| VOLS OPEN SEASON AGAINST MIDDLE TENNESSEE
- Tennessee will open its 98th season of varsity basketball when the Vols host Middle Tennessee at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 10.
- Tennessee won both of its exhibition contests. They took a 126-66 victory over Division II LeMoyne-Owen and then defeated Tusculum 100-57. Seven Vols averaged double figure scoring in the exhibition games and were led by JaJuan Smith's 21.5 points per game.
- Middle Tennessee is coming off a 16-12 season in 2005-06. The Blue Raiders, who are also playing their season-opener, have played one exhibition game, an 86-54 victory over York University on Nov. 2.
- The Vols have won seven straight season-openers and are 18-2 in their last 20 season-openers. UT is 38-2 in its last 40 home-openers and has a 14-game winning streak in home-openers.
- The Vols return two starters, including their top scorer from last season. Chris Lofton, a preseason Wooden Award candidate, led the Vols with 17.2 points in 2005-06 while making 114 3-pointers, the second-highest total in Southeastern Conference history. Dane Bradshaw, the lone senior on the squad, returns after averaging 7.1 points and 5.4 rebounds while leading the SEC in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.76). One of the best sixth-men in the league last season, junior guard JaJuan Smith averaged 9.5 points last year.
- A preseason poll of SEC media has picked Tennessee to finish third in the SEC's Eastern Division and the coaches and media polls list Chris Lofton as a preseason first team all-conference selection.
- Tennessee will hit the road for the first time this season when the Vols travel to Nashville to participate in the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip Off. UT will meet Fordham in the first round of the tournament on Monday, Nov. 13, and will then play either Belmont or UNC-Wilmington on Tuesday.
| Bruce Pearl RECEPTION IN NASHVILLE - NOV. 13 | | | Reception to Honor Tennessee Men's Basketball Coach Bruce Pearl Monday, November 13th 5 p.m.
(The Vols tip-off against Fordham at 7 p.m.)
Nashville - Gaylord Arena The Davidson County UT Alumni Chapter invites alumni and friends to a pre-game reception with Coach Bruce Pearl on Monday, November 13, before UT tips off against Fordham in the first round of the NIT Pre-Season Tournament. The reception will be held from 5 p.m. until tip-off (7 p.m.) at Gaylord Arena in the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame Museum. Admission is FREE, but we do request that you RSVP by email or by calling (615) 812-5122. Tickets to the game will NOT be distributed at the reception. Purchase tickets through Ticketmaster at 615-255-9600 or online. For more information about the NIT Pre-Season Tournament, log on to www.NashvilleSports.com. | Tennessee Trends
- Tennessee averaged 113.0 points in its two exhibition games while forcing an average of 29.5 turnovers per game. JaJuan Smith led the Vols with 21.5 points per game on 69.6 percent shooting from the field.
- Entering the 2006-07 season, six of UT's 11 scholarship players have 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 (6-8), 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 18-2 when leading or tied with five minutes left in the game.
- UT is 14-0 when scoring 80 or more points under the direction of Bruce Pearl.
