TENNESSEE VS. VANDERBILT -- GAME PREVIEW

March 2, 2006

QUICK FACTS

Vanderbilt Commodores
vs. Tennessee Volunteers

Game 27

Date: March 4, 2006

Tipoff: 2 p.m. (EST)

Television: Jefferson Pilot

Tickets: SOLD OUT

Site: Memorial Gym (14,316)

The 2005-06 Records

Vanderbilt: 16-10, 7-8 SEC

Tennessee: 20-6, 11-3 SEC

The Series

Overall: UT leads 103-65

at Nashville: VU leads 48-34

at Knoxville: UT leads 63-16

at Neutral Sites: UT leads 6-1

Current Win Streak: UT one game

Last 10 Meetings: UT leads 6-4

Next Game

March 10 SEC Tournament 1 p.m. ET on Jefferson Pilot
Tickets: SOLD OUT

RADIO:
Vol Network: Bob Kesling and Bert Bertlekamp
Listen to Vol Network Broadcast
SIRIUS: Channel 125

TELEVISION:
Jefferson Pilot: Tom Hammond and Larry Conley

LIVE STATS:
Live Stats

RANKINGS:
Associated Press Poll
Tennessee: 11th / Vanderbilt: not ranked
ESPN/USA Today-Coaches Poll
Tennessee: 11th / Vanderbilt: not ranked

THE COACHES:
Tennessee Volunteers
Bruce Pearl (Boston College 1982)
Overall Record: 337-90 (.789 / 14th year)
At Tennessee: 20-6 (.769 / 1st year)
2005-06 Roster
2005-06 Schedule
2005-06 Statistics

Vanderbilt Commodores
Kevin Stallings (Purdue 1982)
Overall Record: 244-156 (.610 / 13th year)
At Vanderbilt: 121-93 (.565 / 7th year)
2005-06 Roster
2005-06 Schedule
2005-06 Statistics

FEATURES

Probable Starters
TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS (20-6, 11-4 SEC)
Pos	No.	Name	Ht	Wt	Yr	Hometown	PPG	RPG	APG
F	22	Andre Patterson	6-7	217	Sr.	Los Angeles, Calif.	9.9	6.6	1.5
F	23	Dane Bradshaw	6-4	200	Jr.	Memphis, Tenn.	7.3	5.8	4.1
C	1	Major Wingate	6-10	250	Jr.	Florence, S.C.	10.3	3.7	1.2
G	5	Chris Lofton	6-2	197	So.	Maysville, Ky.	17.4	3.5	1.9
G	32	C.J. Watson	6-2	176	Sr.	Las Vegas, Nev.	15.2	3.3	4.2

VANDERBILT COMMODORES (16-10, 7-8 SEC)
Pos	No.	Name	Ht	Wt	Yr	Hometown	PPG	RPG	APG
F	33	Julian Terrell	6-9	248	Sr.	Nashville, Tenn.	10.2	7.6	1.9
F	22	DeMarre Carroll	6-7	214	So.	Birmingham, Ala.	11.3	6.2	1.8
G/F	4	Derrick Byars	6-7	223	Jr.	Memphis, Tenn.	11.9	3.7	3.4
G/F	32	Shan Foster	6-6	200	So.	Kenner, La.	16.3	2.6	1.6
G	3	Alex Gordon	5-11	165	So.	Pensacola, Fla.	5.4	1.4	2.5

Tennessee Finishes Regular Season At Vanderbilt

Stanley Asumnu

Tennessee will conclude its regular season schedule when the Vols travel to Nashville to meet Vanderbilt at 2 p.m. EST Saturday, March 4, at Memorial Gym.
The Vols will be looking to put an end to their two-game losing streak, which ties for their longest losing streak of the season. UT dropped a 78-80 decision to a hot shooting Kentucky squad Wednesday night in Knoxville. The Wildcats made 15-of-19 shots in the second half and finished the game shooting 60.4 percent from the field in upsetting the Vols.
Chris Lofton broke Allan Houston's school record for single-season 3-pointers against the Wildcats. Lofton's 101 3-pointers this season rank in a tie for sixth on the SEC's single-season charts.
Entering the final game of the SEC schedule, Tennessee has clinched the outright SEC Eastern Division championship. The Vols have recorded an 11-4 record while Florida and Kentucky have each posted 9-6 conference marks. Florida and Kentucky will meet Sunday in Lexington to decide second place in the East. SEC Western Division champion LSU won the overall SEC title with a 13-2 record.
Lofton ranks third in the SEC in scoring with 17.9 points per game against league foes. He also leads the league in 3-point percentage (.496) and 3-pointers per game (3.93) in SEC games. His 50.3 percent field goal percentage in conference games is fifth in the SEC and best among guards.
Senior guard C.J. Watson ranks second on the team with 15.2 points while quarterbacking the league's highest scoring offense (82.2 ppg). His assist/turnover ratio of 2.22 is second-best in the SEC. The Las Vegas native is tied for second in the league for steals (2.12 spg), and is eighth in assists (4.19 apg).

