UT-Georgia Game Notes

Tennessee		Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	APG
F	1 Tyler Smith	6-7	215	So.	13.5	6.1	3.7
F	4 Wayne Chism	6-9	242	So.	8.9	6.0	1.1
G	5 Chris Lofton	6-2	200	Sr.	15.3	3.3	2.0
G	2 JaJuan Smith	6-2	195	Sr.	15.0	3.3	2.0
G	12 Ramar Smith	6-2	200	So.	8.0	2.3	3.3
Georgia		Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	APG
F	50 Jeremy Price	6-8	270	Fr.	9.0	4.8	0.6
C	44 Dave Bliss	6-10	255	Sr.	7.7	5.2	0.6
G	2 Sundiata Gaines	6-1	205	Sr.	14.6	6.4	4.1
G	5 Zac Swansey	6-1	175	So.	4.3	1.4	1.8
G	30 Terrance Woodbury	6-7	220	Jr.	9.5	3.6	1.5

UT looking for first 10-1 SEC start since 2006

Tennessee begins the second round of games against SEC Eastern Division opponents when the Vols travel to Athens, Ga., to meet the Georgia Bulldogs at 3 p.m. EST, Saturday, Feb. 16.
UT took an 85-69 win in this season???s first meeting with Georgia on Jan. 26 in Knoxville. Chris Lofton made seven 3-pointers and finished the game with 27 points to lead the Vols against the Bulldogs.
The Vols extended their winning streak to six games with a 93-71 victory over Arkansas on Wednesday, Feb. 13. JaJuan Smith tied his career-high with 32 points and tied a school record with a 6-of-6 effort from 3-point range. Duke Crews recorded his first double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds while Tyler Smith and Wayne Chism each added 15 points.
UT???s 22-2 start is the best 24-game start in school history. Tennessee reached the 20-win milestone faster than any previous team in school history.
Chris Lofton broke the SEC record for career 3-pointers at Kentucky (1/22/08) and ranks seventh in NCAA history with 392 career triples. The Maysville, Ky., native has heated up as of late, making 46.1 percent (35-of-76) of his long-range shots in SEC play.
JaJuan Smith has played a key role in each of the Vols??? last two games. Against LSU he stole the ball and went in for the game-winning layup with 11 seconds left to give the Vols a 47-45 win. His 32 points against Arkansas are tied for the second-most in a game by an SEC player this season. Smith is second on the team with 15.0 points and is shooting 38.5 percent from 3-point range on the season.
UT leads the SEC in scoring (84.1 ppg), scoring margin (+15.1), assists (19.13 apg), steals (10.54 spg), turnover margin (+7.17), assist-turnover ratio (1.49), 3-point field goals made (9.50 3pg) and 3-point field goal defense (.290).
Leading the SEC in scoring is nothing new for the Vols under head coach Bruce Pearl. Pearl???s teams have led their league in scoring 15 of his 16 years as a head coach, including each of his first two at UT.

Tennessee Trends

Tennessee has started with a 9-1 record in league play for the second time in three years. The Vols opened SEC play with a 10-1 record in 2005-06.
Tennessee???s 22 wins this season are tied for the third-most in school history.
Bruce Pearl???s 68 wins in his first three years at Tennessee are the most by a Tennessee coach in his first three seasons in Knoxville. Jerry Green had held the record by posting a 67-25 record from 1997-2000.
UT has won nine games away from home this season (9-2). That is the most regular season wins away from home since the 2000-01 squad posted a 9-6 away from Thompson-Boling Arena.
Tennessee has outrebounded each of its last six opponents and owns a +5.5 rebounding advantage during those games. The Vols are averaging 16.5 offensive rebounds during the six-game stretch.
Chris Lofton was named the SEC Player of the Week on Feb. 11 after leading the Vols to wins over Florida and LSU. Lofton has earned more SEC POW awards (7) than any other player in league history.
Chris Lofton saw his streak of five consecutive games with 20 or more points come to an end at LSU (2/9/08) when he finished with 15 points. It was the second-longest streak of his career (six in 2006-07).
Chris Lofton broke Pat Bradley???s (Arkansas 1996-99) SEC career record of 915 shots from behind the arc. Lofton has made an SEC-record 392 of his 919 3-point attempts.
Chris Lofton is shooting 48.6 percent (34-of-70) from 3-point range in his last eight games.
Tennessee???s last 10 opponents have combined to shoot 48-of-188 (25.5 percent) from 3-point range. Vanderbilt entered its Jan. 17 game against 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.
Only one Vol has fouled out of Tennessee???s first 24 games despite having a player record their fourth foul 37 times.
UT???s schedule is ranked as the second-most difficult in the nation by kenpom.com.
Tennessee is averaging 23.8 points per game off turnovers this season (572 points in 24 games).
Tennessee is the only team in the SEC that does not have a player ranked among the league???s top 30 in minutes played. UT has eight players averaging at least 17 minutes per game.
Tennessee has forced an average of 20.0 turnovers off an SEC-best 10.5 steals per game this year.
UT is leading the SEC with 19.1 assists per game.
Five different players have led the Vols in scoring this season.
UT???s home attendance has grown for the third consecutive year. The Vols are averaging 20,021 fans per game, up from 19,661 last season.
Tennessee is 42-2 at Thompson-Boling Arena since the start of the 2005-06 season.
UT has a 29-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 14-6 against ranked teams while at Tennessee.
The Vols have made at least one 3-pointer in 343 consecutive games.
Under Bruce Pearl, UT is 61-5 when leading or tied with five minutes left in the game.
UT is 46-4 when scoring 80 or more points under the direction of Bruce Pearl.
UT is 37-14 (.726) when playing before crowds of 20,000 or larger at Thompson-Boling Arena. In 2007-08 the Vols are 7-0 playing in front of 20,000 fans at home.
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 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.
Tennessee has an all-time record of 1,413-905-2 in its 99th season of basketball.
UT???s 629 regular season SEC victories rank third all-time in the SEC. Only Kentucky and Alabama have won more league games.
Tennessee is 242-86 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.

