| VOLS END ROAD TRIP VERSUS CAJUNS
- Tennessee will make their first trip ever to Lafayette, La., when they meet the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns at 8 p.m. Monday, Nov. 27. Fox Sports South will televise the game from the Cajundome.
- The Lousiana-Lafayette game will be Tennessee's fifth game this season away from Thompson-Boling Arena. Tennessee has played two games at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, two at Madison Square Garden in New York and now one at the Cajundome in Lafayette, La. This will be Tennessee's first game on its opponent's home court this year.
- Tennessee has dropped its last two games after opening the season with four wins. UT fell to eventual NIT Season Tip-Off champion Butler in the semifinals in New York and then fell to second-ranked North Carolina in the third-place game.
- Chris Lofton leads the Vols with 16.3 points per game. The junior guard is averaging 3.2 3-pointers per game and has made at least five 3-pointers in a game two times in six games this season.
- JaJuan Smith is second on the team with 14.7 points per game and is establishing himself as one of the most dangerous players in the country. The junior guard scored 18 points in 21 minutes against the second-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels at Madison Square Garden.
- Tennessee has forced an average of 24.5 turnovers per game this season. Five of six opponents have turned the ball over at least 20 times against the Vols.
- After traveling to Louisiana-Lafayette the Vols will return home to host Murray State on Dec. 1 and Memphis on Dec. 6 before taking a break for final exams.
Tennessee Trends
- JaJuan Smith will be available to play against Louisiana-Lafayette. Smith, who was was ejected from the UNC game (11/24/06) for what was called a "flagrant intentional foul" at the 12:34 mark in the second half, will be eligible to play because it was not a fighting foul.
- UT is scheduled to play six teams currently ranked in the top 12 of the Nov. 20 Associated Press poll. The Vols have played No. 2 North Carolina and are scheduled to play Florida (#1), Ohio State (#4), LSU (#6), Alabama (#8), Memphis (#12) and Kentucky (#20).
- 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.
- Chris Lofton has made at least one 3-pointer in 65 of his 67 career games.
- Tennessee dropped to 3-2 all-time in the NIT Season Tip-Off with its semifinal loss to Butler Wednesday.
- Eleven Vols are averaging at least 10 minutes per game.
- The Vols have forced 147 turnovers in its first six games this season (24.5 per game).
- UT's bench has scored 171 points in four games (28.5 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 17-1 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 1,371-894-2 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.
Looking At Louisiana-Lafayette
Louisiana-Lafayette dropped to 1-3 on the season after a last second lay-up by Cal State Fullerton gave the Titans a 91-89 victory over the Ragin' Cajuns Friday night in Lafayette, La. ... ULL nearly defeated an Oral Roberts team that had pulled off the upset of second-ranked Kansas days earlier but fell 51-54 ... The Ragin' Cajuns are led by their high scoring backcourt of Stephen Dees and Ross Mouton ... The duo is combining to score 43.5 points per game which is 64.1 percent of the Cajuns' total scoring output ... Dees, a 6-foot-3 junior guard from Dayton, Ohio, leads ULL with 22.8 points and 8.0 rebounds per game ... Mouton, a 6-7 guard/forward, is second on the squad with 20.5 points and 5.8 rebounds ... 6-1 junior guard Rhett Hebert adds 6.0 points per game ... The Cajuns are playing the second of four games in an eight-day stretch ... They also host Nevada and Louisiana Tech during the next week ... The loss to Fullerton ended a 17-game non-conference home winning streak by ULL ... Louisiana opponents are shooting just 24 percent behind the 3-point line ... The Cajuns are directed by Robert Lee who is 34-30 in his third season in Lafayette and as a head coach. The Louisiana-Lafayette Series
Tennessee leads the all-time series 5-1 ... UT is making its first trip to Lafayette to play the Ragin' Cajuns ... Last year the Vols took an 83-76 win over the Cajuns in Knoxville ... The Vols lead the series 3-0 when it is played in Knoxville ... Three of the six previous meetings between the schools have been at neutral sites ... The Vols and Cajuns have met two times in the NCAA Tournament and once in the National Invitation Tournament ... Louisiana-Lafayette's lone win in the series was a 79-78 double overtime thriller at the Sugar Bowl Classic in New Orleans on Dec. 27, 1985 ... Tennessee is 15-3 all-time against current members of the Sun Belt Conference. Last Meeting With Louisiana-Lafayette
