University of Tennessee Athletics
Game Preview: UAM vs. Tennessee
November 12, 2007 | Men's Basketball
| Tennessee (1-0) | Ht. | Wt. | Yr. | PPG | RPG | APG | |
| F | 1 Tyler Smith | 6-7 | 215 | So. | 9.0 | 3.0 | 5.0 |
| F | 4 Wayne Chism | 6-9 | 242 | So. | 11.0 | 6.0 | 1.0 |
| G | 5 Chris Lofton | 6-2 | 200 | Sr. | 10.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| G | 2 JaJuan Smith | 6-2 | 195 | Sr. | 15.0 | 3.0 | 0.0 |
| G | 12 Ramar Smith | 6-2 | 200 | So. | 14.0 | 3.0 | 1.0 |
| Ark.-Monticello (0-0) | Ht. | Wt. | Yr. | PPG | RPG | APG | |
| F | 21 Byron Wickes | 6-6 | 215 | Jr. | -- | -- | -- |
| F | 24 Derek Easter | 6-6 | 190 | So. | -- | -- | -- |
| G | 4 Deron Brown | 5-10 | 165 | Jr. | -- | -- | -- |
| G | 20 Justin Johnson | 6-4 | 200 | Fr. | -- | -- | -- |
| G | 23 Derek Sturdivant | 6-1 | 210 | Jr. | -- | -- | -- |
UT Faces UAM in Legends Classic
- Tennessee continues its four-game homestand to open the 2007-08 season when the Vols play host to the Arkansas-Monticello Boll Weevils at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 14, at Thompson-Boling Arena. The game against the Boll Weevils will be the first of two on-campus games for the Vols in the StubHub Legends Classic. UT will host Prairie View A&M Friday, Nov. 16, before advancing to Newark, N.J., where the Vols will meet West Virginia and then either New Mexico State or Texas in championship round action.
- The Vols opened the 2007-08 season and a newly renovated Thompson-Boling Arena with an 80-63 victory over Temple on Friday, Nov. 9. JaJuan Smith led all scorers with 15 points to go with five steals while Ramar Smith chipped in 14 points. Wayne Chism added 11 points while Chris Lofton had 10. UT forced 23 turnovers on 10 steals against the Owls.
- The Vols have now won nine straight season-openers and are 20-2 in their last 22 season-openers. UT has won 40 of its last 42 home-openers and has a 16-game winning streak in home-openers.
- This will be the first meeting between Tennessee and Arkansas-Monticello.
- The Boll Weevils will be fielding almost an entirely new team this season. UAM returns just two letterwinners from a team that posted a 9-17 overall record last season. Twelve played will be making their debuts in Arkansas-Monticello uniforms this season.
- The Vols enter 2007-08 with their highest preseason ranking in school history. UT is ranked No. 7 in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today polls. The highest preseason ranking before this year came in 1975-76, 1998-99 and 2000-01 when the Vols were ranked No. 9 by the Associated Press.
- A panel of SEC and national media has tabbed the Vols as the preseason favorite to win the Southeastern Conference championship this season. Chris Lofton was named the preseason SEC Player of the Year and Tyler Smith was a second team all-conference selection by the panel.
- The Vols return a total of eight letterwinners, including four starters, from last year???s squad that posted a 24-11 overall record and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
Tennessee Trends
- Chris Lofton and JaJuan Smith were the highest scoring duo in the Southeastern Conference in 2006-07. Lofton averaged 20.8 points while Smith added 15.2 points.
- Tennessee is 30-2 at Thompson-Boling Arena over the last two seasons.
- UT has a 17-game homecourt winning streak. The Vols??? last home loss was a 78-80 decision to Kentucky in the final home game of the 2005-06 season.
- The Vols are 16-0 in non-conference home games under Bruce Pearl.
- Bruce Pearl is 9-5 against ranked teams while at Tennessee.
- The Vols have made at least one 3-pointer in 320 consecutive games.
- Under Bruce Pearl, UT is 41-4 when leading or tied with five minutes left in the game.