- UT is 23-14 (.622) 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 1,367-892-2 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 213-86 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 Season-Openers
Tennessee has won its season-opener in each of the last seven seasons, including a 106-83 win over East Tennessee State last season ... In their last 20 season-openers, the Vols have recorded an 18-2 record ... The only teams to post a win over the Vols in that time were No. 18 Arizona (73-72 on Nov. 13, 1998) and East Tennessee State (87-79 on Nov. 25, 1991). Tennessee In Home-Openers
The Vols are 38-2 in their last 40 home-openers dating back to the 1966-67 campaign ... Tennessee has won 14 home-openers in a row ... In 2005-06 the Vols defeated East Tennessee State 106-83 in their home-opener ... UT's last loss in a home opener was on Nov. 25, 1991 when East Tennessee State posted a 87-79 win in Thompson-Boling Arena ... ETSU went on to post a 24-7 record that included a win over Arizona in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Early Bird Gets The Worm
Tennessee is getting the earliest start to a season in school history when the Vols host Middle Tennessee in the season-opener on Nov. 10 ... The previous record for earliest start came in the 1998-99 season when the Vols opened the regular season on Nov. 13 against Arizona ... UT was also one of the first teams to play an exhibition game this year, playing LeMoyne-Owen on Oct. 31 -- the first date the NCAA allowed to play exhibition games. UT's Preseason Ranking Is First Since 2000-01
The Vols have received their first preseason Top 25 ranking in six years ... Tennessee is ranked 24th by the ESPN/USA Today preseason poll and 25th by the Associated Press ... It is the first time since the 2000-01 season that the Vols have opened the season ranked ... UT was ranked eighth by ESPN/USA Today and ninth by the Associated Press to open the 2000-01 campaign. Freshmen Starters
In each of its two exhibition games Tennessee had two true freshmen in the starting lineup ... The last time the Vols had a pair of true freshmen in the starting lineup for the season-opener was in 2002-03 when C.J. Watson and Stanley Asumnu were on the court for the opening tip against Gardner Webb ... It could be the fourth time in the last 10 years the Vols have had multiple true freshmen in the opening day lineup ... Recently, Tennessee has also had multiple freshmen in the opening day lineup in 2001-02 (Derek Stribling and Elgrace Wilborn) and in 1996-97 (C.J. Black, Charles Hathaway and Cornelius Jackson). Looking At Middle Tennessee
Middle Tennessee will be opening its 2006-07 season when the Blue Raiders visit Knoxville ... Coming off a 16-12 overall record and an 8-6 mark in the Sun Belt Conference last year, the Blue Raiders took an 86-54 victory over York University in its first exhibition game of the season ... Middle Tennessee will not play its second exhibition game until December ... Adam Vogelsberg, a senior guard from Home, Kan., led the Blue Raiders in scoring last season with 12.4 points per game on 41.7 percent (68-of-163) 3-point shooting and 90.8 percent (108-119) free throw shooting ... Tim Blue, a 6-foot-9 senior forward, came of the bench to average 9.3 points per game ... The Blue Raiders are one of two Sun Belt teams to have winning records in each of the last four seasons ... Fifth-year senior Kyle Young is the only player on the roster with more than one year of Division I experience ... Six players have DI experience ... The Blue Raiders return 69 percent of their scoring, 73 percent of their rebounding, 65 percent of their assists and 69 percent of their minutes played from last season ... Four of their newcomers were members of the squad last season but sat out as redshirts ... Blue Ribbon lists Middle Tennessee's frontcourt as the best in the Sun Belt Conference and picks the Blue Raiders to finish second in the Sun Belt's Eastern Division ... Kermit Davis is 68-50 entering his fifth season at Middle Tennessee and 139-100 in his ninth year as a Division I head coach. The Middle Tennessee Series
Tennessee leads the all-time series 4-1 ... This is the first meeting since UT took a 74-56 victory Jan. 21, 2002 in Knoxville ... Tennessee owns a 3-0 series lead when playing the Blue Raiders in Thompson-Boling Arena ... Tennessee's 99-83 win in 2000-01 is the only neutral site meeting between the schools ... That game was played at Nashville's Gaylord Entertainment Center ... MT won the first meeting between the two schools, a 85-80 win in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament on March 18, 1988 in Murfreesboro ... The home team has won each of the on-campus meetings in the series ... Tennessee has won each of the last four meetings ... The Vols won 86-83 on Dec. 5, 1991, 78-77 on Dec. 10, 1999, 99-83 on Dec. 15, 2000 and 74-56 on Jan. 21, 2002 ... Three of the five meetings between the schools have been decided by five points or less. Last Meeting With Middle Tennessee
