University of Tennessee Athletics
Tennessee vs. UT-Chattanooga - Game Preview
December 02, 2004 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 2, 2004
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| UTC Mocs vs. Tennessee Volunteers
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Tennessee Trends
- The Vols are in a stretch where they play eight of nine games at home. UT's only road game during the month of December is a visit to New Mexico on the 18th.
- Chris Lofton (15-of-26) has made nearly half of Tennessee's 31 3-pointers this season.
- C.J. Watson needs seven assists to tie Bert Bertelkamp (1976-80) for ninth all-time with 332 career assists.
- UT is allowing 62.0 ppg in its two wins and 94.5 ppg in its two losses.
- Tennessee has an all-time record of 1,333-869-2 in its 96th season of basketball.
- Tennessee returns all five starters and a total of nine letterwinners for the 2005 season. It is the first time that UT has returned all five starters since 1998-99.
- Every statistical category leader from 2004 returns for the 2005 season. The Vols return 88.1 percent of their scoring and 85.5 percent of their rebounding. In fact, UT returns at least 78 percent of its 2004 production in every statistical category.
- Tennessee was one of six teams without a senior in 2003-04. Of those six teams, only Tennessee and Wake Forest received postseason invitations.
- Tennessee has made postseason appearances in six of the last seven seasons. It is the second-best stretch in school history. The Vols made nine postseason appearances in 10 seasons (1976-85), including a stretch of seven in a row (1979-85).
- Freshman Chris Lofton is the third Kentucky Mr. Basketball to sign with the Vols. The 6-foot-3 guard averaged 26.7 points per game for Mason County HS. Allan Houston (1989) and Jermaine Brown (1991) also earned Mr. Basketball honors in the state of Kentucky.
- Freshman guard JaJuan Smith was invited to join the Vols as a walk-on but was awarded a scholarship prior to the start of the season.
- Elliott DeVoe, a freshman walk-on from Annapolis, Md., is the son of former Vols head coach Don DeVoe. The elder DeVoe recorded a 204-137 mark in 11 seasons at Tennessee and a 512-389 record in 31 seasons as a head coach. Elliott was born in Knoxville while his father was coaching the Vols.
- Tennessee needs nine home wins this season to reach the 200-win milestone in Thompson-Boling Arena. The Vols are 191-78 in 17 seasons of play in Thompson-Boling Arena. UT, which has averaged 12 home wins in Buzz Peterson's three seasons in Knoxville, has 16 home games on the schedule this year.
Crump Gets 500th Rebound Against North Carolina, Closing In On 1,000 Points
Brandon Crump needs five points to become the 37th player in Tennessee history to score 1,000 career points ... He would become just the fourth UT player 6-foot-10 or taller to reach the 1,000-point milestone ... The 6-foot-10 senior forward has scored 995 points in 92 career games ... He recorded his 500th career rebound against North Carolina (11/23/04) ... His 517 career rebounds rank tied for 29th all-time at UT.
Tennessee Wins 13th Home Opener In A Row
The Vols are 37-2 in their last 39 home openers dating back to the 1966-67 campaign ... Tennessee has won 13 home openers in a row ... UT's last loss in a home opener was on Nov. 25, 1991 when East Tennessee State posted a 87-79 win in Thompson-Boling Arena ... ETSU went on to post a 24-7 record that included a win over Arizona in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Vols Win Sixth Consecutive Season-Opener
Tennessee won its sixth consecutive season-opener with a 69-57 win over Stanford in the first round of the EA SPORTS Maui Invitational Monday, Nov. 22 ...In their last 20 season-openers, the Vols have recorded a 19-2 record ... The only teams to post a win over the Vols in that time were No. 18 Arizona (73-72 on Nov. 13, 1998) and East Tennessee State (87-79 on Nov. 25, 1991) ... This was the first time that the Vols have opened the season away from home since the 1998-99 season when the UT fell to Arizona at the BCA Classic in Albuquerque, N.M. ... This was just the 15th time in school history that the Vols have started a season away from home.
Looking At UT-Chattanooga
UT-Chattanooga is 2-1 on the young season entering a Thursday night game at Virginia Tech ... UTC opened the season with a 113-52 victory over Toccoa Falls before falling 67-84 at Ohio State ... The Buckeyes set a school record in the game with 17 3-pointers ... The Mocs bounced back to defeat Brevard 82-42 Monday ... Mindaugas Katelynas, a 6-foot-9, 225-pound senior forward, leads the Mocs with 14.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game ... Chris Brown, a 6-foot-7 senior forward, is the only other Moc averaging double figures with 13.7 points and 7.7 boards per game ... Alphonso Pugh, a 6-foot-6 junior forward, was selected to the preseason All-Southern Conference team by the league's coaches ... UTC is outrebounding its opponents by more than 16 rebounds per game (44.3 rpg to 27.7 rpg) ... UT-Chattanooga was picked second in the SoCon's North Division in a preseason poll of the league's coaches ... UTC will participate in ESPN's Bracket Buster Saturday on Feb. 19 ... The Mocs are led by first year head coach John Shulman ... Shulman had spent two years as an assistant on Jeff Lebo's coaching staff at UTC before being named head coach in April.
