TENNESSEE VS. WINTHROP -- GAME PREVIEW

March 13, 2006

QUICK FACTS

2006 NCAA Tournament
Tennessee Volunteers vs.
Winthrop Eagles


NCAA Tournament Game 29
Date: March 16, 2006
Tipoff: 2:40 p.m. (EST)
Television: CBS
Tickets: SOLD OUT
Site: Greensboro Coliseum
The 2005-06 Records
Winthrop: 23-7, 13-3 Big South
Tennessee: 21-7, 12-4 SEC
The Winthrop Series
Overall: UT leads 1-0
at NCAA Tournament: Never Met
at Knoxville: UT leads 1-0
at Neutral Sites: Never Met
Current Win Streak: UT one game
Potential Next Game
March 18 NCAA Tournament vs. Wichita State/Seton Hall winner 3:40 p.m. ET on CBS Tickets: SOLD OUT

RADIO:
Vol Network: Bob Kesling and Bert Bertlekamp
Listen to Vol Network Broadcast

TELEVISION:
CBS: Kevin Harlan and Dan Bonner

LIVE STATS:
Live Stats

RANKINGS:
Associated Press Poll
Tennessee: 18th / Winthrop: not ranked
ESPN/USA Today-Coaches Poll
Tennessee: 19th / Winthrop: not ranked

THE COACHES:
Tennessee Volunteers
Bruce Pearl (Boston College 1982)
Overall Record: 338-91 (.788 / 14th year)
At Tennessee: 21-7 (.750 / 1st year)
2005-06 Roster
2005-06 Schedule
2005-06 Statistics

Winthrop Eagles
Gregg Marshall (Randolph-Macon 1985)
Overall Record: 165-77 (.682 / 8th year)
At Winthrop: 165-77 (.682 / 8th year)
2005-06 Roster
2005-06 Schedule
2005-06 Statistics

NCAA Postseason Media Guide

FEATURES

Probable Starters
TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS (21-7, 12-4 SEC)
Pos	No.	Name	Ht	Wt	Yr	Hometown	PPG	RPG	APG
F	22	Andre Patterson	6-7	217	Sr.	Los Angeles, Calif.	9.6	6.6	1.5
F	23	Dane Bradshaw	6-4	200	Jr.	Memphis, Tenn.	7.4	5.5	4.0
C	1	Major Wingate	6-10	250	Jr.	Florence, S.C.	10.3	3.9	1.1
G	5	Chris Lofton	6-2	197	So.	Maysville, Ky.	17.3	3.6	1.9
G	32	C.J. Watson	6-2	176	Sr.	Las Vegas, Nev.	15.3	3.3	4.1

WINTHROP EAGLES (23-7, 13-3 Big South)
Pos	No.	Name	Ht	Wt	Yr	Hometown	PPG	RPG	APG
F	0	James Shuler	6-6	220	Sr.	Jonesville, Fla.	13.4	4.3	3.5
F	33	Phillip Williams	6-8	215	Jr.	Cleveland, N.C.	5.5	3.4	0.6
C	5	Craig Bradshaw	6-10	245	Jr.	Wellington, N.Z.	12.9	6.0	1.4
G	10	Chris Gaynor	5-10	156	So.	Winston-Salem, N.C.	6.8	2.6	4.5
G	12	Torrell Martin	6-5	195	Jr.	Columbia, S.C.	13.8	5.4	1.4

Tennessee Opens NCAA Tournament Action Versus Winthrop

Major Wingate

After playing one of the most difficult schedules in the nation, Tennessee was rewarded with a No. 2 seed in the 2006 NCAA Tournament. The Vols posted a 21-7 record on the season and won the SEC Eastern Division championship with a 12-4 league record. UT will meet 15th seeded and Big South Conference champion Winthrop in the first round Thursday, March 16, at the Greensboro Coliseum. The winner of the game will advance to meet the winner of the Wichita State - Seton Hall contest at 3:40 p.m. Saturday, March 18.
This is Tennessee's 14th NCAA appearance and first since 2001. The Vols' No. 2 seed is the highest in school history, topping the No. 4 seeds they received in 1981, 1999 and 2000. UT has posted an 8-14 record in the NCAA Tournament.
Winthrop is making its sixth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last eight years. The Eagles, who posted a 23-7 record on the season, won both the Big South Conference regular season and conference tournament titles.
Bruce Pearl, who was named CBS Sportsline.com's national coach of the year, is coaching in his 12th NCAA Tournament in 14 years as a head coach. He led Southern Indiana to NCAA Tournaments in each of his nine seasons at the Division II school and then directed UW-Milwaukee to a pair of NCAA Tournaments in four seasons. He has won at least 20 games in 13 of his 14 years as a head coach.

