| Team Statistical Comparisons |
| Tennessee | Stat Category | Alabama |
| 74.5 | Points | 70.1 |
| 70.8 | Opponent Points | 66.4 |
| +3.7 | Scoring Margin | +3.6 |
| .441 | Field Goal % | .457 |
| .428 | Opponent Field Goal % | .428 |
| .342 | Three-Point % | .374 |
| .337 | Opponent Three-Point % | .351 |
| .740 | Free Throw % | .686 |
| 39.1 | Rebounds | 34.5 |
| 33.7 | Opponent Rebounds | 32.7 |
| +5.5 | Rebounding Margin | +1.8 |
| 16.2 | Assists | 11.9 |
| 15.4 | Turnovers | 13.8 |
| 3.9 | Blocks | 3.1 |
| 6.5 | Steals | 6.8 |
| 12-8, 4-5 | Record) | 11-9, 3-6 |
| Individual Statistical Leaders |
| Tennessee | Stat Category | Alabama |
| McFadgon, 18.5 | Points | Winston, 16.1 |
| Crump, 7.4 | Rebounds | Davis, 6.2 |
| Watson, 5.4 | Assists | Pettway, 3.2 |
| Crump, .553 | Field Goal % | Thomas, .513 |
| Watson, .419 | Three-Point % | Thomas, .470 |
| McFadgon, .926 | Free Throw % | Pettway, .795 |
The Series
Alabama leads the all-time series, 67-61 ... Last season Alabama took a 76-71 win in Knoxville ... Alabama has won the last three meetings in the series ... Alabama leads the series 39-15 when it is played in Tuscaloosa ... UT has lost 15 of its last 16 games against the Crimson Tide when playing in Tuscaloosa ... Tennessee holds a decisive 43-18 advantage when playing in Knoxville ... UT leads the series 6-4 when playing in Thompson-Boling Arena ... Tennessee and Alabama have met 12 times in the SEC Tournament with the Tide holding an 8-4 series lead ... Tennessee won the first meeting, 49-13 between the two schools on Feb. 6, 1914 ... The Tennessee-Alabama rivalry is UT's third-oldest in the SEC ... Only Tennessee's series with Kentucky (1910) and Georgia (1913) date back further.
Last Meeting
Alabama shot 56.3 percent from 3-point range in escaping Knoxville with a 76-71 win over Tennessee on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2003 ... Alabama extended its 39-29 halftime to as many as 18 points before the Vols rallied to cut the lead to five points with 1:26 left in the game ... Alabama's Erwin Dudley scored off a Kennedy Winston missed free throw to put the Tide's lead at 70-63 with 45.9 seconds left ... C.J. Watson responded with a jumper for the Vols and then a Jon Higgins trey brought the Vols within three points with 19.8 seconds left ... Alabama's Maurice Williams made a pair of free throws but Watson came back with a 3-pointer to make it 73-71 with 13.8 seconds left ... The Vols were unable to get any clear looks at the basket while the Tide hit three more free throws to seal the win ... Ron Slay led all scorers with 23 points and nine rebounds ... Thaydeus Holden scored a career-high 22 points on 6-of-8 3-point shooting while Watson added 13 points and seven assists ... Dudley led four Alabama players in double figure scoring with 18 points ... Williams added 17 and Winston had 15 points ... UA, which entered the game shooting 28.4 percent from 3-point range in SEC games, went 9-of-16 (56.3 percent) from behind the arc.
Looking at Alabama
Alabama saw its losing streak extend to five games with a 55-66 loss at Kentucky Tuesday, Feb. 10 ... Three of those five losses have come on the road ... Four of the losses have come against a team with one of the top five records in the SEC ... The Crimson Tide are led by Kennedy Winston's 16.1 points per game ... Winston, who had 12 points against the Wildcats, has scored 80 points in his last four games ... Earnest Shelton, who has returned to the lineup after suffering a knee injury earlier this season, is second on the squad with 14.9 points per game ... Shelton suffered a sprained knee on Jan. 21 against Georgia and missed two games before returning to the lineup with a 23-point performance at South Carolina ... Sophomore forward Chuck Davis is the only other player averaging double-figure scoring with 10.4 points and a team-high 6.2 rebounds per game ... Antoine Pettway leads the squad with 3.2 assists per game ... Alabama has held 16 of its 20 opponents to under 50 percent shooting from the field ... The Tide ranks second in the Southeastern Conference by making 37.4 percent of their 3-point attempts ... Mark Gottfried is 110-70 in his sixth season at Alabama and 178-95 in his ninth year as a head coach.
