| VOLS RETURN HOME TO FACE MURRAY STATE
- Tennessee will play its first home game in nearly two weeks when the Vols play host to the Murray State Racers at 7 p.m. (EST) Friday, Dec. 1, at Thompson-Boling Arena.
- The Vols have played five of their first seven games away from home this season. Tennessee has played two games at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, two gamea at Madison Square Garden in New York City and one at the Cajundome in Lafayette, La.
- Tennessee ended a two-game losing streak with a 77-67 win at Louisiana-Lafayette Monday night. Chris Lofton led all scorers with 31 points on 7-of-11 3-point shooting. The Vols led by as many as 17 points in the second half and held off a late Ragin' Cajun rally for the win.
- Lofton leads the Vols and ranks second in the Southeastern Conference with 18.4 points per game. One of the top shooters in the nation, he is averaging 3.7 3-pointers per game and is connecting on 47.3 percent of his shots from beyond the arc. JaJuan Smith is second on the team with 14.3 points per game while the freshman post tandem of Duke Crews and Wayne Chism are averaging 9.0 and 8.7 points per game, respectively.
- Tennessee has forced an average of 23.9 turnovers per game this season. Six of seven opponents have turned the ball over at least 20 times against the Vols.
- After playing five of their first seven games away from home, the Vols will play seven of their next eight contests at Thompson-Boling Arena.
- Tennessee and Murray State both are counting on several new players this year. Murray State returns just four lettermen from last season while Tennessee returns just five letterwinners.
Tennessee Trends
- In his last two games Dane Bradshaw is averaging 6.5 assists against 2.0 turnovers and 5.0 steals.
- UT's six newcomers are combining to average 31.1 points and 19.1 rebounds.
- Ten different Vols have hit a 3-pointer this season.
- Tennessee changed its starting lineup for the first time this season against Louisiana-Lafayette (11/27/06) when Jordan Howell replaced Ramar Smith at the point guard position. It marked Howell's first career start.
- 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 66 of his 68 career games.
- Eleven Vols are averaging at least 10 minutes per game.
- The Vols have forced 167 turnovers in its first six games this season (23.9 per game).
- UT's bench has scored 187 points in seven games (26.7 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 23-2 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 1,372-894-2 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 Murray State
After losing its first three games to start the season, Murray State has bounced back to win two of its last four outings ... The Racers are 2-5 on the season following a 68-74 loss at Illinois-Chicago Tuesday night ... Five of Murray State's seven games have been away from home ... Saturday the Racers recorded their 100th win at the Regional Special Events Center with a 53-50 win over Eastern Illinois ... Ten different Racers have earned starting assignments so far this season ... Senior forward Shawn Witherspoon and sophomore guard Tyler Holloway are the only players to start each of MSU's seven games ... Bruce Carter, a 6-4 junior guard, leads the Racers with 12.0 points per game ... Witherspoon is second on the team with 11.0 points while adding a team-high 6.1 rebounds per game ... Holloway contributes 9.9 points ... Murray State returns just four lettermen from last year's team that was 24-7 on the season ... Billy Kennedy, who is in his first season at the helm of the Murray State program, owns a 104-131 record in his ninth year as a head coach. The Murray State Series
Tennessee leads the all-time series 2-0 ... UT took a 64-53 win in Nashville last season ... The Vols won the only other meeting between the schools 57-38 on Feb. 24, 1945 in Knoxville ... UT is 41-1 all-time against current members of the Ohio Valley Conference. Last Meeting With Murray State
Tennessee rallied from its first halftime deficit of the season to take a 64-53 victory over Murray State Nov. 30, 2005, at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville ... The Racers held a 32-26 lead at the half and extended their advantage to nine points when Shawn Witherspoon drilled a 3-pointer to open the second half ... Tennessee battled back, cutting the lead to 39-38 on a C.J. Watson bucket with just under 15 minutes to go ... With the Vols trailing 47-46 with 7:35 left, Chris Lofton hit a 3-pointer to give UT the lead ... The basket was the first of 12 consecutive points Lofton scored for the Vols ... When he was finished with his scoring spree, Tennessee held a 58-48 advantage with 2:41 left in the game ... Lofton led all scorers with 18 points ... Andre Patterson recorded his third career double-double with 11 points and a career-high 14 rebounds ... Watson had 11 points and seven assists ... Issian Redding led the Racers with 14 points ... The Vols held a 48-38 advantage on the boards ... Twenty-two of UT's rebounds came at the offensive end of the floor. Last Game: Vols Win In The Cajundome
Chris Lofton's 31 points led the Vols to a 77-67 win over Louisiana-Lafayette in UT's first road game of the season Monday, Nov. 27, at the Cajundome in Lafayette, La. ... Lofton made 12-of-17 field goals, including 7-of-11 3-pointers, in leading the Vols ... The junior guard scored three consecutive baskets for UT in a five-minute stretch to hold off a Ragin' Cajun rally late in the second half ... After taking a 38-30 lead at halftime, Tennessee built its advantage to 17 points (51-34) early in the second half ... Louisiana-Lafayette slowly cut into the lead, cutting it to two points (67-65) on an Adam James free throw with 4:24 remaining ... A Lofton 3-pointer 30 seconds later put UT's lead back to five points ... The Ragin' Cajuns got no closer than five points the rest of the way ... JaJuan Smith added 11 points for the Vols ... Dane Bradshaw had seven points, six assists and five steals ... Wayne Chism added nine points and nine rebounds ... Jordan Howell, who was making his first career start, had five points and three assists ... Ross Mouton led ULL with 22 points while David Dees had 18 ... Valentino Hart added 10 points and 17 rebounds ... Tennessee recorded 13 steals off 20 Louisiana turnovers ... The Vols committed just 14 turnovers. 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 | | La.-Lafayette | 16 | 77 | .208 | Tennessee's bench has played a key role in the Vols' success early this season ... Through seven games, UT's bench is averaging 26.7 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 and 6.3 rebounds 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 ... Wayne Chism leads the Vols 6.3 rebounds per game and Duke Crews is adding 5.0 boards. - Tennessee has outrebounded five of its seven opponents.
- The Vols own a +3.3 rebounding advantage.
- UT is averaging 15.1 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 9.6 3-pointers per game this year.
- Lofton is leading UT with 3.7 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 has established himself as one of the top shooters in the nation in his first two seasons on Rocky Top ... As a sophomore in 2005-06 he set school records for 3-pointers made (9) and attempted (18) in a game and 3-pointers made (114), attempted (261) and 3-pointers per game (3.80) in a single-season ... His 43.7 3-point percentage (114-of-261) was the third-best percentage in school history and was best in the nation among players who had at least 260 attempts. - Lofton ranks third all-time with 231 career 3-pointers made and sixth with 516 triples attempted.
- Three times he has made at least five 3-pointers in a game this season.
- He ranks second in the SEC with 18.4 points per game this year.
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 as a junior last year. - Bradshaw has led the Vols in assists six out of seven games this year and recorded a career-high nine dimes against Coppin State (11/19/06).
- He leads the team with 2.6 steals and ranks fourth with 4.0 rebounds per game.
- He had 10 points, seven assists and seven steals against second-ranked North Carolina (11/24/06).
- His last two games he is averaging 6.5 assists and 5.0 steals.
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 seven 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 sixth on the team with 6.6 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 9.0 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.
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 6.3 rebounds and is fourth on the squad with 8.7 points per game. - Chism has been the first Vol off the bench in each of Tennessee's seven 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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