Tennessee Trends

Tennessee's last five regular season road games (at Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Vanderbilt) were each sold out.
UT is shooting 39.3 percent from 3-point range as a team. The school record for 3-point percentage is 39.1 percent set in 1992-93.
Bruce Pearl's 21 wins in his first season at the helm of the Tennessee program is tied for the best record by a first-year coach at UT. Don DeVoe (1978-89) also recorded 21 wins in his first season at UT.
In Southeastern Conference games, Tennessee's 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.
UT is 17-1 when leading with five minutes left in the game.
UT's eight-game SEC winning streak (1/21 - 2/15) was its longest since the 1981-82 season when the Vols opened SEC play with nine consecutive wins.
Chris Lofton's 31 points against Kentucky are tied for the most by a Vol in Rupp Arena. Dale Ellis (1983) and Allan Houston (1993) also poured in 31 points against the `Cats in Rupp Arena.
The Vols are 14-0 when scoring 80 or more points.
With victories over No. 6 Texas and No. 2 Florida, Tennessee has recorded two wins over teams ranked in the top six of the Associated Press Poll in a season for just the second time in school history. The other time was in 1977 when Ernie Grunfeld and Bernard King led UT to four wins over top-six teams.
The win over second-ranked Florida was Tennessee's first over a team ranked that high since defeating No. 2 Kentucky 78-77 on Feb. 24, 1993.
UT is 23-14 (.622) when playing before crowds of 20,000 or larger at Thompson-Boling Arena. This year the Vols were 4-2 playing in front of 20,000 fans at home.
UT has rallied to overcome deficits of nine points or more six 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.
The Vols have recorded at least 10 steals in 16 of their 28 games.
Tennessee is getting an average of 21.7 points per game from its bench. The Vols' bench has contributed 607 points in 28 games this season.
UT has recorded more than 100 more steals than its opponents. The Vols have 286 steals compared to just 175 by their opponents.
Tennessee's opponents are averaging 18.5 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. Ten times this season UT's opponents have turned the ball over at least 20 times.
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.
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 1,366-891-2 in its 97th season 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 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	Winthrop
81.3	Points	73.8
73.7	Opponent Points	61.1
+7.6	Scoring Margin	+12.7
.467	Field Goal %	.450
.472	Opponent Field Goal %	.399
.393	Three-Point %	.364
.361	Opponent Three-Point %	.319
.701	Free Throw %	.694
33.4	Rebounds	36.4
36.4	Opponent Rebounds	30.9
-3.0	Rebounding Margin	+5.5
17.2	Assists	15.9
13.0	Turnovers	14.1
10.2	Steals	9.7
3.0	Blocks	3.3
21-7	Record	23-7
Individual Statistical Leaders
Tennessee	Stat Category	Winthrop
Lofton, 17.3	Points	Martin, 13.8
Patterson, 6.6	Rebounds	Bradshaw, 6.0
Watson, 4.1	Assists	Gaynor, 4.5
Wingate, .553	Field Goal %	Bradhsaw, .539
Lofton, .453	Three-Point %	Gaynor, .439
Lofton, .917	Free Throw %	Shuler, .852

Looking At Winthrop
Winthrop enters the 2006 NCAA Tournament as a No. 15 seed with a 23-7 overall record ... The Eagles earned the Big South Conference's automatic bid by winning the league tournament ... Winthrop also won the Big South regular season title with a 13-3 record ... It is the sixth time in eight years that Winthrop has earned the Big South's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament ... Winthrop enters the tournament enjoying a five-game winning streak ... Senior forward James Shuler and junior guard Torrell Martin were named first team All-Big South for the second consecutive season ... Martin leads the Eagles with 13.8 points while Shuler is second on the team with 13.4 points per game ... Craig Bradshaw, a 6-foot-10 junior, is adding 12.9 points and a team-high 6.0 rebounds ... Chris Gaynor, a sophomore guard, led the Big South with 4.50 assists and an assist/turnover ratio of 3.00 ... Winthrop owns the second highest scoring offense in the Big South (73.8 ppg) and the league's best scoring defense (61.1 ppg) ... Gregg Marshall became the winningest coach in Winthrop history with his 161st career win against High Point (2/23/06) ... The three-time Big South Coach of the Year is 165-77 in his eighth season in Rock Hill,. S.C.

The Winthrop Series
This will be just the second meeting between Tennessee and Winthrop ... The Vols won the first meeting 75-62 on No. 14, 1997 in Knoxville ... Tennessee is 17-4 all-time against teams from the Big South Conference.

Last Meeting With Winthrop
In Jerry Green's first game as the head coach at Tennessee the Vols defeated Winthrop 75-62 on Nov. 14, 1997 ... The win was UT's 100th in Thompson-Boling Arena ... Aaron Green and Isiah Victor came off the bench to lead the Vols with 10 points each ... All 13 players on the UT roster saw action with 11 recording 11 minutes or more of playing time ... Winthrop's Andrew McFalls was the game's top scorer with 16 points ... The Vols shot 55 percent from the field in the second half and led by as many as 28 points in the final half.

Tennessee - Winthrop Connections
Winthrop's Otis Daniels played against Tennessee while playing for Gardner-Webb in 2002-03 ... Daniels led the Bulldogs with 16 points and had a game-high eight rebounds.

Last Game: Vols Fall At SEC Tournament
South Carolina upset Tennessee 79-71 Friday, March 10, in the semifinals of the 2006 SEC Tournament in Nashville ... The Gamecocks shot 70.0 percent (14-of-20) in the second half and finished the game shooting 54.9 percent ... South Carolina went on a 9-3 run to finish the first half and never trailed in the second half ... USC led by as many as 17 points in the second half ... C.J. Watson led the Vols with 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field ... Chris Lofton scored all of his 12 points in the second half and Dane Bradshaw added 10 points ... Tre' Kelley led USC with 25 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field and 9-of-10 shooting from the free throw stripe ... The Vols committed 21 turnovers off 12 South Carolina steals.