Tennessee Trends

ESPN.com's Pat Forde named Bruce Pearl the SEC Coach of the Year in his March 2 column.
Tennessee's last five regular season road games (at Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Vanderbilt) have each been sold out.
UT is shooting 40.1 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 20 wins in his first season at the helm of the Tennessee program is tied for the second-best record by a first-year coach at Tennessee. Don DeVoe (1978-89) holds the record with 21 wins in his first season at UT. Pearl is tied with Jerry Green (1997-98) for second-most wins.
Over the last seven games, UT has shot 45.0 percent (76-of-169) from 3-point range and is averaging 10.9 3-pointers per game.
In Southeastern Conference games, Tennessee's opponents have a 2-11 record in the game immediately following their contests against the Vols. The only teams to win their next game after playing UT were Georgia and LSU.
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 five 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 15 of their 26 games.
Tennessee is getting an average of 22.4 points per game from its bench. The Vols' bench has contributed 581 points in 26 games this season.
UT has recorded more than 100 more steals than its opponents. The Vols have 266 steals compared to just 160 by their opponents.
Tennessee's opponents are averaging 18.7 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 1,365-890-2 in its 97th season of basketball.
UT's 609 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	Vanderbilt
82.2	Points	70.3
74.0	Opponent Points	65.4
+8.2	Scoring Margin	+4.8
.470	Field Goal %	.465
.475	Opponent Field Goal %	.437
.401	Three-Point %	.391
.365	Opponent Three-Point %	.347
.694	Free Throw %	.702
33.2	Rebounds	31.5
36.8	Opponent Rebounds	32.4
-3.7	Rebounding Margin	-0.9
17.7	Assists	15.6
12.6	Turnovers	12.8
10.2	Steals	6.5
3.0	Blocks	3.2
20-6, 11-4 SEC	Record	16-10, 7-8 SEC
Individual Statistical Leaders
Tennessee	Stat Category	Vanderbilt
Lofton, 17.4	Points	Foster, 16.3
Patterson, 6.6	Rebounds	Terrell, 7.6
Watson, 4.2	Assists	Byars, 3.4
Wingate, .548	Field Goal %	Carroll, .522
Lofton, .472	Three-Point %	Byars, .442
Lofton, .944	Free Throw %	Cage, .958

Looking At Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt won its third consecutive road game Wednesday with a 77-62 victory at Ole Miss ... The win improved the Commodore's record to 16-10 on the season and 7-8 in the conference ... Vanderbilt has already secured the East's fourth seed for the SEC Tournament in Nashville ... They will play the West's fifth seed at 6:30 p.m. (CST) in the first round of the SEC Tournament ... All-SEC candidate Shan Foster leads the 'Dores and ranks fifth in the SEC with 16.3 points per game ... The 6-foot-6 sophomore forward is second in the league with 3.00 3-pointers made per game and fourth in 3-point percentage with a success rate of 41.9 percent ... Foster's 147 career 3-pointers are eighth all-time at Vanderbilt ... Derrick Byars is second on the team with 11.9 points and DeMarre Carroll is adding 11.3 points ... Julian Terrell leads Vanderbilt and ranks fifth in the SEC with 7.6 rebounds per game to go with his 10.2 points ... Senior guard Mario Moore returned to the Vanderbilt team Feb. 20 after taking a temporary medical leave of absence from the squad on Feb. 7 ... He has seen action in each of VU's last two games, averaging 5.0 points in 17.0 minutes of action ... On the season the 5-11 senior guard is averaging 6.2 points ... Eight Commodores are averaging at least 10 minutes of action per game in SEC games ... Vanderbilt is allowing just 65.4 points per game, a figure that ranks fifth in the SEC and 10th in school history ... VU ranks second in the SEC in 3-point field goal percentage (.391) and 3-pointers per game (7.88) ... Kevin Stallings is 121-93 in his seventh season at Vanderbilt and 244-156 in his 13th year as a head coach.