Road Woes
Tennessee has been two different teams at home and on the road this season ... When playing at home the Vols are averaging 79.0 points per game and are shooting 46.9 percent from the field ... On the road UT is averaging 64.0 points on 37.4 percent shooting ... The Vols opponents are averaging just 66.3 points on 39.2 percent shooting in Thompson-Boling Arena ... When hosting UT, the Vols' opponents are scoring 81.5 points on 52.2 percent shooting ... Tennessee is 11-3 at home and 1-5 on the road this season.
White Station Teammates Reunite
Tennessee freshman guard Dane Bradshaw and Alabama junior guard Earnest Shelton were teammates at White Station High School in Memphis for two seasons ... When Bradshaw was a freshman and Shelton a junior in 2000 the duo combined to lead the Spartans to a 34-4 record and a TSSAA Class AAA state championship ... Bradshaw went on to lead White Station to state championships during his junior and senior seasons also.
Buzz Against Bama
Buzz Peterson will be looking for his first win over Alabama as the head coach at the University of Tennessee ... Peterson has at least one win over every SEC team except Alabama ... Peterson is 1-3 all-time against the Tide ... As the head coach at Tulsa he led the Golden Hurricane to a 79-60 win over Alabama in the 2001 National Invitation Tournament championship game.
Buzz Looking For 150
Tennessee's next win will be Buzz Peterson's 150th as a head coach ... In eight seasons as a head coach Peterson has recorded a 149-86 (.634) career mark ... Forty-four of those wins have come at Tennessee while 26 were at Tulsa and 79 were at Appalachian State ... Peterson's 149 career wins ranks seventh among active Southeastern Conference coaches.
Last Time Out
C.J. Watson's 3-pointer with just over a minute left gave the Vols a lead it would not give up in a 69-65 win over Arkansas Wednesday, Feb. 11, at Thompson-Boling Arena ... Ronnie Brewer's layup with 2:55 left gave the Razorbacks a 65-63 lead with 2:55 left ... Brewer's layup capped a 13-2 Arkansas run that had erased a nine-point Tennessee lead ... Watson's trey from deep in the left corner gave the Vols a 66-65 lead with 1:04 remaining ... Scooter McFadgon hit a pair of free throws with 25 seconds left and then Brandon Crump sank the first of two free throws with 12.7 seconds remaining to seal the win ... Tennessee enjoyed its best shooting performance in over a month by converting 50.9 percent of its field goals while holding Arkansas to just 36.8 percent shooting from the field ... McFadgon, who was 5-of-8 from 3-point range, led all scorers with 19 points ... Brandon Crump turned in his seventh double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds ... Watson added 14 points, eight rebounds and six assists ... Olu Famutimi turned in a career-high 18 points to lead Arkansas ... Michael Jones came off the bench to add 13 points while Jonathon Modica and Billy Pharis each had 11.
Playing Super Tuesday Teams
For the third Saturday in a row the Vols will be playing a team that had a Tuesday night game while Tennessee played on Wednesday ... Alabama is coming off a Tuesday night game at Kentucky ... Last weekend UT faced Georgia Tech when the Yellow Jackets were coming off a Tuesday game at Florida State ... On Jan. 31 the Vols hosted a Florida team that was coming off a Tuesday game at Alabama ... The week before that Tennessee met Kentucky on a Tuesday night.
Best Wishes For David Steele
The Tennessee basketball program would like to extend their best wishes for a speedy recovery to David Steele who suffered a broken ankle on Saturday, Feb. 7 ... Steele, who also serves as the television voice of the Orlando Magic, was scheduled to do the play-by-play for Jefferson-Pilot's telecast of the Tennessee-Alabama game but will not be able to because of the injury ... Dave Baker, who also filled in for Steele on JP's South Carolina-Kentucky game on Feb. 7, will call the action this weekend.
Houston Named To ESPN's Silver Anniversary All-SEC Team
Former Tennessee standout and current New York Knicks star Allan Houston was named to ESPN's Silver Anniversary All-SEC Team at halftime of its telecast of the Tennessee-Kentucky game Jan. 20 ... The second-leading scorer in Southeastern Conference history, Houston scored 2,801 career points while playing for the Vols (1989-93) ... Joining Houston on the team were Chris Jackson (LSU), Chuck Person (Auburn), Jamal Mashburn (Kentucky) and Shaquille O'Neal (LSU) ... Celebrating its 25th season of covering college basketball, ESPN listed its top five players from each major conference over the last 25 years (since the 1979-80 season) ... The teams were chosen by a seven-member panel of SEC media and league representatives.
Tennessee One Of Nation's Youngest Teams
Tennessee is one of six NCAA Division I schools and the only SEC team without a scholarship senior on its roster ... UT joins Harvard, UNC Asheville, Oregon State Pepperdine and Wake Forest as the only schools without any seniors ... Only one player ( Brandon Crump) played on Buzz Peterson's first team at UT during the 2001-02 season ... The Vol roster lists only three scholarship juniors who are active this season ... Seven of the 10 scholarship players who are active this year are either freshman or sophomores ... Tennessee's starting lineup this season has typically featured three sophomores and two juniors ... The Vols lost three scholarship seniors (Jon Higgins, Thaydeus Holden and Ron Slay) from last year's team that went 17-12 and made an appearance in the NIT.