Tennessee In The NCAA Tournament
The Vols are making their 14th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and their first since 2000-01 ... UT has an 8-14 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament ... The Vols are 6-6 in the first round of the tournament ... This is the third time that the Vols have participated in an NCAA Tournament in Greensboro ... UT also went to Greensboro for the 1980 and 1989 NCAA Tournaments ... It marks the fifth year Tennessee is playing an NCAA Tournament game in the state of North Carolina ... UT also participated in NCAA Tournament games in Charlotte (1976, 1981 and 1999).

Vols' No. 2 Seed Highest Ever
Tennessee is the No. 2 seed in the Washington D.C. Regional ... It is the highest seed Tennessee has ever received ... The previous high was a No. 4 seed (1981, 1999 and 2000).

13 Opponents Get Postseason Invitations
Thirteen of Tennessee's 22 opponents received postseason bids this season ... Nine teams earned NCAA Tournament invitations while four were invited to participate in the National Invitation Tournament ... Four of the Vols' opponents earned No. 4 seeds or better in the NCAA Tournament, including No. 1 seeded Memphis and No. 2 seeded Texas.

UT's Experience In The NCAA Tournament

Andre Patterson is the only Vol with playing experience in the NCAA Tournament. Patterson was a freshman on UCLA's team that advanced to the Sweet 16 of the 2002 NCAA Tournament with wins over Mississippi and Cincinnati before falling to Missouri.
Bruce Pearl is coaching in his 12th NCAA Tournament as a head coach. Last year he led UW-Milwaukee to the Sweet 16. He directed the Panthers to two NCAA Tournament appearances in four seasons in Milwaukee. He also led Southern Indiana to nine NCAA Division II Tournaments, including a national championship in 1994. As an assistant at Boston College (2), Stanford and Iowa (5) he helped lead his teams to seven NCAA Tournaments.
UT assistant coach Scott Edgar is coaching in his 13th NCAA Tournament. As a head coach he led Murray State to two NCAA Tournament appearances. As an assistant to Nolan Richardson at Arkansas (1985-91) he helped lead the Razorbacks five NCAA Tournaments, including the 1990 Final Four. At UAB he helped direct the Blazers to two NCAA Tournaments in three years, including a trip to the 2004 Sweet 16.
Associate head coach Tony Jones has coached in two previous NCAA Tournaments, including UW-Milwaukee's run to the Sweet 16 last season.

Assistant coach Jason Shay played in two NCAA Tournaments at Iowa and is coaching in his third NCAA Tournament.

The Sporting News Honors Pearl & Lofton
The Sporting News named Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl its national Coach of the Year after guiding the Vols to a 21-7 overall record and a 12-4 Southeastern Conference record ... Lofton was named a second team All-America by The Sporting News ... lofton was joined on the second team by Allan Ray (Villanova), Leon Powe (California), Glen Davis (LSU) and Shelden Williams (Duke) ... First team selections included J.J. Redick (Duke), Randy Foye (Villanova), Brandon Roy (Washington), Adam Morrison (Gonzaga) and Tyler Hansbrough (North Carolina).

Pearl's 21 Wins Rare For A 1st Year Coach

Coach, School	Record	Year
Tubby Smith, UK	35-4	1997-98
Eddie Sutton, UK	32-4	1985-86
Dave Odom, SC	22-15	2001-02
Bruce Pearl, UT	21-7	2005-06
Tubby Smith, UG	21-10	1995-96
Don DeVoe, UT	21-12	1978-79
Eddie Fogler, VU	21-14	1989-90

Bruce Pearl has led Tennessee to 21 wins in his first season at the helm of the Vols' program ... It marks just the seventh time in SEC history that a first-year head coach has led his team to 21 or more wins ... Following is a list of coaches who have earned 21 or more wins in their first year at an SEC school:

Pearl's First Year At UT Has Been Impressive
Having led the Vols to a 21-7 overall record and a national ranking as high as No. 8, Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl has been receiving a lot of mention as a candidate for national coach of the year from media around the country ... When considering what Pearl and the Vols have accomplished this season there is no question why he is receiving this attention.

Despite being picked to finish fifth out of six teams in the SEC East this season, the Vols posted a 12-4 league record and won the SEC's Eastern Division.
All of UT's core players have seen their production go up this season when compared to last year.
The Vols won on the road at No. 6 Texas, at No. 12 Florida and at Kentucky. They also earned season sweeps over South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Vanderbilt.
Tennessee was 9-1 against the SEC East.
UT's average attendance of 17,954 is the third-largest in school history and an increase of more than 5,500 fans over last year's average.
Tennessee's roster isn't loaded with All-Americas. In fact, UT's roster lists just one high school All-America (C.J. Watson was fourth team Parade All-America).
The Vols lost two of their top four scorers from last year's team that posted a 14-17 overall record and finished fifth in the SEC East.
ESPN's Jay Bilas said on March 4, "Coach of the Year often times means exceeding expectations. I would go ahead and go to Bruce Pearl at Tennessee. He's done an extraordinary job of taking a team and making them believe they can win at the highest level."

Pearl A Finalist For Phelan Award
Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl is one of 15 finalists for the 2006 Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year that was announced March 1 ... The award honors legendary Jim Phelan, who coached more games then anyone in the history of college basketball at Mount St. Mary's ... The 20-member selection panel, which is chaired by Phelan, is headlined by ESPN's Jay Bilas and former Kentucky All-American Kyle Macy ... All final ballots will be cast by March 12 and the winner will be announced at the 2006 Final Four in Indianapolis, Ind.