The Vanderbilt Series
Tennessee leads the all-time series 103-65 ... The Vols took a 69-62 win in the first meeting between the schools this year ... UT leads the series 63-16 when playing in Knoxville ... Vanderbilt leads 48-34 when it is played on the Commodores' home court ... Tennessee's 103 wins over Vanderbilt is the most by the Vols over any opponent ... Tennessee and Vanderbilt have played every season since their first meeting during the 1922 season except for the war years of 1944 and 1945 ... Only Kentucky has been an opponent of the Vols more times than Vanderbilt ... The Vols have played the Wildcats 201 times while Saturday's game will be their 169th against the Commodores ... UT has won 10 of the last 16 meetings between the schools ... Tennessee has won more games at Vanderbilt (34) than any other place outside of Knoxville.

Tennessee - Vanderbilt Connections
UT head coach Bruce Pearl was an assistant coach to Dr. Tom Davis at Iowa for six seasons (1986-92) ... Two of the years Pearl was at Iowa, Vanderbilt head coach Kevin Stallings was on the Purdue bench (1979-1988) assisting the legendary Gene Keady ... Tennessee's Chris Lofton and Vanderbilt's Ross Neltner each earned Mr. Basketball honors in the state of Kentucky ... Neltner earned the honor in 2003 while Lofton received the award in 2004 ... C.J. Watson's sister, Vonyette, along with his grandparents live in Nashville.

Last Meeting With Vanderbilt
Major Wingate scored 14 of his team-best 16 points in the second half to lead 13th-ranked Tennessee to a 69-62 win over intrastate rival Vanderbilt Wednesday, Feb. 1, at Thompson-Boling Arena ... Tennessee opened the game by taking a seven-point (19-12) lead in the first half but the Commodores rallied for a 33-27 advantage at half time ... Vanderbilt pushed its lead to eight points (35-27) right out of the locker room but the Vols went on an 8-0 run to tie the score 35-35 ... From there, both teams exchanged leads with neither team leading more than five points until the game's final minute ... After Julian Terrell tied the game 58-58 with 3:20 remaining, Tennessee took the lead for good on a free throw by Dane Bradshaw and a jumper by Wingate that gave UT a 61-58 advantage ... JaJuan Smith's 3-pointer from the corner pushed the lead to six points with just over a minute left ... Chris Lofton sank a pair of free throws to make it a seven-point (67-60) lead and sealed the win ... Wingate was 5-of-6 from the field and 6-of-8 from the free throw line in leading the Vols ... Dane Bradshaw recorded his third career double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds ... C.J. Watson had 11 points and five assists without any turnovers ... JaJuan Smith added 10 points while Andre Patterson narrowly missed his fourth consecutive double-double with eight points and 11 rebounds ... DeMarre Carroll led Vanderbilt with 16 points and 12 rebounds ... The Commodores shot 55.6 percent from the field in the first half but cooled down to shot 47.5 percent for the game ... Tennessee was 23-of-32 from the free throw line while Vanderbilt was just 2-of-5 from the line.

Last Game: Vols Fall To Kentucky
Kentucky made 78.9 percent of its shots in the second half to upset the 11th-ranked Vols 80-78 Wednesday, March 1, at Thompson-Boling Arena ... The Wildcats shot 60.4 percent from the field for the game and made 15-of-19 field goals in the second half ... The Vols held a 45-38 lead at halftime but the 'Cats quickly tied the score by opening the second half on an 8-0 run ... UK took its first lead 52-50 on a Brandon Stockton jumper with15:21 left and never trailed again ... C.J. Watson tied the score 73-73 on a pair of free throws with 4:55 remaining but UT could never get the lead back ... After Joe Crawford missed a free throw with 8.1 seconds and the Wildcats holding onto an 80-78 lead the Vols got one final shot but Watson's 3-pointer rimmed out as time expired ... Watson, Chris Lofton and JaJuan Smith each had 15 points to lead the Vols ... Randolph Morris led UK with 22 points and nine rebounds ... The Vols made just five of their 10 free throw attempts while Kentucky was 13-of-19 from the line ... The crowd of 24,108 was the sixth-largest in Thompson-Boling Arena history.

Looking Ahead At The SEC Tournament
Tennessee has secured a first round bye with the Eastern Division's No. 1 seed at the 2006 SEC Tournament in Nashville ... The Vols will play the winner of Thursday's game between the East's No. 5 seed and the West's No. 4 seed at noon (CST) Friday ... Entering this weekend's action, Georgia and South Carolina are battling for the fifth seed in the East ... In the West, Auburn, Ole Miss and Mississippi State are in the running for the fourth spot.