Watson Named To SEC Good Works Team (Feb. 11-14)
Sophomore point guard C.J. Watson will be featured as the SEC Good Works Team Player of the Week on Jefferson-Pilot's telecasts the week of Feb. 11-14 ... The Las Vegas, Nev., native was named the 2003 co-Male Community Service Student-Athlete of the Year by Tennessee's CHAMPS/Life Skills Office for his community efforts ... He assisted the Meals On Wheels program, delivering warm meals to the elderly in Knoxville on Thanksgiving Day ... He hosted children from The Wesley House and spoke at the Westbury Christian Upward Bound Banquet ... This is the first time Watson has been named to the SEC Good Works Team ... He joins C.J. Black (2000) and Jon Higgins (2001, 2002, 2003) as Vols who have been named to the Good Works Team.
Tennessee Against Ranked Teams
Tennessee is 2-5 against teams ranked among the Associated Press Top 25 this year ... UT has wins over 23rd-ranked Vanderbilt and No. 22 Florida and a losses at No. 14 Florida, vs. No. 9 Kentucky, vs. No. 5 Louisville, at No. 11 Mississippi State and vs. No. 15 Georgia Tech this season ... The Vols are 81-185 all-time against teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 ... Tennessee is 39-115 all-time against teams ranked in the AP Top 10 and 17-27 against teams ranked in the Top 5.
Vols Meet Four Consecutive Ranked Teams
For the first time in school history the Vols played four consecutive teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 ... The streak started against No. 9 Kentucky and continued with No. 5 Louisville, at No. 11 Mississippi State and finally No. 22 Florida ... The Vols have played three consecutive games against ranked opponents three times but this was the first time a fourth team has been added to the mix.
Home Sweet Home
While the Vols have struggled on the road this season, they have been tough at home ... Tennessee is 11-3 at Thompson-Boling Arena this season ... UT's only home losses have come to No. 9 Kentucky, No. 5 Louisville and No. 15 Georgia Tech ... Kentucky needed a 25-foot 3-pointer with 16.3 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime in the Wildcats' win.
Vols Well Represented in SEC Statistics
Tennessee players lead two of the 12 individual categories in the latest Southeastern Conference statistics ... Scooter McFadgon leads the league in free throw percentage (92.6 percent) while he is second in scoring (18.5 ppg) and sixth in 3-point field goal percentage (36.8 percent) ... C.J. Watson sits atop the assists (5.40 apg) list and is third in assist/turnover ratio (2.12 assists-to-turnovers) ... Brandon Crump is sixth in the league in field goal percentage by making 55.3 percent of his shots while ranking 14th in scoring (14.9 ppg) and eighth in rebounding (7.4 rpg) ... As a team, the Vols lead the SEC in free throw percentage (74.0 percent), are second in rebounding offense (39.1 rpg) and are third in assists (16.15 apg).
Hitting The Boards
Tennessee ranks second in the Southeastern Conference with 39.1 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 5.4 rebounds per game which ranks fourth in the SEC ... UT is averaging 14.10 offensive rebounds per game.
Hendrix And The Vols Are Getting Offensive On The Boards
Tennessee ranks second in the SEC with 14.10 offensive rebounds per game on the season ... Ten times the Vols have recorded 15 or more offensive rebounds in a game ... Over their last five games the Vols are averaging 15.20 offensive boards per game ... Jemere Hendrix has been leading the offensive charge with 64 offensive rebounds per game, a number that ranks fourth in the SEC (3.20 rpg) ... Against 15th-ranked Georgia Tech he recorded a career-high nine rebounds at the offensive end of the court ...Over his last five games Hendrix is averaging 9.0 rebounds, including 5.0 offensive rebounds per game.
Watson One of SEC's Top Playmakers
While several other point guards around the nation have been bogarting the headlines and highlights, 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 SEC with 5.40 assists per game ... His assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.12 (108 assists against 51 turnovers in 675 minutes) is third in the SEC ... According to the Feb. 10 NCAA statistics, Watson's 5.4 assists ranked 41st in the nation ... Five 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 freshman.
Watson Can Score Too
Although he usually looks to pass first, Watson has also found opportunities to score ... While leading the SEC with 5.40 assists per game, he ranks third on the team with 11.7 points per game ... He has also established himself as a deep threat by leading the team in 3-point percentage (.419) and ranking second in 3-pointers made (31).
