Western Kentucky Game Preview

Tennessee		Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	APG
F	1 Tyler Smith	6-7	215	So.	13.0	5.1	3.6
F	32 Duke Crews	6-7	233	So.	6.5	4.6	1.1
G	5 Chris Lofton	6-2	200	Sr.	14.4	3.2	2.9
G	2 JaJuan Smith	6-2	195	Sr.	14.6	1.9	2.6
G	15 Jordan Howell	6-2	200	So.	7.8	1.4	3.2
Western Kentucky		Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	APG
F	35 D.J. Magley	6-9	260	Fr.	4.9	2.3	0.8
F	40 Jeremy Evans	6-9	190	So.	3.6	4.7	0.9
G	3 Tyrone Brazelton	6-0	180	Sr.	12.1	2.2	3.6
G	5 Ty Rogers	6-3	195	Sr.	6.1	1.8	0.6
G	32 Courtney Lee	6-5	200	Sr.	21.3	3.7	1.6

Vols Get Sun Belt's Best in Western Kentucky

Tennessee will play a non-conference game in Nashville for the third consecutive year when the Vols meet Western Kentucky in the Sun Belt Classic at the Sommet Center. The match-up with the Hilltoppers is the second game of a doubleheader that includes Sun Belt Conference teams in each game. Middle Tennessee will play Memphis is the first game of the evening.
This is just the second time that Tennessee has played Western Kentucky. In the first meeting between the schools Chris Lofton???s 32 points on 11-of-15 shooting led the Vols to a 93-79 win Dec. 16, 2006, in Knoxville. JaJuan Smith had 21 points on 5-of-11 3-point shooting.
Tennessee has had success playing non-conference games in the Music City recently. Last year the Vols were 3-0 in non-conference games in Nashville, including a 79-77 win over 15th-ranked Oklahoma State. In 2005-06 the Vols defeated Murray State 64-53 in Nashville.
Tennessee has won eight of its first nine games for the second time in three seasons under Bruce Pearl. Pearl???s 2005-06 squad won 11 of its first 12 games before suffering its second loss of the season.
UT passed its first true road test of the season with a 76-70 win over UT-Chattanooga Dec. 4. An arena record crowd of 11,221 was on-hand for the Vols??? first visit to UTC???s McKenzie Arena in 25 years. The Vols had 17 steals off 34 Mocs turnovers in the win. Chris Lofton led Tennessee with a game-high 16 points.
Four of Tennessee???s five games in the month of December will be away from Thompson-Boling Arena. In fact, the Vols are in the middle of a 39-day period in which they play just one game in Knoxville.
JaJuan Smith needs just four points to become the 40th member of Tennessee???s 1,000-point club. The senior guard has scored 996 points in 99 career games entering Saturday???s contest.
Chris Lofton needs five 3-pointers to tie Allan Houston???s (1989-93) school record of 346 career treys. Lofton???s 341 career triples rank third in Southeastern Conference history behind only Houston and Arkansas??? Pat Bradley (366 from 1995-99).