CollegeInsider.com Names Pearl SEC Coach Of The Year, Lofton MVP
CollegeInsider.com named Bruce Pearl its choice as SEC Coach of the Year on March 1 ... They also named UT sophomore Chris Lofton as the SEC's Most Valuable Player ... LSU's Glen Davis was named the SEC Player of the Year ... .

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.

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.

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 11-4 league record with one game remaining in the regular season secures 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.

Vols Win 20
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.

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 101 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, the former Kentucky Mr. Basketball has made 194 3-pointers.

Lofton Streaking At The Stripe
Chris Lofton is gradually approaching the school record for consecutive free throws made ... The sophomore guard has made 38 consecutive free throws ... 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 has made 36-of-36 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 94.4 percent (51-of-54) from the free throw line ... The only reason he does not qualify for the SEC leaders is because he is not averaging the minimum of 2.5 free throws per game to be listed ... He will need four free throw attempts against Vanderbilt to be eligible for the SEC conference games only stats.

There's Hot And Then There's Lofton
Over his last six games, Tennessee sophomore guard Chris Lofton is averaging 23.2 points per game on 63.6 percent (35-of-55) 3-point shooting ... During the six-game stretch, he is averaging 5.8 3-pointers per game ... In that time he has increased his scoring average by +1.8 points per game ... Entering the Kentucky (2/7/06) game the Maysville, Ky., native was averaging 15.7 points per game ... Now, he is averaging a team-best 17.5 points per game ... When talking about Lofton on Feb. 18, ESPN College Gameday analyst Jay Bilas quipped, "J.J. Redick who? This guy is in the conversation for best shooter in the country."

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 1,361 career points.
His 569 career assists are second only to Johnny Darden's (1975-79) 715 career assists. The 569 career assists rank 11th in Southeastern Conference history.
He ranks second in school history with 194 career steals. Vincent Yarbrough (1998-02) is UT's record holder with 211 career thefts.

Pearl Being Mentioned For Coach Of The Year
Having led the Vols to a 20-6 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.
SI.com's Grant Wahl wrote on Feb. 24, "You can hand Pearl the Coach of the Year trophy right now..."
FOXSports.com's Frank Burlison wrote, "he has to be considered the leading candidate for the COY hardware" on Feb. 11 and re-conformed the thought on Feb. 25.
The Orlando Sentinel's Mike Huguenin tabbed Pearl his national coach of the year choice on Feb. 26.
Seth Davis of SI.com listed Pearl as one of his 10 candidates for national coach of the year ... Davis selected Pearl No. 2 on his list, which was released Feb. 2.
ESPN.com's Pat Forde called Pearl the "Coach of the Year in college hoops" in his Jan. 22 column about UT's victory over second-ranked Florida.
Kevin Scarbinsky of the Birmingham News wrote, "Pearl is all but a lock to be named SEC coach of the year and contend for national honors" in a Jan. 23 column
Pearl was also the national coach of the year selection of the Syracuse (N.Y.) Post-Standard's Kim Baxter in a Jan. 29 article.
CSTV.com's Brian Curtis listed Pearl as his top choice for national coach of the year in a Feb. 21 column.

Pearl Is A League Leader
Against Vanderbilt, Bruce Pearl will be coaching his 57th consecutive regular season league game 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 entering his 15th SEC game at Tennessee ... With one regular season games remaining, the Vols have wrapped up the SEC's Eastern Division championship with an 11-4 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.

