan. 20, 1999.
- The Vols are looking to start the season 5-0 for the second consecutive season.
- Chris Lofton has made at least one 3-pointer in 63 of his 65 career games.
- Tennessee improved to 3-1 all-time in the NIT Season Tip-Off with the South Region wins over Fordham and UNC Wilmington.
- Ten Vols are averaging at least 10 minutes per game. No one has played 30 minutes in a game this year.
- The Vols have forced 107 turnovers in its first four games this season (26.8 per game).
- UT's bench has scored 134 points in four games (33.5 points per game) this season. In 2005-06, Tennessee's bench averaged 21.0 points per game.
- With an 83-52 season-opening win over Middle Tennessee, the Vols won their eighth season-opener in a row and improved to 39-2 in their last 41 home-openers.
- Tennessee's 83-52 (+31) win over Middle Tennessee in the season-opener was the largest margin of victory in a season opener since UT defeated Elon 95-56 (+39) to open the 1999-200 campaign.
- Entering the 2006-07 season, six of UT's 11 scholarship players had never played in a Division I game before.
- UT is faced with replacing more than half of its scoring (54 percent), rebounds (51.8) and minutes played (51.3%) from the 2005-06 squad.
- UT's roster lists just three scholarship players taller than 6-foot-5. Duke Crews (6-7), Wayne Chism (6-9) and Ryan Childress (6-9) are the only Vols topping the 6-5 mark.
- 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 22-2 when leading or tied with five minutes left in the game.
- UT is 17-0 when scoring 80 or more points under the direction of Bruce Pearl.
- UT is 24-14 (.632) 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 1,371-892-2 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 215-86 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.
Tennessee In The NIT
The Vols are making their second appearance in the NIT Season Tip-Off and have advanced to the semifinals for the first time ... The Vols first appeared in the preseason tournament in November 1992 when they earned an 87-79 win at Rutgers (11/19/92) before falling 64-72 at Seton Hall (11/21/92). Tennessee In The Big Apple
The Vols are playing in New York City for the first time since they advanced to the final four of the 1985 National Invitation Tournament ... UT fell to Indiana 67-74 in the semifinals before defeating a Louisville team that won the national championship the next year 100-84 in the consolation game ... Tennessee has a 6-12 record in 18 games played in New York City ... The Vols are 5-6 at the current Madison Square Garden. Former Vols Have Made Their Name In NYC
Three former Vols have figured prominently in the history of the New York Knicks and Madison Square Garden ... Bernard King, Ernie Grunfeld and Allan Houston each enjoyed years of success for the Knicks in roles as players and in the front office. - Bernard King -- Ranks second in Knicks franchise history with a 26.5 career scoring average ... Led the Knicks in scoring three times, including a club record 32.9 points per game in 1984-85 ... Owns the franchise record for single-season field goal percentage (57.2 in 1983-84) ... On Christmas Day 1984 he scored a Knicks franchise record 60 points against New Jersey ... Holds the franchise record for points in a playoff game (46 in back-to-back games against Detroit in 1984) ... Two-time All-NBA Team selection (1984 an 1985) while playing for the Knicks.
- Ernie Grunfeld -- Spent 17 seasons with the Knicks as a player (1983-86), coach (1989-90) and broadcaster before eventually settling in as general manager (1991-99) where he built teams that appeared in the NBA Finals in 1995 and 1999.
- Allan Houston -- Spent nine of his 12 professional seasons with the Knicks, finishing his career as one of the NBA's best 3-point shooters ... Fourth all-time leading scorer in Knicks history with 11,165 career points and is second with 921 3-pointers ... Team captain for six seasons (1999-2005) ... His running one-hander with 0.8 seconds to play beat top-seeded Miami in game five of the first round of the playoffs and set the Knicks on the path to the 1999 NBA Finals ... In 2001 he set a club record with his 90.9 free throw percentage.