Lofton A Finalist For Wooden Award
Chris Lofton was one of 22 players named on March 5 to the official voting ballot for the 2005-06 Wooden Award All-American Team and Player of the Year, presented annually to the nation's top collegiate basketball player ... The winner will be announced on Saturday, April 8 ... Lofton was one of five newcomers selected to the National Ballot who were not selected to the Midseason list ... In order to be considered for the National Ballot, all players must have been accredited by their university as meeting the Wooden Award criteria which includes making normal progress towards graduation and maintaining a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher ... A panel of over 1,000 voters comprised of sports media members and college basketball experts from around the nation will cast their votes for both the 10-member All-American Team and the Wooden Award.

Bill Justus Named SEC Legend
Knoxville native Bill Justus will be one of 12 former SEC greats who will be honored at the 2006 SEC Tournament in Nashville as a Chick-fil-A SEC Basketball Legend ... Justus will be recognized at halftime of Tennessee's game on Friday, March 10 ... A 1969 first team All-America, Justus was a two-time first team All-SEC selection after earning honorable mention honors as a sophomore in 1967 ... A 6-foot-1 guard known for his deft shooting touch, he knocked down the winning free throws in a triple overtime win at Mississippi State for the 1967 SEC title ... In 1968-69 he captained the Vols' 21-7 team that finished second in the SEC ... He led the NCAA while setting a school record with his 90.5-percent (133-of-147) free throw shooting in 1969 ... His 22 free throws made against Ohio University remains a school record ... He equalled his success on the court with success in the classroom as he was named to Academic All-SEC and All-America honors in 1968.

UT Honors Mears And Ward
Tennessee honored former coach Ray Mears and Vol Network announcer John Ward for their contributions and years of service to the Tennessee basketball program by hanging banners bearing their names in the rafters of Thompson-Boling Arena ... UT made the presentation at halftime of the Kentucky game (3/1/06) ... A two-time Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year (1967 and 1977) Mears is Tennessee's all-time winningest coach with a 278-112 record in 15 seasons ... Ward called Tennessee basketball games from 1965 through the 1999 season ... In 1976 he was named the best college announcer in the nation and 28 times he was named Sportscaster of the Year in Tennessee.

Vols Win 20 For 19th Time
Tennessee recorded its 19th 20-win season in school history with a 76-72 win at 12th-ranked Florida (2/22/06) ... The Vols required just 24 games to reach the 20-win mark this season which is the second-fastest in school history to 20 wins ... Only the 1999-2000 squad reached the milestone faster, needing 23 games ... It is the 13th time in 14 years as a head coach that Bruce Pearl has led a team to 20 wins in a season.

Defying Preseason Predictions Tennessee Wins SEC's Eastern Division
Almost a consensus pick to finish no better than fifth in the Southeastern Conference's Eastern Division, the Vols proved every preseason prediction wrong this year ... Tennessee's 12-4 league record earned the school its third Eastern Division title and the East's No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament in Nashville ... It marks UT's first divisional title since the 1999-2000 season when the Vols won a share of the SEC East championship ... It is the third time since the SEC split into divisions in 1991-92 that Tennessee has won the SEC East.

Lofton Breaks 3-Point Records
Having already broken Tennessee's single-game record for 3-pointers with nine against Georgia (2/11/06), Chris Lofton broke the single-season 3-point record against Kentucky (3/1/06) ... With three 3-pointers against the Wildcats, Lofton broke Allan Houston's single-season school record of 99 set in 1990-91 ... Lofton has made 106 triples this season ... Last season, Lofton's 93 treys were the most-ever by an SEC freshman and currently rank third on UT's single-season lists ... In his second season in Knoxville, he has made 199 3-pointers.

Lofton's Free Throw Steak Comes Up One Short
Chris Lofton came within one free throw of tying Tennessee's school record for consecutive free throws made ... The sophomore guard made 38 consecutive free throws before missing his first attempt at Vanderbilt (3/4/06) ... The school record for consecutive free throws made is 39 by Danny Schultz (12/2/1963 to 12/28/1963) and by Michael Brooks (1/30/1985 to 3/6/1985) ... Lofton made 39-of-40 free throws in SEC games and was also 2-of-2 against Memphis (1/18/06) during the streak ... On the season he is shooting 91.7 percent (55-of-60) from the free throw line ... The only reason he did not qualify for the SEC leaders is because he is not averaging the minimum of 2.5 free throws per game to be listed.

Watson Climbing Charts
This has been a memorable season for senior point guard C.J. Watson as he has scored his 1,000th point and dished out his 500th career assist already this year ... The Las Vegas native ranks among Tennessee's top 25 all-time scorers and is second in assists and steals.
Watson ranks 17th all-time at UT with 1,395 career points.
His 574 career assists are second only to Johnny Darden's (1975-79) 715 career assists. The 574 career assists rank 10th in Southeastern Conference history.
He ranks second in school history with 197 career steals. Vincent Yarbrough (1998-02) is UT's record holder with 211 career thefts.

Pearl Is A League Leader
Bruce Pearl has coached 57 consecutive regular season league games where his team has either been in first place or within a game of first place ... The streak began at UW-Milwaukee where he coached 41 consecutive games in that situation and it has continued through his 16 SEC games at Tennessee ... This year the Vols won the SEC's Eastern Division championship with a 12-4 conference mark ... The last time Pearl was not within a game of first place was Jan. 23, 2003 when UWM was entering a game with Butler, 1 1/2 games behind the Bulldogs in the conference standings ... The Panthers won that contest to move to within a half game of Butler and eventually took over the league lead.