Watson Flirting With Triple-Doubles
Sophomore point guard C.J. Watson has flirted with history two times in SEC action this season ... In the SEC opener against Georgia (1/7/04) the Las Vegas native nearly became the first Tennessee player in history to record a triple-double ... He finished the game with nine points, eight rebounds and nine assists ... Against Vanderbilt (1/14/04) he came close with a career-high 13 rebounds, 11 points and seven assists... This year isn't the first time he has come close to a triple-double ... In just his second collegiate game he recorded nine points, seven rebounds and eight assists against VMI (11/25/02).
Free Throw Scooter Leads The SEC, Ranks Fourth In The Nation
Scooter McFadgon gets mad when he misses a free throw, calling free throws "the easiest baskets you'll ever get." ... The junior guard hasn't gotten mad very often this season as he is leading the SEC by making 92.6 (100-of-108) free throws this season ... According to the Feb. 10 NCAA statistics he ranked fourth in the nation with a 92.5 free throw percentage ... He saw a streak of 32 consecutive free throws made come to an end against Louisville (1/25/04) ... He also had a streak of 27 consecutive free throws made until a miss against UNC Asheville 12/30/03) ... The school record for consecutive free throws made is 39 by Danny Schultz (12/2/63 - 12/28/63) and Michael Brooks (1/30/85 - 3/6/85).
McFadgon Leading Free Throw Charts
Scooter McFadgon's 92.6 percent (100-of-108) shooting from the free throw line this season ranks as the top percentage in Tennessee history ... Bill Justus, who led the nation with a 92.0 percent (133-of-147) success rate during the 1968-69 season, holds the school record.
Scooter Scores Big
Playing his first season of Southeastern Conference basketball, Scooter McFadgon has taken the league by storm ... The Memphis transfer ranks second in the SEC in scoring with 18.5 points per game this year ... His 36.8 percent 3-point shooting ranks eighth in the league while his 2.10 treys per game is sixth ... He owns three of the top seven scoring performances in the Southeastern Conference this year ... He has scored 20 or more points nine times and 30 or more points three times ... Against ninth-ranked Kentucky (1/20/04) he scored a career-high 33 points, scoring 19 of the Vols' first 24 points against the Wildcats ... The junior guard 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) ... In the SEC opener he matched that mark with a 31-point effort against Georgia (1/7/04).
McFadgon Gets 1,000 Career Points
Junior transfer Scooter McFadgon scored his 1,000th career point against Georgia Tech (2/7/04) ... He has scored 1,036 points in his three years playing college basketball ... The 6-foot-5 guard scored 674 points in two seasons at Memphis and has scored 352 points in his first season at Tennessee.
The Jemere Hendrix Experience
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 second on the team and 10th in the SEC with 7.2 boards per game ... He is averaging 3.20 offensive rebounds per game to rank fourth in the SEC ... He recorded a career-high 14 rebounds against 11th-ranked Mississippi State (1/28/04) ... Against 15th-ranked Georgia Tech he brought in a career-high nine offensive rebounds ... Defensively he has given the Vols another boost ... He held Preseason SEC Player of the Year Matt Freije to just eight points on 2-of-12 shooting and two rebounds on Jan. 14.
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 sixth in the league with a 55.3 field goal percentage ... According to the Feb. 10 NCAA statistics, Crump's 55.6 field goal percentage ranked 40th in the nation ... He ranks 14th in the SEC in scoring (14.9 ppg) and is eighth in rebounding with 7.4 boards per game ... The 6-foot-10 forward has scored 20 or more points in five games after not reaching the 20-point mark in his first two seasons at Tennessee ... He has seven double-doubles on the season and 10 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 14.9 points and 7.4 rebounds as a junior this year ... Against Nebraska (12/13/03) he recorded a career-high 25 points.
Crump Doubles Up
Junior forward Brandon Crump has recorded seven double-doubles this season ... That is the most by a Vol since Ron Slay had seven in 2002-03 ... No Tennessee player has had more than seven since Steve Hamer recorded nine double-doubles during the 1995-96 season ... Other Vols who have had seven double-doubles in recent years include Slay (2002-03), Vincent Yarbrough (2000-01) and Isiah Victor (1998-99) ... Crump's seven double-doubles are the fourth-most in the Southeastern Conference this season.
| TENNESSEE CAREER STATS vs. ALABAMA |
| ? | G-GS | FG-A | 3FG-A | FT-A | Reb | Avg | A | To | Blk | Stl | Pts | Avg |
| Asumnu | 1-0 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2.0 |
| Crump | 3-3 | 7-11 | 0-0 | 2-8 | 3-3-6 | 2.0 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 16 | 5.3 |
| Watson | 1-1 | 4-12 | 3-7 | 2-4 | 0-4-4 | 4.0 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 13.0 |
| Winchester | 1-0 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-0-1 | 1.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
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