Tennessee Tidbits
* Tennessee's 73.6 (181-of-246) free throw percentage ranks second in the SEC.
* The Vols are averaging an SEC-best 44.0 rebounds per game.
* UT is shooting 51.2 percent from the field when playing at Thompson-Boling Arena. When playing on the road, the Vols are shooting just 32.8 percent from the field.
* Brandon Crump has scored 20 or more points in four of Tennessee's last six games. He had a career-high 25 points at Nebraska Dec. 13.
* All but one of Tennessee's games have been decided by at least 10 points this season. The only game decided by less than 10 points was the Vols' 74-66 win at UMass (1/3/04).
* Over the last five games the Vols have opened the second half by outscoring their opponents 70-32 before the first media time out.
* The Vols have outshot their opponents at the free throw line 246-120 in the first nine games. UT has made more free throws (181) than its opponents have attempted (120).
* Scooter McFadgon saw his streak of 27 consecutive free throws made come to an end against UNC Asheville (12/30/03). On the season he is shooting 91.1 percent (41-of-45) from the line.
| Team Statistical Comparisons |
| Tennessee | Stat Category | Georgia |
| 83.4 | Points | 74.0 |
| 66.8 | Opponent Points | 68.6 |
| +16.7 | Scoring Margin | +5.2 |
| .468 | Field Goal % | .439 |
| .384 | Opponent Field Goal % | .438 |
| .342 | Three-Point % | .291 |
| .301 | Opponent Three-Point % | .324 |
| .736 | Free Throw % | .722 |
| 44.0 | Rebounds | 40.1 |
| 34.9 | Opponent Rebounds | 32.9 |
| +9.1 | Rebounding Margin | +7.2 |
| 19.4 | Assists | 15.0 |
| 13.9 | Turnovers | 14.5 |
| 5.3 | Blocks | 2.9 |
| 8.4 | Steals | 7.5 |
| 8-1 | Record | 8-3 |
| Individual Statistical Leaders |
| Tennessee | Stat Category | Georgia |
| McFadgon, 18.4 | Points | Hayes, 14.8 |
| Hendrix, 7.7 | Rebounds | Daniles, 10.8 |
| Watson, 6.4 | Assists | Wright, 3.5 |
| Crump, .646 | Field Goal % | Hayes, .575 |
| Watson, .429 | Three-Point % | Wright, .361 |
| McFadgon, .911 | Free Throw % | Wilkins, .883 |
Looking At Georgia
Georgia is coming off an 83-80 double overtime win over third-ranked Georgia Tech Saturday in Athens ... The win improved the Bulldogs' record to 8-3 on the season ... Jonas Hayes, who leads UGA with 14.8 points per game on the season, scored a game-high 25 points in the upset win over the Yellow Jackets ... Before upsetting Tech, Georgia suffered its most lopsided loss since Dec. 2000 with a 55-76 loss at Pitt ... Rashad Wright ranks second all-time at Georgia with 444 career assists ... Wright needs 23 assists to pass Litterial Green to become UGA's all-time assist leader ... Chris Daniels, a 6-foot-7, 220-pound senior forward, is one of three Southeastern Conference players averaging a double-double with 10.6 points and 10.8 rebounds ... Damien Wilkins is averaging 13.5 points per game ... Only eight players are averaging 10 or more minutes of action per game ... Of the 15 players on the Georgia roster, only eight are on scholarship ... Georgia's starting lineup, which has changed only one time this season, features four seniors and one true freshman ... Levi Stukes, a true freshman guard from Randallstown, Md., has started all 11 games this season and is averaging 8.1 points per game ... Head coach Dennis Felton is 8-3 in his first season at Georgia and 108-57 in his sixth season as a head coach.
The Series
Wednesday's meeting will be the 129th in the series with Tennessee holding a 78-50 advantage ... Tennessee holds a 47-13 series lead when playing in Knoxville ... Tennessee is 27-32 all-time when the series is played in Athens ... The Vols are 17-23 all-time against Georgia in Stegeman Coliseum ... Tennessee's 78 wins over the Bulldogs are the second-most by the Vols over any opponent ... Tennessee has won seven of the last 12 meetings between the two schools ... Last year the two teams split the series with the Bulldogs taking an 81-76 overtime win in Athens on Jan. 22 and the Vols earning a 78-72 win in Knoxville on Feb. 8 ... Three of the last six meetings have gone into overtime ... Tennessee is 5-3 all-time against Georgia when the Bulldogs are ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 poll ... The two teams have never met when both are ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 poll.