The UT-Chattanooga Series
Tennessee and UT-Chattanooga have met on the hardwood 33 times entering Sunday's game ... The Vols lead the all-time series against the Mocs, 29-4, including a 19-1 mark when the series is played in Knoxville ... This is the first meeting between the schools since the opening of the 2001 season when the Vols took an 88-66 victory Nov. 17, 2000 in Knoxville ... Tennessee has won its last 23 meetings with UT-Chattanooga ... The last UT loss in the series was on Jan. 31, 1925 when the Mocs took a 25-14 win in Chattanooga ... Twenty-seven of the 33 meetings between Tennessee and UT-Chattanooga occurred between 1913 and 1961 ... Tennessee and UT-Chattanooga have met one time in postseason play ... The Vols defeated the Mocs 68-66 in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament on March 19, 1984 ... Tennessee is 80-12 all-time against teams currently in the Southern Conference.
Last Meeting With The Mocs
Tennessee built a 10-point lead by the first media time out and cruised to an 88-66 win over UT-Chattanooga in the 2001 season-opener Nov. 21, 2000 ... UTC cut the lead to 19-16 on Idris Harper's basket with 8:04 to go before halftime, but Vincent Yarbrough hit a 3-pointer from the left wing to key a 14-4 run over the next four minutes ... The Vols took a 41-21 lead at the half ... The Mocs went on a 13-5 run in the to start the second half to cut Tennessee's lead to 34-46, but that was as close as they would get the rest of the way ... Tony Harris stopped Chattanooga's momentum with a 3-pointer with 15:43 left ... Chattanooga continued to battle the Vols' but could not cut Tennessee's second half lead to less than 20 points with less than nine minutes left ... Tennessee took a 29-4 all-time lead in the series with UT-Chattanooga, including a 19-1 advantage when playing in Knoxville ... The Vols have won 23 in a row against the Mocs ... Marcus Haislip made his first career start ... Tennessee's 31 fouls was a Thompson-Boling record for a Volunteer squad.
UT-Chattanooga Connections
UTC head coach John Shulman was a member of the ETSU tennis team (1987-89) while Tennessee head coach Buzz Peterson was an assistant (1987-89) on Les Robinson's East Tennessee State coaching staff in Johnson City ... When Robinson and Peterson left ETSU for North Carolina State, Shulman was hired as an assistant on Alan LeForce's first Buccaneer staff ... Tennessee basketball trainer Chad Newman is a native of Chattanooga ... UT-Chattanooga assistant A.D. for media relations Jeff Romero served as an intern in the Tennessee sports information office during the 1990-91 year.
Last Game: Vols Rally to Beat Wofford
Andre Patterson's basket with a minute left gave the Vols a late lead they would not relinquish in a 73-67 win over Wofford in UT's home opener ... Tennessee led by as many as 13 points in the first half but the Terriers went on a 19-2 run to finish the opening half to take a 37-33 lead into the locker room ... Wofford quickly extended its lead to 10 points in the second half ... C.J. Watson's three-point play with 1:41 left tied the game 67-67 and then Andre Patterson game UT the lead for good on his bucket ... Scooter McFadgon iced the win with four free throws in the game's closing seconds ... Chris Lofton led five Vols in double figure scoring with 19 points on 5-of-7 3-point shooting ... McFadgon went 7-of-7 at the free throw line to finish with 16 points ... Watson had 11 points and seven assists ... Howard Wilkerson led the Terriers with 23 points and 13 rebounds, including seven offensive boards ... The Vols won their 37th home opener in their last 39 attempts and their 13th in a row.
Scooter Streaking
Since missing two free throws in the season-opener against Stanford, Scooter McFadgon has made his last 22 free throw attempts ... The Memphis native missed two of his first six free throws against the Cardinal but rallied to make his last two attempts to begin the streak ... It is the third-longest streak for him as he had streaks of 32 and 27 consecutive free throws made last year ... McFadgon is shooting 92.9 percent (26-of-28) from the free throw line this season.
Tennessee's Pilfering Point Guard
C.J. Watson's 12 steals through four games leads the Vols ... Last year it took Watson nine games to reach the 12 steal mark ... Watson finished finished his sophomore season with 45 steals ... He has averaged 1.5 steals per game over his career.