A Band Of Thieves
Tennessee's pressure defense has given its opponents all kinds of trouble this season as the Vols' opponents are averaging 18.7 turnovers per game.
UT leads the SEC in steals (10.23 spg) and turnover margin (+6.08).
Three Vols rank in the top seven in the SEC in steals. C.J. Watson (2.12 spg) and Chris Lofton are tied for second (2.12 spg) and Dane Bradshaw is seventh (1.85 spg).
Bradshaw leads the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.79) while Watson is second (2.22).
The Vols have had more assists than turnovers in 20 of their 26 games this year.
On the season, UT has 459 assists to 327 turnovers (1.40 assists-to-turnovers).
Conversely, the Vols' opponents have had more turnovers than assists in 18 of 26 games (0.86 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 196 3-pointers in 26 games this season ... UT leads the SEC and ranks 15th in the nation with 8.88 3-pointers per game ... The Vols are making 40.1 percent of their 3s, a figure that ranks first in the SEC and 17th nationally.
Lofton is leading the SEC and ranks third in the nation with 3.88 triples per game. He also leads the SEC with his 47.2 percent (101-of-214) shooting from behind the arc.
Watson has improved upon his 37.5 percent shooting last season to convert 42.9 (42-of-98) 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 53 3-pointers on the season.
Lofton, Watson and Smith are not the only 3-point bombers on the Vols' roster. Jordan Howell has made 41.2 percent (14-of-34) 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 22.4 points (581 points in 26 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	9.9	+8.0 ppg
Asumnu	2.4	8.5	+6.1 ppg
Wingate	5.0	10.3	+5.3 ppg
Bradshaw	3.0	7.3	+4.3 ppg
Lofton	13.2	17.4	+4.2 ppg
Watson	11.9	15.2	+3.5 ppg
Patterson	7.4	9.9	+2.5 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 34.8 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 Feb. 27 NCAA statistics. Following is where the Vols rank nationally:

Steals per game: 10.3 spg / 4th
Scoring offense: 82.4 ppg / 6th
Assists per game: 17.6 apg / 11th
3-pointers per game: 8.8 3pg /15th
3-point percentage: 39.9 percent / 17th
Turnovers per game: 12.6 tpg / 30th
Scoring margin: +8.6 ppg / 36th
3-pointers per game: Chris Lofton - 3.9 3pg / 3rd

3-point percentage: Chris Lofton - 47.3 % / 5th

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

Tennessee is ranked 11th by the Associated Press and 11th by ESPN/USA Today in the Feb. 27 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 five games this season ... Four 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.
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.

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 609-484 mark in league games ... Only Kentucky (832) and Alabama (684) have won more SEC games.

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).

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).

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

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.

Can I Get A Witness?
Tennessee saw a huge 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
Tennessee ranks second in the SEC in home attendance with an average of 17,954. Kentucky leads the league with 22,651.
The Vols' attendance of 17,954 this season is an increase of 5,064 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.

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 15.2 points and 4.19 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 569.
His 569 career assists are second all-time at UT and 11th on the SEC's career lists. Auburn's Wes Flanigan (1994-97) ranks 10th in SEC history with 573 career assists.
Watson's 4.19 assists per game are currently eighth 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 17.4 points per game ... He is making an SEC-best 3.88 3-pointers per game and is shooting 47.2 percent from behind the arc ... He also ranks in a tie for second in the SEC with 2.12 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).
101 triples this season are a school record. They rank in a tie for sixth on the SEC's single-season list.
Just a sophomore, he ranks fifth all-time at UT with 194 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 94.4 percent (51-of-54) from the free throw line on the season. In conference play, he is shooting 100.0 percent (36-of-36) from the stripe.
He ranks in a tie for first on the team and a tie for second in the Southeastern Conference with 2.12 steals per game. Two times this season he has had five steals in a game.
Lofton is third on the team with 50 assists on the season. Five times he has had four assists in a game this year.
The Maysville, Ky., native ranks fourth in the SEC with 17.4 points per game on the season. In league games, his 17.9 points are 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 (4.1), rebounding (5.8 rpg), and is third in steals (1.9 spg) and blocks (0.4 bpg).
His assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.79 leads the SEC.
His 1.85 steals per game are seventh in the SEC.
His 4.08 assists per game are ninth 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 18 of UT's 26 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 54.8 (108-of-197) field goal percentage on the season. In SEC games he has improved that number to 57.9 percent (55-of-95).

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 24.3 minutes per game this season ... Already this year he has tied or established new career marks for scoring (19), rebounds (7), assists (6), steals (4), blocks (1) and minutes played (29) ... Smith, who has been the first player off the bench in 25 of Tennessee's 26 games this season, is averaging 9.9 points per game ... His 53 3-pointers are second and his 49 assists are fourth 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 11 games since gaining a starting spot, the 6-foot-7 senior is averaging 10.1 points and 7.9 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 7.7 points and 2.6 rebounds in those 11 games ... Most impressively, the Houston native is shooting 57.1 percent (40-of-70) from the field over his last 11 outings ... On the season, he is averaging 8.5 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.
A career 39.7 percent shooter entering this season, Asumnu is connecting on 51.3 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 8.5 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 fastbreak, 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 337-90 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 1,361 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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