UT-Georgia Game Notes

Tennessee		Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	APG
F	1 Tyler Smith	6-7	215	So.	12.8	5.9	3.4
F	4 Wayne Chism	6-9	242	So.	9.0	5.9	1.1
G	5 Chris Lofton	6-2	200	Sr.	13.8	3.2	2.1
G	2 JaJuan Smith	6-2	195	Sr.	14.4	3.2	2.5
G	15 Jordan Howell	6-2	200	So.	6.6	1.3	2.7
Georgia		Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	APG
F	50 Jeremy Price	6-8	270	Fr.	9.6	4.7	0.5
C	44 Dave Bliss	6-10	255	Sr.	6.6	4.6	0.6
G	2 Sundiata Gaines	6-1	205	Sr.	12.8	5.7	4.4
G	30 Terrance Woodbury	6-7	220	Jr.	8.9	3.4	1.6
G	31 Billy Humphrey	6-2	190	Jr.	14.1	3.9	1.5

Lofton needs four triples to move into the NCAA top 10 all-time

The Tennessee Volunteers will play host to the Georgia Bulldogs at 7 p.m. (EST) Saturday, Jan. 26, at Thompson-Boling Arena in a showdown of SEC Eastern Division foes.
Tennessee dropped to 16-2 on the season and 3-1 in league play with a 66-72 loss at Kentucky on Tuesday, Jan. 19. The loss ended the Vols??? 11-game winning streak that started back in November. UT made just three field goals in the final 10 minutes and was held to its lowest scoring output of the season. Chris Lofton led the Vols with 22 points while Wayne Chism added 12 and Ramar Smith chipped in 10.
Chris Lofton???s five three pointers against Kentucky improved his career total to 367, passing Arkansas??? Pat Bradley (366 from 1995-99) at the top of the SEC???s career 3-point lists. The Maysville, Ky., native ranks 12th in NCAA history and needs just four triples to move into the top 10 all-time.
The UK game started a stretch where the Vols play three out of four games on the road. After playing Georgia, Tennessee will go on a Western Division swing with games at Alabama and Mississippi State next week. UT will return home Feb. 5 to host Florida.
Tennessee???s 26-game homecourt winning streak is the third-longest in school history and is the fifth longest active streak in the nation. The Vols are 39-2 at Thompson-Boling Arena under the direction of Bruce Pearl.
UT leads the SEC in assists (19.56 apg), steals (11.06 spg), turnover margin (+8.17), assist-turnover ratio (1.61), 3-point field goals made (9.39 3pg) and 3-point field goal defense (.288). The Vols rank third in the league with 84.5 points per game, less than half a point behind league leader Vanderbilt???s 84.9 points.
JaJuan Smith???s 14.4 points leads a balanced Tennessee scoring attack that features six players averaging nine or more points per game. He is averaging 14.3 points and 5.5 rebounds in SEC play.
Georgia enters Saturday???s contest with an 11-5 overall record and a 2-1 mark in league play. The Bulldogs are coming off consecutive wins over Alabama (61-54) and Arkansas (82-69).

Tennessee Trends

Tennessee???s last four opponents have combined to shoot 14-of-77 (18.2 percent) from 3-point range. Vanderbilt entered its Jan. 17 gameagainst the Vols as the SEC???s top 3-point shooting team but made just 3-of-21 and Ohio State went 2-of-20 behind the arc.
Ramar Smith is averaging 5.7 assists in his last three games, including a nine-assist performance against 16th-rank Vanderbilt.
UT???s schedule is ranked as the second-most difficult in the nation by kenpom.com
Tennessee is averaging 24.2 points per game off turnovers this season (436 points in 18 games).
No UT player ranks among the SEC???s top 30 in minutes played. UT has eight players averaging at least 17 minutes per game.
Tennessee has forced an average of 20.3 turnovers off an SEC-best 11.1 steals per game this year.
UT is leading the SEC with 19.6 assists per game.
Tennessee is the only state in the nation with three Top 15 teams within its borders. Memphis is No. 1, Tennessee is No. 3 and Vanderbilt is No. 14.
Five different players have led the Vols in scoring this season.
UT???s 80-56 win at South Carolina (1/12/08) is the Vols??? largest SEC road win since an 87-63 win at Mississippi State (2/17/98). It is tied for the seventh largest SEC road win in school history.
UT???s home attendance has grown for the third consecutive year. The Vols are averaging 19,912 fans per game, up from 19,661 last season.
Chris Lofton???s 1,821 career points rank eighth on UT???s all-time scorers list.
Tennessee is 39-2 at Thompson-Boling Arena since the start of the 2005-06 season.
UT has a 26-game home court 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 23-0 in non-conference home games under Bruce Pearl.
Bruce Pearl is 12-6 against ranked teams while at Tennessee.
The Vols have made at least one 3-pointer in 337 consecutive games.
Under Bruce Pearl, UT is 55-5 when leading or tied with five minutes left in the game.
UT is 42-4 when scoring 80 or more points under the direction of Bruce Pearl.
UT is 34-14 (.708) 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.
UT???s 69-point (109-40) win over Middle Tennessee (11/20/07) is the second-largest margin of victory in school history.
The Vols tied a school record with 16 3-pointers against Middle Tennessee (11/20/07). Their 30 assists were one dime shy of tying a school record.
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 has an all-time record of 1,407-905-2 in its 99th season of basketball.
UT???s 623 regular season SEC victories rank third all-time in the SEC. Only Kentucky and Alabama have won more league games.
Tennessee is 239-86 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.