Lofton Breaks SEC 3-Point Record; Ranks 7th In NCAA History

Chris Lofton became the Southeastern Conference???s all-time 3-point leader against Kentucky (1/22/08), passing Arkansas??? Pat Bradley ... Lofton???s 392 career treys rank first in SEC history and are seventh all time in the NCAA record books ... He needs eight 3-pointers become just the seventh player in NCAA history with 400 career triples ... The senior has made 79 3-pointers this season ... He holds Tennessee career records for 3-pointers made (392), attempted (919) and percentage (.427).

He ranks second in the SEC with an .863 free throw percentage.
Second in the SEC with 3.29 3-pointers per game.
His 79 3-pointers this year are ninth on UT???s single-season lists. He holds four of the top 10 single season marks in school history.
Is shooting 46.1 percent from 3-point range in SEC games.
Last eight games is shooting 48.6 percent (34-of-70) from 3-point range.
Broke the SEC record for career 3-point attempts at LSU (2/9/08). Has 919 career 3-point attempts.

Crashing The Boards

Tennessee has hit the boards in its last five games ... The Vols held a -1.5 rebounding margin through their first 19 games but have outrebounded their last five opponents by an average of +6.0 (203-173) rebounds per game ... 43 percent (88-of-203) of UT???s boards during the five-game stretch have come at the offensive end.

Turning Up The Heat

Tennessee is forcing its opponents to turn the ball over an average of 20.0 times per game which ranks as the third-most in the nation (as of Feb. 14) ... The Vols are averaging 23.8 points per game off turnovers this season (572 points in 24 games) ... UT???s turnover margin of +7.17 easily leads the SEC.

Looking At Georgia

Georgia enters Saturday???s game with a 12-10 overall record and a 3-6 mark in SEC action ... The Bulldogs are coming off an impressive 82-64 victory over South Carolina Wednesday night in Athens ... Senior guard Sundiata Gaines leads the ???Dogs with 14.6 points, 6.4 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game ... Gaines recently became the only player in UGA history to record 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 400 assists in his career ... His 240 career steals are the most in school history ... Gaines is averaging 29.5 points in his last two games, including a career-high 32 points against Florida (2/9/08) ... Terrance Woodbury is adding 9.5 points ... Senior center Dave Bliss adds 7.7 points and 5.2 rebounds ... The Bulldogs have played their last two games with just eight scholarship players (nine total) available following the suspension of Billy Humphrey ... A 6-foot-2 junior guard, Humphrey was averaging 13.1 points and 3.5 rebounds prior to the suspension ... The Bulldogs are playing their fourth home game in their last five outings ... UGA is 11-2 at home this year ... Georgia is allowing just 65.9 points per game, the third-best total in the SEC ... The Bulldogs rank third in the SEC with 7.50 steals per game ... Dennis Felton is 70-73 in his fifth year in Athens and 170-127 in his 10th season as a head coach.

Lofton Approaching 2,000-Point Milestone

Chris Lofton needs 62 points to become the sixth Vol to score 2,000 career points ... The senior has scored 1,938 points in 116 career games ... He would become the first Vol to reach the milestone since Allan Houston (1989-93) and the first Southeastern Conference player since South Carolina???s B.J. McKie (2,119 points) reached the mark during the 1998-99 season ... Other Vols who have scored 2,000 points include: Houston (2,801), Ernie Grunfeld (2,249), Tony White (2,219), Reggie Johnson (2,103) and Dale Ellis (2,065).

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 leads the SEC with 84.1 points per game but leading scorer Chris Lofton ranks 14th in the league individually with 15.3 points ... Tennessee also leads the SEC and the nation with 19.1 assists per game but UT leader Tyler Smith ranks ninth with 3.7 assists per game.

The Vols have had four or more players reach double figure scoring in a game 13 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 Feb. 10 NCAA statistics.

Assists per game: 19.2 apg / 1st
Assist-Turnover Ratio: 1.49 / 2nd
Steals per game: 10.7 spg / 2nd
Scoring offense: 83.7 ppg / 6th
3-pointers per game: 9.6 3pg / 6th
Scoring margin: 14.8 / 7th
3-pointers per game: Chris Lofton - 3.4 3pg / 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 26.0 3-point shots per game this season ... 40.7 percent (624 of 1,535) of the Vols??? shots have been from 3-point range ... UT leads the SEC with 9.50 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 392 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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