Lofton Hitting From Deep
Freshman Chris Lofton arrived on the UT campus with a reputation as an extraordinary 3-point shooter ... Four games into the season the Maysville, Ky., native has not disappointed ... He is shooting 57.7 percent (15-of-26) from behind the arc this year ... Against 11th-ranked North Carolina he drilled six of his 10 attempts from behind the arc ... Through UT's first four games he ranks third on the team with 13.8 points per game ... At Mason County High School he made 46.2 percent (353-of-764) of his 3-point attempts.
McFadgon Bounces Back At The Line
Scooter McFadgon bounced back from a tough shooting night at the free throw line against Stanford to make all of his 20 free throws in Tennessee's last three games ... The senior from Memphis went 6-of-8 (75 percent) from the stripe against Stanford which isn't a bad percentage unless you made 91.2 percent of your free throws last year ... It was just the fifth time in 30 career games at Tennessee that he missed more than one free throw in a game.
McFadgon's Dunk Ranked Sixth On ESPN's Top Plays
Scooter McFadgon's alley-oop dunk off a fast break pass from Chris Lofton in the Stanford (11/22/04) game was sixth on ESPN's Top Plays Monday night Nov. 22 ... C.J. Watson started the play with one of his five steals on the night and then fed the ball ahead to Chris Lofton ... Lofton, breaking down the left side, threw a lob pass that looked like it might be too high to a streaking McFadgon who elevated well above the rim to catch the ball and slam it through the hoop.
New Faces Contributing Early
Newcomers Andre Patterson, a 6-foot-7 junior transfer from UCLA, and Chris Lofton, a freshman guard from Maysville, Ky., have been in the starting lineup for each of Tennessee's four games this season ... Lofton leads the Vols in 3-point shooting (15-of-26 for 57.7 percent) and is third on the team with 13.8 points per game ... Patterson leads the team in rebounding with 6.8 rebounds per game ... Freshman guard Jordan Howell has given the Vols an outside shooting presence coming off the bench to average 12.5 minutes per game ... JaJuan Smith, a freshman from Decatur, Tenn., has seen action in three games.
Vols Enjoy Success On And Off The Court In Hawaii
Tennessee's win over Stanford in the first round of the EA SPORTS Maui Invitational isn't the Vols' only victory in Hawaii so far ... Pee-Wee Gash was the champion of the EA SPORTS March Madness 2005 video game tournament Saturday, Nov. 20 ... Gash defeated North Carolina's Rashad McCants in the finals ... Buzz Peterson, along with a local youth, won a free throw shooting contest that featured the tournaments head coaches Sunday, Nov. 21 ... Peterson made all 10 of his attempts in the two rounds of the competition ... The event was to raise money for local Maui schools.
Vols Trio Earn Coaches Preseason All-SEC Honors
Tennessee was one of three SEC teams to have three players selected to the inaugural SEC men's preseason All-SEC first and second teams that were selected by the league's coaches ... Senior guard Scooter McFadgon was a first team selection while senior forward Brandon Crump and junior guard C.J. Watson were second team picks.
Crump, McFadgon & Watson Named Tri-Captains
Seniors Brandon Crump and Scooter McFadgon along with junior C.J. Watson have been named team captains for the 2004-05 season ... It is the first captaincy appointment for McFadgon while Crump and Watson were also captains last season ... In 95 years of Tennessee basketball prior to this season, only four players had been two-time captains ... V.H. Klein (1913-14), Harry Anderson (1935-36), Garland O'Shields (1945-46) and Johnny Darden (1978-79) are the only other Vols to serve two terms as captain.
Crump Attending Graduate School
Senior forward Brandon Crump received a degree in sport management in May 2004 and is currently pursuing a master's degree ... A true scholar-athlete, he ranked second on the team with 14.8 points per game while leading the Vols with 6.8 rebounds per game in 2004 ... In the classroom, he was named to the 2003-04 SEC Winter Academic Honor Roll and was selected as the Edamerica Scholar-Athlete of the month in February 2004.
Scooter Looks To Build On Free Throw Shooting
Scooter McFadgon broke one of Tennessee's oldest records last year when his 91.2 percent shooting at the free throw line dispatched a school record that had stood since 1969 ... The Memphis native connected on 134 of his 147 free throw attempts to lead the SEC and rank fifth in the nation ... His free throw success rate was the second-best in SEC history ... This year he enters his senior season as the league's second-leading returning scorer with 17.6 points per game ... Only Florida's Anthony Roberson averaged more points with 17.9.