School Records For 3s Falling
Tennessee broke school records for 3-pointers in consecutive games ... Against Georgia (2/11/06) Chris Lofton broke Allan Houston's school record for 3-pointers in a game when he drilled nine 3-pointers against the Bulldogs ... Against Auburn (2/15/06) the Vols broke the team record for 3-pointers in a game when UT made 16 triples against the Tigers.

Vols Approaching Team Records
Tennessee's 21 wins this season are tied for fifth all-time. One more win would tie for the second-most wins in school history. Three times (2001, 1985 and 1977) UT won 22 games in a season.
UT's 249 3-pointers rank third all-time. Only two teams have made more triples in a season. In 2000 the Vols made 266 treys and in 2001 they made 257.
Only two Tennessee teams have attempted more 3-pointers in a season. The 2000 squad attempted 736 3-pointers and the 2001 team shot 697 times behind the arc. This year the Vols have attempted 633 triples.
UT's 39.3 percent shooting from 3-point range is the best in school history. The previous school record was 39.1 percent in 1993.
UT's 286 steals this season rank third on the school's single-season charts. The Vols need seven steals to break the school record of 292 set by the 1989 team.

A Band Of Thieves
Tennessee's pressure defense has given its opponents all kinds of trouble this season as the Vols' opponents are averaging 18.5 turnovers per game.
UT leads the SEC in steals (10.21 spg) and turnover margin (+5.50).
Three Vols rank in the top seven in the SEC in steals. C.J. Watson (2.07 spg) is third, Chris Lofton is fourth (2.04 spg) and Dane Bradshaw is seventh (1.82 spg).
Bradshaw leads the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.71) while Watson is fourth (1.93).
The Vols have had more assists than turnovers in 20 of their 28 games this year.
On the season, UT has 482 assists to 363 turnovers (1.33 assists-to-turnovers).
Conversely, the Vols' opponents have had more turnovers than assists in 19 of 28 games (0.87 assists-to-turnovers).

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 has combined to make 209 3-pointers in 28 games this season ... UT leads the SEC and ranks 15th in the nation with 8.89 3-pointers per game ... The Vols are making 39.3 percent of their 3s, a figure that ranks third in the SEC and 17th nationally.
Lofton is leading the SEC and ranks third in the nation with 3.79 triples per game. He also leads the SEC with his 45.3 percent (106-of-234) shooting from behind the arc.
Watson has improved upon his 37.5 percent shooting last season to convert 43.0 (46-of-107) of his 3-pointers this year.
Smith has given the Vols a huge scoring boost coming off the bench. He is second on the team with 57 3-pointers on the season.
Lofton, Watson and Smith are not the only 3-point bombers on the Vols' roster. Jordan Howell has made 40.5 percent (15-of-37) 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).

Bench Mob
The day before Tennessee's game against second-ranked Florida (1/21/06), head coach Bruce Pearl passed out t-shirts that had the words "Bench Mob" printed on them to recognize the impact of the players coming off the bench ... Although some of the starters liked the shirts and wanted one, only players who came off the bench were allowed one ... Tennessee's bench has played key roles in some of the Vols' biggest victories ... The Vols are getting an average of 21.7 points (607 points in 28 games) per game from its bench this season.
The Vols got 29 points from their bench in the upset of No. 2 Florida (1/21/06), including 12 points and 10 rebounds from Andre Patterson.

The bench also contributed 31 points in UT's 95-78 win at No. 6 Texas. JaJuan Smith and Andre Patterson each had 12 points.

Improved Vols

Player	2005 Pts	2006 Pts	Differential
Smith	1.9	9.6	+7.7 ppg
Asumnu	2.4	8.3	+5.9 ppg
Wingate	5.0	10.3	+5.3 ppg
Bradshaw	3.0	7.4	+4.4 ppg
Lofton	13.2	17.3	+4.1 ppg
Watson	11.9	15.3	+3.6 ppg
Patterson	7.4	9.6	+2.2 ppg
Howell	1.1	2.0	+0.9 ppg

Every returning scholarship player has seen their offensive production increase exponentially this season ... The improvements account for an additional 34.1 points per game ... All eight regular players have exceeded their scoring totals from last season ( Stanley Asumnu, Dane Bradshaw, Jordan Howell, Chris Lofton, Andre Patterson, JaJuan Smith, C.J. Watson and Major Wingate) ... Following is a list of players who have seen increased scoring totals this year:

Vols In The NCAA Stats
Tennessee is prominently listed among the national leaders according to the March 6 NCAA statistics. Following is where the Vols rank nationally:

Steals per game: 10.3 spg / 5th
Scoring offense: 81.7 ppg / 8th
Assists per game: 17.4 apg / 13th
3-pointers per game: 8.8 3pg /15th
3-point percentage: 39.4 percent / 18th
Turnovers per game: 12.7 tpg / 34th
Scoring margin: +8.2 ppg / 41st
3-pointers per game: Chris Lofton - 3.8 3pg / 5th
3-point percentage: Chris Lofton - 45.8 % / 10th

FT percentage: C.J. Watson - 87.6 % / 21st

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 610-484 mark in league games ... Only Kentucky (832) and Alabama (684) have won more SEC games.