Last Meeting
Ron Slay poured in 33 points in leading the Vols to a 78-72 upset of 17th-ranked Georgia Saturday, Feb. 8, 2003 at Thompson-Boling Arena ... Despite being out-rebounded 38-25, the Vols shot a season-high 56.3 percent from the field and 47.1 percent (8-of-17) from three-point range in leading the Vols to the win ... Tennessee took a 35-31 halftime lead but the Bulldogs came back to take a 63-57 lead with eight minutes left ... The Vols rallied to take the lead for good on a Slay free throw with 2:04 remaining ... Thaydeus Holden sank six free throws in the final minute to seal the win ... Brandon Crump finished with 16 points and six rebounds while Holden had 15 points ... The Vol backcourt of Jon Higgins and C.J. Watson combined for 15 assists against three turnovers ... Watson's nine assists was a career-high ... Georgia's duo of Ezra Williams and Jarvis Hayes were held to nine and 19 points, respectively ... Chris Daniels had 14 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists for the Bulldogs.
Looking Back At The UMass Game
Playing in their final tune-up before Southeastern Conference play begins, the Vols earned their first road win of the season with a 74-66 victory at Massachusetts Saturday, Jan. 3 ... Tennessee trailed 26-27 at halftime despite shooting just 25 percent from the field in the opening half ... The Vols opened the second half on a 9-2 run to take a 35-29 advantage with 16:51 on the clock and never looked back, holding a double-digit lead for virtually the rest of the way ... Jemere Hendrix keyed the run when he was fouled on a basket and then converted the three-point play to open the second half scoring ... Scooter McFadgon, overcame a cold shooting first half to lead the Vols with 22 points ... C.J. Watson played a well-rounded game with 14 points, six rebounds, four assists and a career-high four steals ... Brandon Crump finished with 10 points while Hendrix almost had a double-double with nine points and 11 rebounds ... Gabe Lee led the Minutemen with a career-high 23 points to go with 10 rebounds ... Tennessee made 23 of its 28 free throws (82.1 percent) compared to just 11-of-17 (64.7 percent) shooting for UMass ... Entering the game, UMass owned a 72.9 percent winning percentage when playing at the Mullins Center.
Tennessee In SEC Openers
Tennessee has won three of its last four conference openers, but is just 4-6 in its last 10 SEC openers ... This will be the third consecutive year the Vols have opened conference play at home after beginning league play on the road the previous five seasons ... It will be the first time since 1994-95 that the Vols have opened conference action against Georgia ... Last year Tennessee fell to 18th-ranked Kentucky 71-74 in the SEC opener.
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 17.9 points per game ... Jemere Hendrix, a sophomore transfer from Clemson, is averaging 8.4 points and 7.3 rebounds while starting all eight games ... Dane Bradshaw, a freshman guard, has given the Vols a huge boost off the bench with 4.9 points per game to go with 18 assists ... Major Wingate, a 6-foot-10 freshman, has averaged 14.5 minutes per game off the bench and is third on the team with seven blocks.
Vols Make A Living At Free Throw Line
Head coach Buzz Peterson has said that, "... our goal is to make more free throws than they shoot." ... So far, the Vols have dominated the free throw line ... Tennessee has made 181 (181-of-246) free throws this season compared to just 120 attempts (82-of-120) for UT's opponents ... UT ranks second in the SEC by making 73.6 percent of its free throws ... Five times the Vols have made more free throws than their opponents attempted ... Four times this season UT has limited its opponents to less than 10 free throw attempts.
Hitting The Boards
Tennessee leads the Southeastern Conference with 44.0 rebounds per game ... The Vols have surpassed the 50-rebound mark two times with 50 boards at Nebraska (12/13/03) and 57 against The Citadel (12/17/03) ... UT is outrebounding its opponents by 9.1 rebounds per game which ranks second in the SEC ... The Vols held a 29-7 halftime rebounding advantage against The Citadel before finishing the game with 57 rebounds to the Bulldogs' 26 ... UT is averaging 15.00 offensive rebounds per game.
