University of Tennessee Athletics
VOLS LOOK TO TAME THE TIGERS TONIGHT ON THE PLAINS
January 17, 2007 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 17, 2007
Coming off two heartbreaking defeats, Tennessee looks to avoid giving Bruce Pearl the first three-game losing streak of his coaching career when the Vols return to SEC play Wednesday night against Auburn.
The No. 22 Vols (13-3, 1-1) are in the midst of a tough three-game road stretch. It hasn't gone well, as Tennessee fell 82-81 at Vanderbilt last Wednesday on Shan Foster's putback as time expired, and followed up that loss with a 68-66 defeat to then-No. 5 Ohio State on Saturday.
The Vols lost when Ron Lewis hit a 3-pointer with 11.2 seconds remaining.
Chris Lofton, the SEC's leading scorer, gave Tennessee a chance to win by scoring 23 points, including eight of his team's final nine. The Vols had a chance to answer Lewis' basket on an off-balance shot by Ramar Smith, but he missed with three seconds left.
"Ramar's good at taking it to the basket. He got a decent look," said Pearl, whose team is in the midst of playing five of six games on the road. "And his head was up - maybe someone leaves a shooter (open) and we make the shot."
Pearl has been a head coach for 15 seasons with three teams - two with the Vols - and has never suffered three consecutive losses. Tennessee dropped two in a row on Nov. 22 and 24, but responded with nine consecutive victories before its latest two-game skid.
For the Vols to avoid a third straight defeat, they'll have to beat Auburn at Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum, where they are 2-4 in their last six visits. Tennessee, which hasn't dropped three in a row since Feb. 9-Feb. 19, 2005, is 1-2 on the road this season.
"Road wins are sweet and hard to come by," Pearl said. "We've been in all the games and had a chance to win. But we need to make the transition from having a chance to win to actually winning."
The Vols, though, have won seven of the last nine overall meetings with Auburn (11-7, 1-2).
Tennessee is shooting 45.4 percent from the field, but against the Buckeyes shot 39.1 percent (27-for-69) , including an abysmal 7-for-31 (22.6) from 3-point range. The Vols were also 5-of-11 from the free-throw line.
Auburn will be trying for the fifth time to beat a ranked team this season. The Tigers again failed to knock off a Top 25 opponent Saturday, falling 65-63 at then-No. 13 LSU.
Despite shooting just 39.3 percent for the game and going 5-of-18 on 3-pointers, the Tigers forced 10 turnovers in the first half and took a four-point lead at the break. LSU, though, went up for good with 7:42 remaining in the game on Glen Davis' jumper.
Auburn had a chance to win, but Kelvin Lewis' 3-pointer rattled out with three seconds left as the Tigers suffered their second straight loss.
"We kept our poise and played with some toughness," coach Jeff Lebo said. "We had a shot to win and I thought that thing was halfway down when it came out. That's the best we've played on the road against a high-level league team."
Rasheem Barrett, who leads Auburn with 12.8 points per game, finished with 18, while Quan Prowell added 12 in his second start of the season.
The Tigers have shot a combined 33.1 percent from the floor in the last two losses, while allowing opponents to shoot 48.1 percent. They're going up against a Tennessee team that's one of SEC's most potent offensively, as the Vols average 84.5 points - among the top 10 in the nation.