Taking a break from Southeastern Conference action for the second time in three days, the Vols defeated Middle Tennessee State 74-56 Jan. 21, 2002, at Thompson-Boling Arena ... Playing without Ron Slay, who suffered a knee injury three days earlier in UT's win over eighth-ranked Syracuse, the Vols fell behind by as much as six points in the first half but took a 29-26 lead on a Thaydeus Holden 3-pointer and never trailed again ... Tennessee finished the first half on a 18-5 run that gave the Vols a 44-31 advantage at the break ... In the second half the Vols stretched their lead to 19 points until MTSU cut the lead to 59-49 with 6:48 left ... Tennessee responded with a 9-2 run over the following two minutes to regain a comfortable lead ... Marcus Haislip led the Vols with 25 points while Brandon Crump added 12 points and Vincent Yarbrough and Elgrace Wilborn both had 10 ... William Pippen led MTSU with 12 points while Tommy Gunn had 10 ... Yarbrough flirted with a triple-double with 10 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists ... Tennessee held a 48-29 advantage on the boards ... The Vols also had 19 offensive rebounds ... C.J. Fayton, who spent the fall on the football team, saw his first action of the year ... Fayton, who joined the basketball team on Jan. 15, played one minute against the Blue Raiders. Last Game: Vols Score 100 Again
Tennessee turned up the pressure in the second half to run away from Tusculum 100-57 Friday, Nov. 3, in the Vols' final exhibition tune up for the 2006-07 season ... Tennessee shot just 34.9 percent from the field and 22.2 percent (2-of-9) from the free throw line to take a narrow 36-27 halftime lead ... In the second half the Vols warmed up to shoot 71.1 percent from the field to sun away from the Pioneers ... UT opened the second half on a 19-10 run to take a 59-36 lead at the 13:34 mark ... Over the next three minutes the Vols went on a 19-0 run to put the game out of reach ... JaJuan Smith led the Vols with 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting ... Wayne Chism added 12 points while Ramar Smith had 11 points and eight assists ... Ryan Childress had 11 points and nine rebounds ... Chris Poore led the Pioneers with 21 points and seven rebounds ... Tennessee forced 36 Tusculum turnovers ... It marked the third consecutive exhibition game that Tennessee scored at least 100 points. Vols Enter 20th Season At Thompson-Boling
Thompson-Boling Arena is celebrating its 20th season in 2005-06 ... The Vols have won 71.2 percent of their games in Thompson-Boling Arena and have ranked in the top 10 nationally in attendance nine times, including in 2005-06 when UT ranked fifth nationally with 17,954 fans per game ... The arena is getting ready to undergo its first major facelift as construction has already begun on a practice facility and construction will begin on the inside of the arena immediately following the 2006-07 season. - In October 2006 Tennessee Athletics had a ground-breaking ceremony to officially recognize construction on the Pratt Pavilion, the state-of-art basketball practice facility named in UT alumnus Larry F. Pratt's honor for his $5 million lead gift to the basketball programs. The Pratt Pavilion will house two full-size gymnasiums, one for each of the men's and women's varsity basketball teams, as well as space for an athletic training room, a weight room and a film study room.
- Thompson-Boling Arena will receive a dramatic facelift prior to the 2007-08 basketball season. With all new black seats, a center hung scoreboard, renovated concourses, 32 luxury suites and 160 loge seats, Thompson-Boling Arena will look and feel like a state-of-the-art arena ready for its next 20 years of service.
Vols Are A Hot Ticket
In 2005-06 Tennessee's average attendance grew by more than 5,000 fans per game to 17,954 -- the fifth-highest average in the nation ... This year UT has sold more than 13,100 season basketball tickets which is an increase of more than 4,000 season tickets from 2005-06 ... As of the start of the regular season there were less than 150 chair back seats available as season tickets ... Tennessee's season ticket sales are the best they have been since the first year Thompson-Boling Arena opened when the Vols averaged a school record 20,823 fans. 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 213-86 (.712) entering its 20th season in Thompson-Boling Arena.
- Since the 1998 season, the Vols are 114-27 (.809) in Thompson-Boling Arena.
- The Vols are 52-20 against SEC teams at home over the last nine seasons.
- UT has won 67 of its last 74 home games against non-conference opponents.
Bomb Squad Returns
Tennessee returns 80.3 percent of its SEC-leading 8.80 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. 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 Nearing 1,000 Points
Chris Lofton enters his junior season needing 73 points to become the 39th player in school history to reach the 1,000 career point mark ... The Maysville, Ky., native has scored 927 points in his first 61 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 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. 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). JaJuan Smith Looking For Starting Role
Named the "Best Player Off The Bench" in the SEC by The Tennessean, JaJuan Smith is looking to work 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. |