Vols Return To Rankings

Date	Associated Press	ESPN/USA Today
Dec. 19	23rd	rv
Dec. 26	rv	rv
Jan. 2	rv	rv
Jan. 9	rv	rv
Jan. 16	rv	rv
Jan. 23	19th	20th
Jan. 30	13th	16th
Feb. 6	11th	14th
Feb. 13	8th	10th
Feb. 20	10th	11th
Feb. 27	11th	11th
Mar. 6	14th	15th
Mar. 13	18th	19th

Tennessee is ranked 18th by the Associated Press and 19th by ESPN/USA Today in the March 6 polls ... The No. 8 ranking UT achieved on Feb. 13 is the Vols' highest since being ranked eighth in the Jan. 29, 2001 Associated Press Poll ... This is the first season since 2000-01 that the Vols have been ranked ... That year, UT peaked at No. 4 in the Associated Press Poll.

Rally Vols
Tennessee has rallied from deficits of at least nine points in six games this season ... Five 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 UT 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.
Tennessee rallied from a 12-point first half deficit at Georgia (2/11/06) to take an 83-78 win in Athens.
Florida led the Vols by 13 points (36-23) late in the first half of their game in Gainesville (2/22/06) but Tennessee rallied for a 76-72 victory.
Vanderbilt led by 16 points (37-21) with 17:30 remaining in the second half in Nashville (3/4/06) before the Vols rallied for a 68-59 victory.
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.

Lofton & Watson Earn NABC All-District Honors
Chris Lofton and C.J. Watson were named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-District 7 Team on February 17 ... Lofton was a first team selection while Watson was a second team pick ... The teams are selected by a panel of member coaches of the NABC ... First team selections included Chris Lofton (Tennessee), Rodney Carney (Memphis), Taquan Dean (Louisville), Anthony Winchester (Western Kentucky) and Rajon Rondo (Kentucky). Second team picks were Shan Foster (Vanderbilt), Darius Washington Jr. (Memphis), Tim Smith (East Tenn. State), C.J. Watson (Tennessee) and Courtney Lee (Western Kentucky).

Lofton & Watson Earn SEC Player Of The Week Honors
Four times this season a Tennessee player has earned SEC Player of the Week honors ... Chris Lofton has earned the honor three times and C.J. Watson has been named recipient of the award once.
Watson took home player of the week honors Dec. 12 after scoring a season-high 23 points against Appalachian State Dec. 5.
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.
Lofton won the award again on Jan. 23 following a 29-point performance in Tennessee's victory over then-No. 2 Florida.
On Feb. 13 Lofton won the award for a third time after averaging 32.0 points and 6.5 rebounds in wins at Kentucky and Georgia. He shot 16-of-22 (72.7 percent) from 3-point range in the two games.

Asumnu Named To Good Works Team
Senior guard/forward Stanley Asumnu was featured as the SEC Good Works Team Player of the Week the week of Feb. 22-26 ... The Houston, Texas native has participated for three years in the annual National Student Athlete Day community service event, known as April Play Day ... Along with his teammates, he helped deliver turkeys to Second Harvest Food Bank as part of the "Blocks for Turkeys" program ... He spoke at a youth probationary boot camp about team work and assisted the Oak Ridge Lab with their United Way Lick-Off event ... He also participated with teammates and football team members in Orange Aid 2005 by signing autographs and mingling to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina ... Asumnu joins C.J. Watson (2004 & 2005), Jon Higgins (2001, 2002 & 2003) and C.J. Black (2000) as Vols named to the SEC Good Works Team.

Bradshaw Named To All-Glue Team
Junior guard/forward Dane Bradshaw was named to SI.com's seventh annual All-Glue team on Feb. 14 ... The team was compiled by Seth Davis to honor the guys who "may not get credit for doing the little things in most places" ... Davis wrote that Bradshaw "has a moxie that well suits his fiery new coach" ... Joining Bradshaw on the All-Glue team are: Sean Dockery (Duke), Mike Hall (George Washington), Sean Marshall (Boston College), Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (UCLA), Kenton Paulino (Texas).

Smith Named "Best Player Off The Bench"
Sophomore guard JaJuan Smith was named the "Best Player Off The Bench" by Nashville's The Tennessean newspaper in a ranking of the best and worst of the Southeastern Conference for a special insert during the SEC Tournament ... The paper wrote, "He provides instant offense off the bench, can make pressure-packed 3-pointers and also defends well on the perimeter." ... Smith has been the first Vol off the bench in all but one of Tennessee's games this season ... The newspaper also listed Chris Lofton as the "Best Pure Shooter," C.J. Watson as "Best Player With The Ball," Bruce Pearl as the "Best Coach With A Quote," and Dane Bradshaw as the "Player Opposing Fans Love To Hate."

