Tennessee Tidbits * The Vols have recorded 50 or more rebounds in each of their last two games (averaging 53.5 rpg).
* C.J. Watson needs just four assists for 200 in his career. He has 196 assists in 34 career games.
* The Vols have outshot their opponents at the free throw line 143-77 in the first five games. UT has made more free throws (100) than its opponents have attempted (77).
* UT is shooting 52.6 percent (82-of-156) from the field in the second half this season.
* Ten Vols have tied or set new career scoring marks in UT's first five games. The only players who have not tied or set new career marks are C.J. Watson, who has come within one point of tying his career mark two times this year, and Pee-Wee Gash.
* Point guards C.J. Watson (36 assists, 11 turnovers) and Dane Bradshaw (13 assists, 8 turnovers) have combined for 49 assists against just 19 turnovers in a combined 235 minutes of action this season.
* Tennessee is 51-3 in its last 54 home games against non-conference opponents.
Looking at Georgia State
Georgia State will enter its contest against Tennessee with a 4-2 overall record and riding a two-game winning streak ... The Panthers have struggled keeping its players available for action early this season ... Nate Williams, who was a first team all-conference selection while leading the Atlantic Sun Conference with 18.0 points per game last season, served a team rules suspension for GSU's first six games but will be available against the Vols ... Preseason first team All-Atlantic Sun guard Lamont McIntosh missed a game with a sprained ankle ... Trello Galloway, the team's top rebounder with 7.0 boards per game, missed a pair of games while attending a funeral ... Kevin Thomas, a 6-foot-4 junior guard/forward, leads the Panthers with 13.5 points per game ... Reo Logan, a 6-foot-11 forward/center, is adding 13.2 points and 5.8 rebounds ... Only one player (Kevin Thomas with 30.8) is averaging more than 30 minutes per game while 10 players are averaging at least 10 minutes per game ... Georgia State will be playing its first game since a Dec. 12 win over South Alabama ... This is their first of two consecutive games against teams from the Southeastern Conference ... The Panthers travel to Auburn for a Monday evening affair ... GSU honored its former coach "Lefty" Driesell against South Alabama by dedicating the Panthers' court in his honor ... The Panthers are coached by Michael Perry who is 14-11 in his second season at the school ... Perry took over the head coaching reigns at Georgia State when Driesell retired Jan. 3, 2003.
The Series
Tennessee leads the all-time series with Georgia State 3-1 ... The Vols have won the last two meetings, including a 70-53 decision Dec. 1, 1996 ... All four meetings between the schools have been played in Knoxville ... The two institutions first hooked up Dec. 10, 1977 with the Vols taking an 84-62 win ... On Dec. 13, 1983, GSU's Tony Graham swished a 15-footer at the buzzer to give the Panthers a 52-50 upset win at Stokely Center ... The Vols opened their 1995-96 season with a 74-59 win over Georgia State ... Tennessee is 7-4 all-time against current members of the Atlantic Sun Conference.
Last Meeting
Tennessee held Georgia State to just 19 percent shooting from the field in the first half en route to a 74-59 victory to open the 1995-96 campaign ... The Vols did not allow a Panther field goal for the first 13:34 of the game and jumped out to a 20-point (27-7) lead ... Senior center Steve Hamer pumped in 19 points to lead the Vols in scoring, but it was the superb court play by Shane Williams that kept the Vols going ... Williams, a Johnson City native, pulled down 10 rebounds while handing out seven assists ... Shane Carnes added 12 points while freshman Brandon Wharton had 10 points with seven assists ... Shellord Pinkett led the Panthers with 17 points while Terrence Brandon had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Looking Back at The Citadel Game
After three days of hard practices, the Tennessee Volunteers came out and took care of business in a 99-49 win over The Citadel Wednesday, Dec. 17, at Thompson-Boling Arena ... The Vols jumped out to a 10-2 lead by the first media time out and built it into a 51-17 advantage at halftime ... All 11 Vols who saw action scored, including five who reached double-figure scoring ... C.J. Watson led the Vols with 16 points while tying a career-high with nine assists against just one turnover ... Jemere Hendrix recorded his first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds ... Scooter McFadgon played just 15 minutes but managed 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field, including 3-of-3 from 3-point range ... Stanley Asumnu equaled his career-high with 12 points ... Tennessee shot 58.5 percent from the field while limiting the Bulldogs to just 26.4 percent shooting ... UT's 50-point margin of victory is its largest since a 121-42 win over the University of Mexico on Jan. 24, 1966 ... It is just the fifth time in school history the Vols have defeated a team by 50 or more points.