What Returns
Who could blame Buzz Peterson for being excited when he looks at what is back from last year's team ... The Vols return an unprecedented amount of their production from last season's squad ... UT returns all five starters and a total of nine letterwinners from last year's squad ... In fact, nearly 80 percent of every statistical category returns from 2003-04 ... A total of 88.1 percent of UT's scoring is back from a team that averaged 71.1 points per game ... 85.5 percent of the team's rebounding returns and 83.0 percent of the Vols' assists are also back.
Home Court Advantage
Thompson-Boling Arena has provided the Vols with a definite home court advantage since the facility opened in time for the 1987-88 season.
- Tennessee is 191-78 (.710) in its 18th season in Thompson-Boling Arena.
- Since the 1998 season, the Vols are 92-19 (.829) in Thompson-Boling Arena.
- Tennessee is 78-17 (.821) 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, 12-5 in 2003 and 14-3 in 2004.
- The Vols are 43-14 against SEC teams at home over the last six seasons.
- UT has won 55 of its last 60 home games against non-conference opponents.
Vols Sign Three In Early Period
Buzz Peterson announced that three players signed national letters of intent to play basketball at the University of Tennessee in the November signing period.
- Tyler Smith, a 6-foot-7, 230-pound forward from Pulaski, Tenn., was selected as one of the top 10 high school players in the nation when Street & Smith's named him a second team selection on the 2004 Boys High School All-America Team. As a junior at Giles County High School the first team all-state selection averaged 24 points, nine rebounds and five assists while leading the Bobcats to the state tournament. As a sophomore he earned tournament MVP honors after leading Giles County to a state championship. Rated a four-star prospect by Rivals.com, he was named the MVP of the all-star game at the adidas Superstar camp last summer in Atlanta.
- Matthew Dotson, a 6-foot-8, 210-pound forward from Centerville, Tenn., is rated a three-star prospect by Rivals.com. He was named the Class 3A Player of the Year for Hickman County High School's district last year. A big man who has a deft outside shooting touch that extends beyond the 3-point arc, he averaged 23 points and 14.5 rebounds as a junior.
- Damion Harris, a 6-foot-10, 275-pound center from Greenville, S.C., was a Class AAA All-State selection at Wade Hampton High School last season. As a senior in 2003-04 he led the Generals to the state tournament and as a junior he averaged 16 points, 14 rebounds and 6.5 blocks in leading Wade Hampton to the Class AAA Upper State finals. He first signed with the Vols last year, but is spending the 2004-05 season playing for Prince Avenue Prep in Pickens, S.C.
Preseason Honors & Predictions
| Team Predictions | |
| SEC Media | 3rd/SEC East |
| Athlon Sports | 3rd/SEC East |
| Street & Smith's | 3rd/SEC East |
| Basketball Time In TN | 3rd/SEC East |
| Lindy's Basketball | 3rd/SEC East |
| Blue Ribbon | 4th/SEC East |
| The Sporting News | 4th/SEC East |
| Basketball News | 4th/SEC East |
| Postseason Predictions | |
| Athlon Sports | NCAA Tournament |
| Basketball News | NCAA Tournament |
| Lindy's Basketball | NCAA Tournament |
| Individual Predictions | |
| Scooter McFadgon | First Team All-SEC (SEC Coaches) |
| First Team All-SEC (SEC Media) | |
| First Team All-SEC (Athlon Sports) | |
| First Team All-SEC (Basketball News) | |
| First Team All-SEC (Blue Ribbon CBY) | |
| Second Team All-SEC (The Sporting News) | |
| Second Team All-SEC (Lindy's Basketball) | |
| No. 9 "Slasher" nationally (Athlon Sports) | |
| No. 15 "SG" nationally (Lindy's Basketball) | |
| No. 16 "SG" nationally (The Sporting News) | |
| SEC's "Most Entertaining" (Lindy's Basketball) | |
| C.J. Watson | Second Team All-SEC (SEC Coaches) |
| Third Team All-SEC (Athlon Sports) | |
| SEC's "Best Playmaker" (The Sporting News) | |
| SEC's "Best Passer" (Street & Smith's) | |
| SEC's "Top Playmaker" (Lindy's Basketball) | |
| Brandon Crump | Second Team All-SEC (SEC Coaches) |
| Third Team All-SEC (Athlon Sports) | |
| Third Team All-SEC (Lindy's Basketball) | |
| Andre Patterson | No. 7 "Top Transfer" nationally (Lindy's Basketball) |
| Top Transfer (Athlon Sports) | |
| Top Transfer (Basketball News) | |
| SEC's "Best Transfer" (Street & Smith's) | |
| Chris Lofton | Top 100 Freshmen (Street & Smith's) |
