University of Tennessee Athletics
South Carolina-Tennessee Preview
March 14, 2008 | Men's Basketball
The success Tennessee has enjoyed in 2007-08 has allowed it to set its sights set on a national championship. Before venturing into that territory, however, the Southeastern Conference regular-season champs hope to win their first tournament title in nearly 30 years.
Following one of the best regular seasons in school history, the fourth-ranked Volunteers open the postseason against South Carolina in the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament Friday at the Georgia Dome.
Tennessee (28-3) compiled an impressive resume heading into this tournament, setting a school-record in victories that surpassed the 26-7 mark it posted in 1999-00. The Volunteers also went 14-2 in the SEC, winning the Eastern Division for the second time in three seasons.
They also walked away with their first outright conference title since 1967. Tennessee, though, is focused on a top seed in the NCAA tournament - something it could achieve with a strong performance in the SEC tournament.
"Everything is now designed to get us to San Antonio, Texas, for the Final Four," Vols coach Bruce Pearl said. "The thing that we can do to help make it happen is to win the SEC tournament."
The Volunteers, seeking their first tournament title since 1979, have won 12 of their last 13 games following an 89-56 victory over South Carolina (13-17) on Sunday. Senior Chris Lofton scored a season-high 28 points, including six 3-pointers, to give Tennessee its 32nd straight home victory.
Fellow fourth-year star JaJuan Smith added 17 points before fouling out for the Volunteers, who handed the Gamecocks their worst defeat of the season.
Lofton and Smith, who both received first-team all-SEC honors, have helped Tennessee boast the conference's best scoring offense (82.5) despite the absence of one of the league's top scorers.
Lofton, who leads the Volunteers with 16.0 points per game, is 10th in the SEC, while Smith is 23rd with 14.2.
"I think that often times at this time of the year, people talk about shortening their bench in tournament time ... it's getting to the point that you're one and done," said Pearl, who was named co-SEC Coach of the Year along with Kentucky's Billy Gillispie. "I just have never believed in that philosophy."
That balanced attack has been crucial to the Vols' success against South Carolina this season.
In Sunday's 33-point victory, Tennessee's bench outscored the Gamecocks' 35-16. Prior to that loss, the Vols' reserves posted a 28-5 advantage in an 80-56 victory at South Carolina on Jan. 12.
"Coach Pearl always says our first five may not be the best first five in the country, but our 10 can play with any team in the country," said forward Duke Crews, who averages 5.9 points.
The Volunteers have lost three straight league tournament games since beating Arkansas on March 10, 2005. Tennessee is 1-2 against South Carolina in the tournament, winning 70-63 in 1992.
South Carolina opened the tournament with a 77-73 victory over LSU on Thursday. Mike Holmes - named to the SEC All-Freshman team - and Evaldas Baniulis each scored 16 points for the Gamecocks, who have just three wins in their last 10 games.
Dominique Archie had 15 points, while Devan Downey had 12 and a season high-tying 11 assists for South Carolina, which is 14-11 in the tournament since 1997.
Now, the Gamecocks hope to end their woes against the Volunteers, who seek their first game three-game winning streak in the series since Feb. 23, 2005-Jan. 28, 2006.
"We've played two good halves against them, the first half in both games. And the second half we've kind of let it slip," said Downey, who scored 24 points in the January loss to Tennessee. "So the mindset tomorrow is put two halves together, go out and compete."
The winner of this contest will play either No. 18 Vanderbilt or Arkansas in one of Saturday's semifinal matchups.
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