Looking At Butler
Butler arrived in New York after winning the Midwest Region of the NIT Season Tip-Off ...The Bulldogs defeated Notre Dame (71-69) and Indiana (60-55) at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis ... The Bulldogs overcame second half deficits in both of their NIT Season Tip-Off wins, including using a 19-2 run to overcome a 12-point deficit in the final 10 minutes against Indiana ... Butler held the Hoosiers without a field goal from 12:53 in the second half until the clock reached the 2:50 mark ... Following their victories over Notre Dame and Indiana the Bulldogs were ranked No. 1 in the RPI for the first time in school history ... On the season, Butler improved to 4-0 with a 62-59 win over Illinois-Springfield Saturday at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis ... Butler is averaging 10.0 turnovers per game after turning the ball over a Horizon League-best 8.8 times per game last season ... The Bulldogs led the conference in scoring defense last year by allowing just 53.7 points per game and is giving up just 54.3 points per game this season ... A.J. Graves, a 6-foot-1 junior guard, leads the Bulldogs with 17.8 points per game ... Graves is averaging 3.25 3-pointers per game ... Mike Green, a 6-1 junior guard, is second on the team with 13.3 points per game ... Green leads the squad with 4.8 assists per contest ... Brandon Crone is the only other Bulldog in double figure scoring with 10.8 points ... Butler is led by sixth-year head coach Todd Lickliter who owns a 106-54 record at his alma mater. The Butler Series
Butler won the only previous meeting between the schools ... The Bulldogs pulled off an 81-66 upset over fifth-ranked Tennessee Dec. 20, 1958, at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis ... Tennessee is 2-2 against current members of the Horizon League with wins over Cleveland State and UW-Milwaukee and losses to Butler and Detroit Mercy ... Butler is 7-6 all-time against Southeastern Conference schools. Last Game: Vols Run By Coppin State
Tennessee took an 18-point halftime lead and nearly doubled it in the second half to take a 99-65 victory over Coppin State Sunday, Nov. 19, at Thompson-Boling Arena ... Coppin State cut Tennessee's lead to 16-12 with a pair of free throws by Antwan Harrison but the Vols responded with a 7-0 to take control of the game ... UT finished the opening half on a 13-3 run to take a 51-33 advantage at the half ... Tennessee led by as many as 39 points (89-50) in the second half ... Chris Lofton led UT with 19 points, finishing the game with 999 career points ... Wayne Chism turned in the first double-double of the season for UT with 11 points and 11 rebounds in 18 minutes of action ... Duke Crews added 13 points while JaJuan Smith had 11 and Ryan Childress 10 ... Dane Bradshaw had a career-high nine assists to go with eight points and six rebounds ... Tennessee's bench stepped up with 46 points ... Preseason All-MEAC selection Tywain McKee led the Eagles with 21 points but had nine turnovers ... The Vols forced 24 CSU turnovers and registered 12 steals ... Tennessee shot 56.3 percent from the field and 54.2 percent from 3-point range. Bench Contributing
| Opponent | Bench Pts | Total Pts | % Bench Pts | | Middle Tennessee | 42 | 83 | .506 | | Fordham | 18 | 78 | .231 | | UNCW | 28 | 87 | .322 | | Coppin State | 46 | 99 | .465 | Tennessee's bench has played a key role in the Vols' success early this season ... Through four games, UT's bench is averaging 33.5 points per game ... Two times this season the bench has contributed at least 40 points in a game ... Ryan Childress is giving the Vols 10.8 points per game coming off the bench ... Last year UT got 21.0 points per game from its bench ... Part of the reason for the production off the bench is that UT has 10 players who play at least 10 minutes per game and no one averages more than 27 minutes ... Following is a breakdown of UT's bench scoring this season.
Tennessee - Butler Connections
Two Vols hail from the state of Indiana, including one from the same city that Butler is located ... Marques Johnson is from Fort Wayne and Tony Passley is from Indianapolis ... Passley and Butler head coach Todd Lickliter are both graduates of North Central High School in Indianapolis. Pearl Familiar With Butler
Butler is a familiar foe for the Tennessee coaching staff ... UT head coach Bruce Pearl and three other members of his coaching staff spent four years (2002-05) at UW-Milwaukee coaching against the Bulldogs in the Horizon League ... Pearl was 6-3 against the Bulldogs, including a 69-52 win in the 2003 Horizon League championship game. 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 ... UT has outrebounded each of its first four opponents and owns a +10.0 rebounding advantage so far ... Freshman center Wayne Chism leads the Vols 6.8 rebounds per game and freshman forward Duke Crews is adding 5.3 boards ... The Vols are averaging 14.75 offensive rebounds per game. Thompson-Boling Provides Homecourt 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 215-86 (.714) entering its 20th season in Thompson-Boling Arena.
