University of Tennessee Athletics
UT-Butler Postgame Notes
March 23, 2008 | Men's Basketball
- Both teams set a school record for wins in a season - Butler ended its year with 30, while Tennessee upped its total to 31. The 30 wins for the Bulldogs break the mark set last year, while UT's record was 26 set in 1999-2000.
- Sunday's game was the earliest meeting between two teams with 30 wins each in an NCAA Tournament match-up.
- This was Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl's 100th game with the Vols and his 501st game as a collegiate head coach (394-107, .786) at the NCAA Division I and Division II levels
- Pearl is now 7-4 in the NCAA Division I Tournament in his fifth career trip and third with the Volunteers.
- Tennessee has never lost in the NCAA Tournament in Birmingham, improving to 4-0 in the Magic City.
- Sophomore J.P. Prince made his first career start for Tennessee today versus Butler. He finished with nine points, seven rebounds, five assists and one blocks in 31 minutes of action.
- Tennessee had nine different players score in the first half, but their first player didn't reach double figures until the 16:39 mark in the second half when Tyler Smith knocked down a 10-foot jumper.
- Sunday's overtime game was Tennessee's first of the 2007-08 campaign. Tennessee's last overtime game was a 76-67 loss against LSU on March 8, 2007, in the SEC Tournament.
- The overtime contest was Butler's third of the season, having defeated Virginia Tech 84-78 on Nov. 23 and UW-Milwaukee 83-75 on Feb. 12. The Bulldogs posted a 2-1 overtime record this season.
- The game was Tennessee's fourth (2-2) overtime contest in NCAA Tournament history and Butler's third (1-2) in the Big Dance.
- Butler's loss was its first this season when making at least eight 3-point baskets. The Bulldogs moved to 24-1 this season when making eight or more 3-point field goals in a game.
- Tennessee's Chris Lofton set the school's single-season record in 3-point field goals with 116, surpassing his previous record total of 114 set during the 2005-06 campaign. He improved his career total to 429, which is a Southeastern Conference record.
- Lofton finished the game with nine points, only the eighth time this season he was held to single digits. The Vols are 8-0 in each of the games that he did not reach double figures.
- The game featured four ties and only two lead changes. Butler took its first and only lead of the game at the 1:46 mark in overtime when AJ Graves scored a layup.
- Lofton needs two points to become the Vols' all-time scoring leader in NCAA Tournament play.
- Lofton is Tennessee's all-time steals leader in the NCAA Tournament, pocketing two today to give him 13 in seven NCAA games.
- Butler's AJ Graves scored 21 points against Tennessee on Sunday and moved into third place on the school's all-time scoring list. He surpassed Lynn Mitchell (1979-83) and finished his career with a total of 1,807.
- Tennessee is playing in its 16th NCAA Tournament, while Butler is playing in its eighth NCAA Tournament - Tennessee is now 13-16 and Butler is 8-8. The Vols are 4-5 all-time in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
- With the loss, Butler falls to 4-2 when playing in Birmingham.
- Butler's Mike Green scored 15 points Sunday and concluded his illustrious career with a total of 996.
- Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl improved to 16-7 against ranked opponents during his time at Tennessee.
- The Vols earned their first win against a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament and their first all-time victory against Butler. UT is now 1-2 vs the No. 7 seed.
- Tennessee's 13 points in overtime set an NCAA Tournament school record, surpassing 10 points scored against Syracuse in the 1977 tournament.
- Tennessee will be making its first back-to-back appearance in the Sweet 16, and its fourth in school history.
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MBB | DeWayne Brown II Media Availability (4.23.26)
Thursday, April 23
MBB | Earl Grant Media Availability (4.23.26)
Thursday, April 23
MBB | Rick Barnes, Ja'Kobi Gillespie, Grant Hurst & Felix Okpara Postgame vs. Michigan (3.29.26)
Sunday, March 29










