UT-Auburn Game Notes

Tennessee		Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	APG
F	1 Tyler Smith	6-7	215	So.	13.4	6.2	3.8
F	4 Wayne Chism	6-9	242	So.	9.2	6.1	1.0
G	5 Chris Lofton	6-2	200	Sr.	15.5	3.3	2.0
G	2 JaJuan Smith	6-2	195	Sr.	14.4	3.2	2.5
G	12 Ramar Smith	6-2	200	So.	7.9	2.4	3.3
Auburn		Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	APG
F	24 Quan Prowell	6-8	215	Sr.	14.3	5.9	1.7
G	1 Frank Tolbert	6-4	210	Sr.	12.8	5.2	2.3
G	12 DeWayne Reed	6-1	175	So.	9.9	2.9	3.9
G	21 Rasheem Barrett	6-5	220	Jr.	13.7	4.2	2.1
G	23 Quantez Robertson	6-3	193	Jr.	7.7	5.1	4.0

Vols seeking first 11-1 SEC start since 1977

Tennessee will play its final Southeastern Conference Western Division opponent when the Auburn Tigers visit Thompson-Boling Arena at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 20. The Vols are 5-0 against Western Division teams this season.
The Vols??? No. 2 ranking in both major polls is the highest in school history. The previous mark came earlier this year when they were ranked No. 3 in the Jan. 21 Associated Press poll.
The Vols extended their winning streak to seven games with a 74-71 win at Georgia Saturday, Feb. 16. Chris Lofton scored 19 of his team-high 22 points in the second half, scorching the nets with 5-of-7 3-point shooting in the final half. Wayne Chism got the Vols started by scoring 14 of his 16 points in the first half. Tyler Smith added 12 points, 10 rebounds and six assists as the Vols swept the season series.
UT???s 23-2 start is the best 25-game start in school history, breaking the previous best mark of 21-4 in 1999-2000. Tennessee reached the 20-win milestone faster than any team in school history.
Chris Lofton is poised to reach a pair of milestones in the next few games. The Maysville, Ky., native needs two 3-pointers to become the seventh player in NCAA history to record 400 career 3-pointers. Lofton enters the Auburn game with an SEC record 398 career triples. He also needs 40 points to reach the 2,000 career point mark. The senior guard ranks seventh in school history with 1,960 career points, two behind Bernard King???s career total of 1,962.
Wayne Chism and Tyler Smith have given the Vols a strong inside presence over the last two games. Chism averaged 15.5 points and 7.0 rebounds and Smith had 13.5 points and 7.0 rebounds last week.
UT leads the SEC in scoring (83.7 ppg), scoring margin (+14.6), assists (19.16 apg), steals (10.28 spg), turnover margin (+6.92), assist-turnover ratio (1.49), 3-point field goals made (9.40 3pg) and 3-point field goal defense (.291).
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 10-1 record in league play for the second time in three years. The Vols opened SEC play with a 10-1 record in 2005-06. UT has not opened conference play with an 11-1 record since 1976-77.
Tennessee???s 23 wins this season are the third-most in school history.
Bruce Pearl???s 69 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 10 games away from home this season (10-2).
Tennessee has outrebounded each of its last seven opponents and owns a +5.3 rebounding advantage during those games. The Vols are averaging 17.0 offensive rebounds during the seven-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 398 of his 931 3-point attempts.
Chris Lofton is shooting 48.8 percent (40-of-82) from 3-point range in his last nine games.
Tennessee???s last 11 opponents have combined to shoot 53-of-204 (25.9 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 25 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 23.4 points per game off turnovers this season (584 points in 25 games).
Tennessee is the only team in the SEC that does not have a player ranked among the league???s top 26 in minutes played. UT has eight players averaging at least 16 minutes per game.
Tennessee has forced an average of 19.8 turnovers off an SEC-best 10.3 steals per game this year.
UT is leading the SEC with 19.2 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 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 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 344 consecutive games.
Under Bruce Pearl, UT is 62-5 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 1,414-905-2 in its 99th season of basketball.
UT???s 630 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 398 career treys rank first in SEC history and are seventh all time in the NCAA record books ... He needs two 3-pointers become just the seventh player in NCAA history with 400 career triples ... The senior has made 85 3-pointers this season ... He holds Tennessee career records for 3-pointers made (398), attempted (931) and percentage (.427).