- Since the 1998 season, the Vols are 116-27 (.811) in Thompson-Boling Arena.
- The Vols are 52-20 against SEC teams at home over the last nine seasons.
- UT has won 69 of its last 76 home games against non-conference opponents.
Bomb Squad Returns
Tennessee returns 80.3 percent of its SEC-leading 8.8 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 averaging 8.8 3-pointers per game this year.
- Lofton is leading UT with 3.0 triples per game.
Lofton A Preseason Wooden Award Candidate
Junior guard Chris Lofton was named one of the top 50 preseason candidates for the 2006-07 Wooden Award All-American Team on Oct. 25 ... The Maysville, Ky., native was one of six players from the Southeastern Conference named to the watch list ... A finalist for the 2005-06 Wooden All-American Team, Lofton led the Vols with 17.2 points while breaking the school record for 3-pointers in a season with 114, the second-highest total in SEC history ... In January, the Wooden Award committee will release the midseason top 30 followed by the national ballot in early March ... On Tuesday, March 27, the 10-player Wooden Award All-American Team will be announced. Lofton Earns Honors From SEC Coaches
Chris Lofton was a first team selection on the 2007 SEC Coaches Preseason All-SEC Team ... Lofton joined Alabama's Ronald Steele, Florida's Joakim Noah and LSU's Glen Davis as unanimous selections ... As a sophomore in 2005-06, the Maysville, Ky., native was a consensus All-SEC selection after averaging 17.2 points per game and making 114 3-pointers, the second-highest total in SEC history. Lofton Goes To New York With 999 Points
Chris Lofton needs just 20 points to become the 39th player in school history to reach the 1,000 career point mark ... The Maysville, Ky., native has scored 980 points in his first 64 games at Tennessee ... Only Allan Houston (1,415), Bernard King (1,290), Mike Edwards (962) and Ernie Grunfeld (928) scored more points in their first two seasons at Tennessee. - Lofton almost reached the milestone against Coppin State (11/19/06) but his last shot, a 3-pointer from the corner, rattled out. He entered the game needing 20 points to reach 1,000 for his career but came up one short.
Lofton Hits Them Often
Chris Lofton needs just one point to become the 39th player in school history to reach the 1,000 career point mark ... The Maysville, Ky., native has scored 999 points in his first 65 games at Tennessee ... Only Allan Houston (1,415), Bernard King (1,290), Mike Edwards (962) and Ernie Grunfeld (928) scored more points in their first two seasons at Tennessee. - Lofton ranks fourth all-time with 219 career 3-pointers made and sixth with 491 triples attempted.
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 come to an end in the first half of the Vols' game against Georgia (1/11/06). - Bradshaw has led the Vols in assists every time out this year and recorded a career-high nine dimes against Coppin State (11/19/06).
- He ranks third on the team with 4.8 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game.
JaJuan Smith Finally Gets Starting 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 career-highs with 21 points and five steals in just 27 minutes of action.
- Led UT's scoring efforts in two of four games this season after leading the Vols in scoring once last year.
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 as he ranks third on the team with 10.8 points and 4.7 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.
- Already this season he has set or tied career marks for points (14), rebounds (5), assists (4), blocks (2) and steals (2).
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 10.5 points and 5.3 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.
- Crews has improved with every game he has played, scoring five points in the season opener, 11 points in the second game and 13 points in each of his last two outings.
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 ... A 6-9 native of Boliver, Tenn., Chism became the first Vols freshman to record a double-double 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 leading the team with 6.8 rebounds and is fifth on the squad with 8.8 points per game. - Chism has been the first Vol off the bench in each of Tennessee's four games.
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.
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