Watson & Lofton Named One Of Top Backcourts In The Nation
SI.com named Tennessee's backcourt of C.J. Watson and Chris Lofton the No. 8 backcourt in the nation on Jan. 20 ... They were the only SEC backcourt to receive mention on the list ... Following is a list of their rankings of the top 10 backcourts nationally:
1. Randy Foye and Allan Ray, Villanova
2. Maurice Ager and Shannon Brown, Michigan State
3. Jordan Farmar and Arron Afflalo, UCLA
4. Marcus Williams and Rashad Anderson, UConn
5. Curtis Stinson and Will Blalock, Iowa State
6. Robert Vaden and Marshall Strickland, Indiana
7. J.R. Pinnock and Carl Elliott, George Washington
8. C.J. Watson and Chris Lofton, Tennessee
9. Adam Haluska and Jeff Horner, Iowa
10. Steve Burtt Jr. and Ricky Soliver, Iona

Can I Get A Witness?
Tennessee saw a considerable increase in the size of its crowds at Thompson-Boling Arena this season ... The crowds at UT's home games this season increased by 5,504 fans per game over last season.
Six times UT had home crowds of more than 20,000 ... Entering this season, there had been only one home crowd of 20,000 or more this decade.
Tennessee ranked second in the SEC in home attendance with an average of 17,954. Kentucky leads the league with 22,763.
The Vols' attendance of 17,954 this season is an increase of 5,504 fans per game over last year's average of 12,450 per game.
UT averaged 20,796 fans in SEC games.
Tennessee's average attendance of 17,954 ranks third all-time in school history and the best since the Vols averaged 19,313 fans in the Arena's second year (1988-89).

Fans have also flocked to see the Vols play on the road. Almost 2,000 orange-clad fans were in attendance at Georgia's Stegeman Coliseum to see the Vols play the Bulldogs.

Vols Rank 5th Nationally In Attendance

School	Attendance
1. Kentucky	22,764
2. Syracuse	21,587
3. North Carolina	20,240
4. Louisville	19,044
5. Tennessee	17,954

Tennessee's increase of more than 5,500 fans per home game this season has vaulted the Vols into the top five nationally in attendance as of March 6 ... Following is a list of the top 10 schools in attendance:

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 15.3 points and 4.07 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 574.
His 574 career assists are second all-time at UT and 10th on the SEC's career lists.
Watson's 4.07 assists per game are currently ninth in the SEC.

Lofton 3s
Sophomore sharpshooter Chris Lofton had a week for the ages in leading the Vols to wins at Kentucky (2/7/06) and at Georgia (2/11/06) ... In the two games he averaged 32.0 points on 72.7 percent (16-of-22) 3-point shooting to go with 6.5 rebounds ... On the season he is leading Tennessee with 17.3 points per game ... He is making an SEC-best 3.79 3-pointers per game and is shooting 45.3 percent from behind the arc ... He also ranks fourth in the SEC with 2.04 steals per game.
Against Kentucky, the Maysville, Ky., native recorded a career-high 31 points on 7-of-10 shooting from 3-point range in leading the Vols to a 75-67 win. It is just UT's fourth win in 31 trips to play UK in Rupp Arena.
His 31 points against Kentucky are tied for the most by a Vol in Rupp Arena. Dale Ellis (1983) and Allan Houston (1993) also poured in 31 points against the `Cats in Rupp Arena.
At Georgia he had his second career-high in as many games with 33 points on 9-of-12 3-point shooting in leading UT to an 83-78 win.
Lofton's nine 3-pointers at Georgia broke Allan Houston's single-game school record of eight 3-pointers he set against Fordham (12/29/89).
His nine 3-pointers against the Bulldogs are tied for fifth on the Southeastern Conference's single-game list. They are tied for the third-most in a conference game.
He became the first Vol since Allan Houston in 1993 to have 30 or more points in back-to-back games. Houston had 31 vs. South Carolina (1/6/93) and 31 vs. Kentucky (1/9/93).
106 triples this season are a school record. They rank fourth on the SEC's single-season list.
Just a sophomore, he ranks fifth all-time at UT with 199 career 3-pointers made.
Following a 6-of-7 shooting performance at South Carolina (1/8/06), Dane Bradshaw was quoted saying, "Chris (Lofton) is like a 9-0 run himself."

Lofton Is More Than A Shooter
There is no doubt that Chris Lofton is a great 3-point shooter but, there is a lot more to the sophomore guard's game than just hoisting amazing shots from long-range.
Lofton is shooting a team-best 91.7 percent (55-of-60) from the free throw line on the season. In conference play, he shot 97.5 percent (39-of-40) from the stripe.
He ranks second on the team and fourth in the Southeastern Conference with 2.04 steals per game. Two times this season he has had five steals in a game.
Lofton is fourth on the team with 52 assists on the season. Five times he has had four assists in a game this year.
The Maysville, Ky., native ranks third in the SEC with 17.3 points per game on the season. In league games, his 18.1 points were third in the SEC.

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).
Bradshaw is second on the team in assists (111), rebounding (5.5 rpg), and is third in steals (1.8 spg) and blocks (0.4 bpg).
His assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.71 leads the SEC.
His 1.82 steals per game are seventh in the SEC.
His 3.96 assists per game are 10th in the SEC.
Seven times this season he has led the Vols in rebounding, including a career-high 12 boards against ETSU (11/18/05) and Vanderbilt (2/1/06).
Twelve times he has led UT in assists, including a career-high eight against South Alabama (1/4/06), Georgia (1/11/06) and at Georgia (2/11/06).
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.
South Carolina head coach Dave Odom gave Bradshaw a strong compliment following UT's 81-65 win in Knoxville (1/28/06), "I know this is a fairly bold statement and not something I would say lightly, but if there were a vote taken by media and/or coaches in this conference at this time, I think without any question that Dane Bradshaw would be the MVP of this league. I think he's playing that well."