He ranks second in the SEC with an .863 free throw percentage.
Second in the SEC with 3.40 3-pointers per game.
His 85 3-pointers this year are sixth on UT???s single-season lists. He holds four of the top 10 single season marks in school history.
Is shooting 46.6 percent from 3-point range in SEC games.
Broke the SEC record for career 3-point attempts at LSU (2/9/08). Has 931 career 3-point attempts.
Needs three points to pass Bernard King for sixth on UT???s career scoring lists.

Crashing The Boards

Tennessee has hit the boards in its last seven games ... The Vols held a -1.5 rebounding margin through their first 18 games but have outrebounded their last seven opponents by an average of +5.3 (288-251) rebounds per game ... 41.3 percent (119-of-288) of UT???s boards during the seven-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 19.8 times per game which ranks as the sixth-most in the nation (as of Feb. 17) ... The Vols are averaging 23.4 points per game off turnovers this season (584 points in 25 games) ... UT???s turnover margin of +6.92 easily leads the SEC.

Looking At Auburn

Auburn is 13-10 on the season and 3-7 in Southeastern Conference action ... The Tigers earned the season sweep over Ole Miss with a 90-78 win in Oxford Saturday ... Senior forward Quan Prowell led the Tigers with 25 points on 11-of-15 shooting against the Rebels ... On the season, Prowell leads the team with 14.3 points per game ... Senior guard Frank Tolbert has been playing well lately, averaging 18.5 points over his last four games ... Tolbert???s 16.5 points in SEC play leads the Tigers ... Quantez Robertson leads the SEC in minutes played with an average of 37.30 minutes per game ... Five Tigers rank among the top 30 in the SEC in terms of minutes played ... Four of them are averaging more than 30 minutes per game ... 6-foot-7 forward Korvotney Barber, who was leading the nation in field goal pct. (.720) and the Tigers in scoring (14.8), rebounding (7.3) and blocks (1.4), suffered a broken hand in a game Dec. 29 and has not played since ... Only four Tigers have played in each of the team???s 23 games this season ... AU is forcing an average of 21.0 turnovers in its last three games ... Auburn is in a stretch where it plays three of four games on the road ... The Tigers rank second in the SEC in field goal percentage (.474) and steals (8.87 spg) ... Auburn is expected to break ground on a new basketball arena and practice facility this summer ... Jeff Lebo is 56-58 in his fourth year at Auburn and 171-121 in his 10th season as a head coach.

Vols Riding 29-Game Home Win Streak

Tennessee???s 29-game home winning streak is the Vols??? longest in Thompson-Boling Arena history and the school???s longest in more than three decades ... It is the second-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 42-2 in Thompson-Boling Arena ... As of Feb. 17, Tennessee???s 29-game streak was the fourth-longest in NCAA Division I ... The record is 33 from Jan. 2, 1966 - Feb. 24, 1968.

Balanced Offense

Tennessee is one of the top scoring teams in the Southeastern Conference but lists only one player among the top 10 scorers in the league ... UT leads the SEC with 83.7 points per game but leading scorer Chris Lofton ranks 10th in the league individually with 15.5 points ... Tennessee also leads the SEC and the nation with 19.2 assists per game but UT leader Tyler Smith ranks ninth with 3.8 assists per game.

The Vols have had four or more players reach double figure scoring in a game 14 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 25.9 3-point shots per game this season ... 40.3 percent (648 of 1,606) of the Vols??? shots have been from 3-point range ... UT leads the SEC with 9.40 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 398 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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