Tennessee withstood a furious Louisiana-Lafayette rally to take an 83-76 victory Nov. 22, 2005, at Thompson-Boling Arena ... The Vols led by as many as 21 points in the second half but the Ragin' Cajuns rallied to take a one-point lead with less than five minutes to play ... C.J. Watson was fouled while making a 3-pointer and then hit the free throw to give the Vols the lead again at 69-66 ... Louisiana's J.T. Fields tied the game with a 3 at the other end but a Stanley Asumnu dunk and another Watson triple gave the Vols a five-point lead with just over three minutes left ... The Cajuns never got closer than three points the rest of the way ... Andre Patterson led the Vols with a career-high 21 points ... Watson, who scored his 1,000th career point when he made the free throw on his four-point play, scored 17 points while leading the Vols with five assists ... Major Wingate, who was not expected to play because of a foot injury, scored 12 points in 28 minutes ... Chris Lofton, who sank a one-handed 40-footer at the first half buzzer, added 12 points and a team-high seven rebounds ... Dwayne Mitchell, a transfer from Auburn, led Louisiana with 19 points and 20 rebounds ... The Cajuns outrebounded the Vols 50-32 ... Michael Southall, a 6-foot-11 force in the paint for the Cajuns, was limited to four points and four rebounds in just 16 minutes before fouling out. Last Game: UT Falls To No. 2 North Carolina
North Carolina made use of its considerable size advantage to take a 101-87 win over the Vols in the NIT Season Tip-Off third place game Friday, Nov. 24, at Madison Square Garden in New York ... The Tar Heels, ranked No. 2 in the nation, listed four starters that were as tall as or taller than all but one of Tennessee's starters ... Carolina's starting frontcourt of Tyler Hansbrough, Reyshawn Terry and Brandan Wright combined to score 56 points on 20-of-38 shooting to go with 26 rebounds ... UNC built a 21-point (56-35) halftime lead but the Vols never quit fighting ... Tennessee outscored the Tar Heels 52-45 in the second half ... JaJuan Smith and Chris Lofton led the Vols with 18 points each ... Wayne Chism had 12 points ... Dane Bradshaw added 10 points, seven assists and seven steals ... Hansbrough, a 6-foot-9 forward, led all scorers with 27 points ... Wright, a 6-9 forward, had 19 points on 9-of-10 shooting ... UNC shot 55.6 percent from the field ... Tennessee made 15-of-31 3-pointers, coming just one triple shy of tying the school record ... Lofton was 5-of-8 from behind the arc. 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 | | Butler | 29 | 44 | .659 | | North Carolina | 25 | 87 | .287 | Tennessee's bench has played a key role in the Vols' success early this season ... Through six games, UT's bench is averaging 28.5 points per game ... Two times this season the bench has contributed at least 40 points in a game ... Wayne Chism is giving the Vols 8.7 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 eleven 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. 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 five of its first six opponents and owns a +4.2 rebounding advantage so far ... Freshman center Wayne Chism leads the Vols 5.8 rebounds per game and freshman forward Duke Crews is adding 5.0 boards ... The Vols are averaging 15.0 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 9.3 3-pointers per game this year.
- Lofton is leading UT with 3.2 triples per game.
- Tennessee's 15 3-pointers against second-ranked North Carolina (11/24/06) came just one short of tying the school record of 16.
Lofton A Wooden & Naismith Award Candidate
Junior guard Chris Lofton was named one of the top 50 preseason candidates for the 2006-07 Wooden Award All-American Team and the Naismith Trophy ... The Maysville, Ky., native was one of six players from the Southeastern Conference named to the Wooden Award and one of 10 for the Naismith Trophy 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. Lofton Earns Fourth SEC Player Of The Week
Chris Lofton was named the SEC Player of the Week on Nov. 20 ... It was the fourth time the junior guard has won the honor ... Only Dyron Nix (five times from 1986-89) earned the award more times for the Vols ... Allan Houston (1989-93) also won the award four times in his career ... Lofton averaged 22.0 points in Tennessee's three games, including a 30-point outing against Fordham. Lofton Reaches 1,000-Point Mark
When Chris Lofton hit his first bucket against Butler (11/22/06) in the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off in New York City's Madison Square Garden, he became the 39th player in Tennessee history to score 1,000 career points ... The Maysville, Ky., native entered the Butler game with 999 career points in 65 career games ... 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 226 career 3-pointers made and sixth with 505 triples attempted.
- Two times he has made at least five 3-pointers in a game this season.
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 five out of six games this year and recorded a career-high nine dimes against Coppin State (11/19/06).
- He ranks fourth on the team with 4.3 rebounds and second with 2.2 steals per game.
- He had 10 points, seven assists and seven steals against second-ranked North Carolina (11/24/06).
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 four of six 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 fifth on the team with 7.3 points and averages 3.7 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 9.3 points and 5.0 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 8.0 points per game. - Chism has been the first Vol off the bench in each of Tennessee's six 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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