Bradshaw Is A Warrior Against Memphis
Playing his first collegiate game in his hometown of Memphis, Dane Bradshaw had one of the most impressive games a college basketball player has had all season ... Having to deal with hecklers that had singled him out from the moment the doors opened, Bradshaw put on a show against the fourth-ranked Memphis Tigers at the FedExForum ... Playing in the post against UM's front line of 6-foot-9 Shawne Williams and 6-9 Joey Dorsey, the 6-4 Bradshaw scored a career-high 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting to go with 10 rebounds (five of them offensive), five steals and four assists ... Not backing down for a moment during the game, he drew a charge call in the second half when a Dorsey elbow caught him just below his eye that gave him a black eye.

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 10.3 points per game.
Wingate has scored in double-figures in 19 of UT's 28 games ... In two previous season 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.
Wingate is leading the Vols with a 55.3 (114-of-206) field goal percentage on the season. In SEC games he improved that number to 58.4 percent (59-of-101).

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 24.4 minutes per game this season ... This year he has tied or established new career marks for scoring (19), rebounds (8), assists (6), steals (4), blocks (1) and minutes played (31) ... Smith, who has been the first player off the bench in 27 of Tennessee's 28 games this season, is averaging 9.6 points per game ... His 57 3-pointers are second and his 54 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).

Patterson Works His Way Into Starting Lineup
Andre Patterson played well enough to be a starter in Tennessee's first 15 games this season, averaging 9.7 points and 5.6 points coming off the bench ... Against Mississippi State (1/25/06) he finally earned a spot in the starting lineup ... He responded well, registering 13 points and 11 rebounds against the Bulldogs ... In the 13 games since gaining a starting spot, the 6-foot-7 senior is averaging 9.5 points and 7.7 rebounds per game.
Patterson became the first Vol in four seasons to record three consecutive double-doubles when he had 12 points, 10 rebounds against Florida (1/21/06), 13 points, 11 rebounds at Mississippi State (1/25/06) and 13 points and 12 rebounds against South Carolina (1/28/06).
Patterson recorded a career-high 14 rebounds against Murray State (11/30/05) while recording his third career-double-double.
Against second-ranked Florida's (1/21/06) much taller front line he registered 12 points and 10 rebounds, including four offensive boards.

Asumnu Shooting To Make UT Better
Stanley Asumnu has saved his best basketball for his senior season, and the later the season gets, the better the 6-foot-5 wing gets ... Since being moved to the bench following the Florida (1/21/06) game, Asumnu has averaged 7.4 points and 2.8 rebounds in those 13 games ... Most impressively, the Houston native is shooting 55.7 percent (44-of-79) from the field over his last 13 outings ... On the season, he is averaging 8.3 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.
A career 39.7 percent shooter entering this season, Asumnu is connecting on 51.0 percent of his field goals as a senior.
In his first three seasons he averaged 3.6 points per game but has improved that number to 8.3 points as a senior.
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 fast break, making an impressive bounce pass to C.J. Watson for the lay up.

Vols & Lofton Receive National Honors
After scoring road wins at Kentucky (2/7/06) and at Georgia (2/11/06), Tennessee was named the national Team of the Week on Feb. 13 by Mike DeCourcy of SportingNews.com ... In addition to being named the SEC Player of the Week on Feb. 13, Chris Lofton was named the national Player of the Week by ESPN.com and FOXSports.com ... Lofton made 16-of-22 3-pointers while averaging 32.0 points in the Vols' games against the Wildcats and Bulldogs.

ESPN's The Season Follows The Vols
College basketball fans around the nation can get a behind-the-scenes look at the Tennessee Volunteers on the reality show "The Season" ... The cameras from Intersport Television followed Tennessee's coaches and players as they traveled to Georgia on Feb. 11 and hosted Auburn on Feb. 15 ... The 30-minute show debuted Wednesday, Feb. 22 on ESPN2.

Streak's Alive
With a 69-62 win over Vanderbilt, Bruce Pearl was assured of a winning record in his first season as Tennessee's head coach ... Pearl, who owns a 338-91 record in his 14th season as a head coach, has never had a losing season as a head coach.

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 1,395 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.

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 213-86 (.712) in its 19th season in Thompson-Boling Arena.
Since the 1998 season, the Vols are 114-27 (.809) in Thompson-Boling Arena.
The Vols are 53-18 against SEC teams at home over the last six seasons.
UT has won 67 of its last 74 home games against non-conference opponents.

Showing Their Appreciation
Immediately following their season-opening win over East Tennessee State, Bruce Pearl and the Vols went out on the concourse of Thompson-Boling Arena to thank the fans for their support ... The 21,680 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 ... It was the largest crowd to watch a basketball game that night (including both NCAA and NBA attendance figures).
The Vols also showed their appreciation to the nearly 2,000 fans who traveled to Stegeman Coliseum to see UT defeat Georgia (2/11/06). After the game, Tennessee's players went into the crowd to thank the orange-clad faithful who had made the trip to Athens.

Pearl Won 87 Percent Of Games In 2005
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).

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.

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:

National Recognition For Vols
SI.com listed C.J. Watson and Chris Lofton (with special mention for Dane Bradshaw) as the nation's eighth-best backcourt on Jan. 20.
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.

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.

University of Tennessee Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Stanley Asumnu

Dane Bradshaw

Eddie DeBro

Jordan Howell

Chris Lofton

Tony Passley

Andre Patterson

JaJuan Smith

C.J. Watson

Major Wingate

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