Vols Begin Season At Home
Seven of Tennessee's first eight games will be played at Thompson-Boling Arena ... UT's only road trip before January is a Dec. 13 visit to Nebraska ... The Vols play two non-conference games on the road (at Nebraska Dec. 13 and at UMass Jan. 3) ... Nine of Tennessee's 11 non-conference games are at home.
New Guys Contributing
The Vols are receiving significant contributions from four new players in the UT lineup ... Scooter McFadgon, a junior transfer from Memphis, is leading the Vols with 17.6 points per game ... Jemere Hendrix, a sophomore transfer from Clemson, is averaging 8.8 points and 7.2 rebounds while starting all five games ... Dane Bradshaw, a freshman guard, has given the Vols a huge boost off the bench with 5.6 points per game to go with 13 assists against just eight turnovers ... Major Wingate, a 6-foot-10 freshman, has averaged 16.8 minutes per game off the bench and is second on the team with five blocks.
Hitting The Boards
Tennessee ranks second in the Southeastern Conference with 47.0 rebounds per game ... The Vols have surpassed the 50-rebound mark in each of their last two games with 50 boards at Nebraska (12/13/03) and 57 against The Citadel (12/17/03) ... UT is outrebounding its opponents by 12.0 rebounds per game ... The Vols held a 29-7 halftime rebounding advantage against The Citadel before finishing the game with 57 rebounds to the Bulldogs' 26 ... Tennessee's 15.0 offensive rebounds also ranks second in the SEC.
Watson: One Of The SEC's Top Playmakers
While several other point guards around the nation have been bogarting the headlines and highlights, Tennessee sophomore C.J. Watson has quietly established himself as one of the top playmakers in the college game ... Nicknamed "The Quiet Storm," he is leading the Southeastern Conference with 7.2 assists per game this season ... He has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.27 (36 assists to 11 turnovers in 159 minutes) ... According to the Dec. 16 NCAA statistics, Watson's 6.8 assists ranked 13th in the nation ... Three times this season he has had a game with eight or more assists ... As a true freshman last season he lead the SEC in minutes played (35.8 mpg) while leading the league with 5.44 assists per game against conference opponents ... His 160 assists as a rookie ranked seventh on UT's single-season charts and were the second-most ever by a Tennessee freshman.
Scooter Scores Big
Scooter McFadgon had a memorable debut in a Tennessee uniform with a 31-point outing against Wofford (11/21/03) ... His 31 points were the most in a UT debut since Bernard King scored 42 against Wisconsin-Milwaukee (11/30/74) ... McFadgon, a transfer from Memphis, easily topped his previous career mark of 22 points against Temple (12/22/01) ... In an exhibition game in the Dominican Republic, McFadgon also had a big game by scoring a game-high 36 points against Libre (10/16/03).
Crump Doubles Up
Brandon Crump recorded his fifth career double-double and his second of the season with a 13 point, 11 rebound effort against Tennessee State (11/28/03) ... Crump opened the season with an 11 point, 11 rebound outing against Wofford (11/21/03) ... As a sophomore in 2002-03 the Houston native had three double-doubles ... Crump made 9-of-11 free throws on his way to a career-high 25-point outing against Nebraska (12/13/03) ... Against Texas A&M 12/3/03) he made 9-of-10 field goals in an 18-point effort ... The 6-foot-10 forward has significantly improved his averages from 7.1 points and 4.2 rebounds as a freshman to 11.0 points to 5.9 rebounds as a sophomore to 15.0 points and 8.0 rebounds as a junior this year.
Homecourt Advantage
Thompson-Boling Arena has provided the Vols with a definite homecourt advantage since the facility opened in time for the 1987-88 season.
* Tennessee is 180-75 (.706) in its 17th season in Thompson-Boling Arena.
* Since the 1998 season, the Vols are 81-16 (.835) in Thompson-Boling Arena.
* Tennessee is 67-14 (.827) since the 1999 season at home. UT recorded a 14-1 record in 1999, a 15-1 mark in 2000, 12-3 in 2001, 10-4 in 2002 and 12-5 in 2003.
* The Vols are 36-13 against SEC teams at home over the last four plus seasons.
* UT has won 51 of its last 54 home games against non-conference opponents.