- UT is 30-4 when scoring 80 or more points under the direction of Bruce Pearl.
- UT is 30-14 (.682) when playing before crowds of 20,000 or larger at Thompson-Boling Arena. In 2006-07 the Vols were 6-0 playing in front of 20,000 fans at home.
- Tennessee has an all-time record of 1,392-903-2 in its 99th season of basketball.
- UT???s 620 regular season SEC victories rank third all-time in the SEC. Only Kentucky and Alabama have won more league games.
- Tennessee is 230-86 in its 21st season in Thompson-Boling Arena. The Vols have winning home records in 18 of their 20 seasons in the facility.
- Tennessee is the only Division I school ever to rank in the top five nationally in attendance for football, men???s basketball and women???s basketball in the same season. The Vols turned the trick for the fourth time in 2006-07.
The StubHub Legends Classic
The StubHub Legends Classic features 11 teams competing in on-campus events around the country ... New Mexico State, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia will each play a pair of games on their respective campuses before advancing to the New York metropolitan area over Thanksgiving weekend to face off for the StubHub Legends Classic championship at the new Prudential Center ... The 18,000 seat Prudential Center is the first major sports venue built in the New York metropolitan area since the Continental Airlines Arena opened in 1981 ... Other teams competing in on-campus only games include Arkansas-Monticello, UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, Jarvis Christian, La Verne, LeMoyne-Owen and Prairie View A&M ... The Northeast Conference serves as the host conference of the event while the Princeton, N.J., based Gazelle Group operates the Legends Classic.
Vols Bring Back Stripes
Tennessee went retro with their warm-ups in the season-opener against Temple ... The Vols wore orange and white striped warm-up pants that are reminiscent of those worn during the Ray Mears (1962-67) era ... UT will wear the warm-ups for the rest of the season.
UT Continues Season-Opening Success
Tennessee has won its season-opener in each of the last nine seasons, including an 80-63 win over Temple this season ... In their last 22 season-openers, the Vols have recorded a 20-2 record ... The only teams to post a win over the Vols in that time were No. 18 Arizona (73-72 on Nov. 13, 1998) and East Tennessee State (87-79 on Nov. 25, 1991).
Vols Receive Highest Preseason Ranking
Tennessee???s No. 7 ranking in the preseason Associated Press poll is the highest preseason ranking the Vols have ever received ... UT was also ranked seventh in the preseason ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll ... Before this year, the highest Tennessee had ever been rated in the Associated Press poll was No. 9 (1975-76, 1998-99 and 2000-01).
TBA Gets A New Look
The University of Tennessee invested more than $35 million into its basketball facilities between the end of the 2006-07 season and the start of the 2007-08 campaign ... During that eight-month period UT added a basketball-only practice facility and began the first phase of renovations to Thompson-Boling Arena ... The $19 million first phase of renovation to Thompson-Boling Arena included the addition of 32 luxury suites that are located in the existing north balcony, a loge area just below the luxury suites that includes 166 side court seats, new seats for the entire arena, a $3 million center hung scoreboard and concourse refurbishments, such as graphics and other amenities ... After the renovations, Thompson-Boling???s capacity is now 21,678 ... A state-of-art basketball practice facility, Pratt Pavilion houses two full-size gymnasiums, one for each of the men???s and women???s basketball teams, as well as space for an athletic training room, a weight room and a film study room.
SEC Media Favors The Vols
A select panel of both SEC and national media members chose Tennessee as the preseason favorite to win its ninth Southeastern Conference men???s basketball championship ... The 30-member media panel unanimously picked the Vols to win the SEC East ... Chris Lofton was the overwhelming choice for SEC Player of the Year, garnering 27 of the 30 votes ... Sophomore transfer Tyler Smith received one vote for Player of the Year and was selected to the preseason second team ... Lofton was joined on the first team by Richard Hendrix (Alabama), Patrick Beverley (Arkansas), Jamont Gordon (Mississippi State) and Shan Foster (Vanderbilt).