Watson Leads SEC in Assists
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 leads the Southeastern Conference with 6.44 assists per game this season ... He has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.90 (58 assists against 20 turnovers in 294 minutes) ... According to the Dec. 16 NCAA statistics, Watson's 6.8 assists ranked 13th in the nation ... Four times this season he has had a game with eight or more assists ... As a true freshman last season he led 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.
Watson Can Score Too
Although he usually looks to pass first, Watson has also found opportunities to score ... While leading the SEC with 6.44 assists per game, he ranks third on the team with 11.9 points per game ... He has also established himself as a deep threat by leading the Vols in 3-pointers (15) and 3-point percentage (.429) ... Over his last two games he is shooting 62.5 percent (5-of-8) from 3-point range.
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 hasn't had a scoring letdown since the season opener ... The Memphis transfer ranks fifth in the Southeastern Conference with 18.4 points per game ... He has scored 20 or more points three times ... While carrying a reputation as an outstanding outside shooter, he has scored 41 of his points at the free throw line ... He leads the SEC with his 91.1 percent free throw percentage.
Crump Making His Presence Felt
With each year at Tennessee, Brandon Crump has steadily improved his play ... The Houston, Texas, native owns one of the best shooting percentages in the Southeastern Conference, currently ranking second with a 64.6 field goal percentage ... He ranks 10th in the SEC in scoring (16.3 ppg) and 10th in rebounding with 7.4 boards per game ... The 6-foot-10 forward has scored 20 or more points in four of his last six games after not reaching the 20-point mark in his first two seasons at Tennessee ... He has three double-doubles on the season and six in his career ... He has steadily 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 16.3 points and 7.4 rebounds as a junior this year ... Against Nebraska (12/13/03) he recorded a career-high 25 points.
Jumping Jemere Gets The Rebounds
Saying that he would rather have 20 rebounds than score 20 points in a game because "anyone can score 20 points but not many can get 20 rebounds" Jemere Hendrix has been a presence on the boards this season ... A transfer from Clemson, the 6-foot-8 Hendrix leads the Vols and ranks eighth in the SEC with 7.7 boards per game ... 44.9 percent (31-of-69) of his rebounds have come at the offensive end of the floor ... He ranks fifth in the SEC with 3.44 offensive rebounds per game ... Two times this season he has recorded a career--high 11 rebounds.
Sonic Boom-er
Sophomore center Boomer Herndon has raised his game a couple of notches of the last few contests ... Over the last five games the Nashville native has scored 29 points and gathered 26 rebounds in 53 minutes of action ... When taking those statistics and averaging them as if he played a full 40 minutes per game during that stretch he would be averaging 21.9 points, 19.6 rebounds (including 8.3 on the offensive end of the floor) and 6.0 blocks.
Bradshaw Gives UT a Backcourt Boost
Last year point guard C.J. Watson led the Southeastern Conference by playing 35.8 minutes per game ... This year Watson has received relief from freshman Dane Bradshaw ... The Memphis native is averaging 15.6 minutes per game off the bench and is contributing 4.8 points and 3.0 rebounds per game ... A player who has a outstanding feel for the game, Bradshaw is second on the squad with 19 assists.
Howell Back At Practice
Jordan Howell, a 6-foot-3 freshman guard from Auburn, Ala., has returned to practice with the Vols after withdrawing from school during the fall semester due to medical reasons ... Howell became eligible to practice on Dec. 12 ... No definite decision has been made whether he will redshirt or not this season ... He has not dressed for any of UT's games this season.
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 183-75 (.709) in its 17th season in Thompson-Boling Arena.
* Since the 1998 season, the Vols are 84-16 (.840) in Thompson-Boling Arena.
* Tennessee is 70-14 (.833) 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 54 of its last 57 home games against non-conference opponents.
| TENNESSEE CAREER STATS VS. GEORGIA |
| ? | G-GS | FG-A | 3FG-A | FT-A | Reb | Avg | A | To | Blk | Stl | Pts | Avg |
| Stanley Asumnu | 2-0 | 3-7 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1-0-1 | 0.5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3.0 |
| Brandon Crump | 4-2 | 16-27 | 0-0 | 2-5 | 4-14-18 | 4.5 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 34 | 8.5 |
| C.J. Watson | 2-2 | 5-10 | 1-5 | 3-4 | 1-12-13 | 6.5 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 7.0 |
| John Winchester | 1-0 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 2-2 | 0-1-1 | 1.0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2.0 |
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