University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
17-8, 5-5SEC
Vanderbilt
16-8, 6-4SEC
VOLS LOOK TO TAKE DOWN 23RD-RANKED COMMODORES
February 10, 2007 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 10, 2007
Vanderbilt survived a big game from Chris Lofton the first time it played Tennessee this season. Now the Commodores will have a tougher challenge as they face the Volunteers and their star on the road Saturday in a SEC matchup.
The No. 23 Commodores (16-7, 6-3 SEC East) are 3-4 away from home, while the Volunteers (16-8, 4-5 East) are 12-0 on their home court, posting wins over Memphis, Texas, Georgia and most recently, 70-67 over LSU on Tuesday.
Despite its overall road struggles, Vanderbilt does have wins at Kentucky and LSU. It lost 74-64 at top-ranked Florida on Jan. 31 in its most recent conference road game, squandering an 11-point halftime lead.
A putback by Shan Foster at the buzzer gave the Commodores an 82-81 win over the then-No. 16 Volunteers on Jan. 10 despite 29 points from Lofton, who was 11-for-15 shooting from the field and 6-for-7 from 3-point range.
Lofton, who leads the SEC in scoring at 20.9 points per game, returned Tuesday after missing four games with a sprained ankle. He scored just eight points and was limited to 21 minutes against LSU, but made three free throws to open game.
"Just having Chris Lofton out there, and him making those three free throws to start the game was big," said Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl, whose team went 1-3 without Lofton.
The Commodores are playing with confidence after being ranked in the Top 25 for the second straight week. They won for the fifth time in their last six games, 66-61 over Georgia last Saturday in their most recent contest.
Leading scorer Derrick Byars had 20 points - slightly over his 16.2 average. Byars had 25 against Tennessee last month.
Senior Dan Cage scored all 19 of his points in the second half and was 7-for-8 from the free-throw line despite missing his first seven shots from the field.
"I was completely out of rhythm," Cage said. "I might as well as had a Georgia Bulldog jersey on because I was killing us. Luckily, I was able to hit a couple free throws and get going a bit and in the end be able to do some things to help us win."
Vanderbilt won despite shooting 39.3 percent from the field and being outrebounded 39-32.
"Good teams find ways to win," Cage said. "There are days when you aren't shooting the ball well and you have to find ways to win. We'd like to think that we can earn a reputation that when it does get ugly, we can fight through it and come out with a win."
Tennessee has not won consecutive games since beating East Tennessee State on Dec. 30 and Mississippi State on Jan. 7. The Volunteers are 3-6 since those wins and 2-3 against ranked teams this season.
With a game under his belt, Lofton should bring more energy to his team than he did Tuesday.
"It was great to be out there with my teammates," Lofton said. "I was limited, but I played okay. I couldn't drive or push off on my ankle. It is going to hurt but at this point in the season, you have to play. I will not be 100 percent Saturday, but I will be ready to go."
Tennessee handled LSU despite shooting 38.6 percent from the field and 23.8 from 3-point range. The Volunteers did hold Tigers center Glen Davis to a season-low five points and had 15 steals.
"It was a good team effort," Pearl said. "It was another big crowd and I am excited about the large crowd we should have for Saturday's game. Vanderbilt is a good team and they will come in here prepared."