Vols Riding 26-Game Home Win Streak

Tennessee???s 26-game home winning streak is the Vols??? longest in more than three decades and is the third-longest in school history ... The last team to leave Knoxville with a win was Kentucky after an 80-78 decision on March 1, 2006 ... The Vols were 16-0 at home in 2006-07 ... In his third season at UT, Bruce Pearl is 38-2 in Thompson-Boling Arena ... As of Jan. 24, Tennessee???s 26-game streak was the fifth longest in NCAA Division I.

Tennessee Triplets

The senior trio of Chris Lofton, JaJuan Smith and Jordan Howell have comprised to make Tennessee one of the most dangerous 3-point shooting teams in the nation ... The threesome are a key reason the Vols lead the SEC and rank among the national leaders with 9.39 3-pointers per game ... All three players rank among the SEC leaders in terms of 3-pointers made per game ... Lofton leads the team and ranks second in the SEC with 3.00 triples per game ... Smith is fifth with 2.61 and Howell is 18th with 1.67 treys per game.

Turning Up The Heat

Tennessee is forcing its opponents to turn the ball over an average of 20.3 times per game which ranks as the third-most in the nation (as of Jan. 24) ... The Vols are averaging 24.2 points per game off turnovers this season (436 points in 18 games) ... UT???s turnover margin of +8.17 easily leads the SEC.

Looking At Georgia

Georgia has won each of its last two games to improve to 11-5 on the season and 2-1 in league play ... The Bulldogs have not played since an 82-69 victory over Arkansas on Saturday, Jan. 19 ... Georgia outrebounded the Razorbacks 33-32 ... UGA also holds a 61-54 win over Alabama ... The Bulldogs are led by junior guard Billy Humphrey???s 14.1 points per game ... Humphrey, who has led the ???Dogs in scoring five of their last six games, posted a game-high 24 points against Arkansas ... He ranks fourth in the SEC with a .416 3-point percentage ... Senior guard Sundiata Gaines is the only player in UGA history to amass 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 400 assists in his career ... Gaines, who is the school???s all-time leader in steals, ranks third in the SEC with 2.19 steals per game ... At just 6-foot-1, Gaines leads the Bulldogs with 5.7 rebounds per game ... Jeremey Price is the reigning SEC Freshman of the Week after totalling 25 points in wins over Alabama and Arkansas ... On the season Price is averaging 9.6 points and is second on the team with 4.7 rebounds ... Georgia brings one of the SEC???s top defenses, ranking third in the league in scoring defense (64.5 ppg), field goal percentage defense (.410) and steals (8.19 spg) while ranking fourth in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.318) ... Dennis Felton is 69-68 in his fifth year in Athens and 169-122 in his 10th season as a head coach.

Balanced Offense

Tennessee is one of the top scoring teams in the Southeastern Conference but does not list a single player among the top 10 scorers in the league ... UT ranks third in the SEC with 84.5 points per game but leading scorer JaJuan Smith ranks 15th in the league individually with 14.4 points ... Tennessee also leads the SEC and the nation with 19.6 assists per game but UT leader Tyler Smith ranks 12th with 3.44 assists per game ... Six Vols are averaging at least two assists per game for the year.

UT has had a player score 20 or more points just six times this season.
The Vols have had four or more players reach double figure scoring in a game 12 times this year. Five or more players scored at least 10 points four times.

Vols Lead The Nation in Assists

UT is prominently listed among the national leaders according to the January 20 NCAA statistics.

Assists per game: 20.2 apg / 1st
Assist-Turnover Ratio: 1.64 / 1st
Steals per game: 11.4 spg / 2nd
Scoring offense: 85.6 ppg / 5th
3-pointers per game: 9.5 3pg / 8th9th
Scoring margin: 17.4 / 8th
Turnovers per game: 12.4 / 19th

It Doesn???t Rain 3s, It Pours Them

The 3-point shot has been a key part of Tennessee???s repertoire under Bruce Pearl ... The Vols are averaging 26.8 3-point shots per game this season ... 41.8 percent (483 of 1,157) of the Vols??? shots have been from 3-point range ... UT leads the SEC with 9.39 3-pointers made per game on the year ... 13 different Vols have made a 3-pointer this season.

Tennessee???s 50 3-point attempts against North Carolina A&T (11/27/07) shattered the school record of 37 and are the third-most in SEC history. The Vols??? 37 3-point attempts at UT-Chattanooga (12/4/07) are tied for the second-most in school history.
The Vols have tied the school record for 3-pointers made in a game with 16 two times this season. They performed the feat less than a week between games, doing it against Middle Tennessee State (11/20/07) and then against Texas (11/24/07).
Chris Lofton is the SEC???s career leader with 367 3-pointers.
Lofton broke his own single-game record for attempts by going 8-of-20 from 3-point range against North Carolina A&T (11/27/07). It tied for the third highest number of attempts in SEC history.
Lofton???s eight 3-pointers against North Carolina A&T are tied for second-most in school history. Lofton already holds the school record with nine triples in a game against Georgia his sophomore season.
JaJuan Smith???s seven 3-pointers against Middle Tennessee (11/20/07) rank in a tie for fourth on UT???s single-game lists.

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