Tennessee Trends

After opening the season by making just 3-of-17 (17.6 percent) of his 3-pointers, Lofton has made 41.0 percent (25-of-61) over the last six games.
Lofton???s 1,702 career points rank ninth on UT???s all-time scorers list.
Tennessee has forced an average of 24.6 turnovers off an SEC-best 13.0 steals per game this year.
The Vols are leading the SEC with 21.3 assists per game.
JaJuan Smith is leading the Vols with an assistturnover ratio of 2.88 (23 assists, 8 turnovers) while Tyler Smith owns a 2.29 ratio (329 assists, 14 turnovers) and Jordan Howell has a 2.23 ratio (29 assists, 13 turnovers).
UT???s 69-point (109-40) win over Middle Tennessee is the second-largest margin of victory in school history.
The Vols tied a school record with 16 3-pointers against Middle Tennessee (11/20/07). Their 30 assists were one dime shy of tying a school record.
The 21,817 fans for Tennessee???s game against Temple (11/9/07) was the largest crowd for a homeopener in the nation this year.
Chris Lofton and JaJuan Smith were the highest scoring duo in the Southeastern Conference in 2006-07. Lofton averaged 20.8 points while Smith added 15.2 points.
Tennessee is 35-2 at Thompson-Boling Arena since the start of the 2005-06 season.
UT has a 22-game homecourt winning streak. The Vols??? last home loss was a 78-80 decision to Kentucky in the final home game of the 2005-06 season.
The Vols are 21-0 in non-conference home games under Bruce Pearl.
Bruce Pearl is 9-6 against ranked teams while at Tennessee.
The Vols have made at least one 3-pointer in 328 consecutive games.
Under Bruce Pearl, UT is 48-4 when leading or tied with five minutes left in the game.
UT is 35-4 when scoring 80 or more points under the direction of Bruce Pearl.
UT is 30-14 (.682) when playing before crowds of 20,000 or larger at Thompson-Boling Arena. In 2006-07 the Vols were 6-0 playing in front of 20,000 fans at home.
Tennessee has an all-time record of 1,399-904-2 in its 99th season of basketball.
UT???s 620 regular season SEC victories rank third all-time in the SEC. Only Kentucky and Alabama have won more league games.
Tennessee is 235-86 in its 21st season in Thompson-Boling Arena. The Vols have winning home records in 18 of their 20 seasons in the facility.
Tennessee is the only Division I school ever to rank in the top five nationally in attendance for football, men???s basketball and women???s basketball in the same season. The Vols turned the trick for the fourth time in 2006-07.

December On The Road

After playing six of its first eight games at home, Tennessee is in the middle of a 39-day period (Dec. 1 through Jan. 8) where the Vols only play one game at Thompson-Boling Arena ... UT???s only home game during the stretch is a Dec. 19 contest against UNC Asheville ... Tennessee will travel to play games in Chattanooga (Dec. 4 at UT-Chattanooga), Nashville (Dec. 15 vs. Western Kentucky), Cincinnati (Dec. 22 at Xavier) and Seattle (Dec. 29 vs. Gonzaga) before opening Southeastern Conference play Jan. 9 against Ole Miss in Knoxville.

JaJuan Smith Nearing 1,000 Points

JaJuan Smith needs just four points to become the 40th player in Tennessee history to record 1,000 career points ... The Cleveland, Tenn., native has scored 996 points in 99 career games (10.1 ppg) ... Last year he ranked second on the team and ninth in the Southeastern Conference with 15.2 points per game.

Lofton Climbing 3-Point Charts

Chris Lofton is pursuing the school and conference 3-point records ... The preseason All-America selection???s 341 career 3-pointers rank second in school history (Allan Houston had 346) and third in Southeastern Conference history (Arkansas??? Pat Bradley had 366) ... The Maysville, Ky., native has produced the top two single-season 3-point efforts in school history ... In 2005-06 he set a school record with 114 triples and as a junior in 2006-07 he made 106 shots behind the arc.

Looking At Western Kentucky

Western Kentucky earned its second consecutive victory with a 77-60 win at Eastern Kentucky Saturday ... The win improved WKU???s record to 7-2 on the season ... Courtney Lee leads the Hilltoppers and is among the Sun Belt Conference leaders with 21.3 points per game ... A Mid-Major All-America and first team all-SBC selection the past two seasons, Lee is a Naismith Award candidate and was named to the Playboy All-America team this year ... Tyrone Brazelton, a second team preseason all-SBC pick, is second on the team with 12.1 points while leading the squad with 3.6 assists per game ... 10 Hilltoppers are averaging at least 14 minutes per game ... WKU has already beaten teams from the Big Ten (Michigan 73-69) and Big 12 (Nebraska 69-62 in overtime) conferences this year ... The Hilltoppers have forced 20 or more turnovers in five of their first nine games this season ... WKU leads the Sun Belt Conference in turnover margin (+4.9) ... Western Kentucky was the unanimous pick with win the Sun Belt???s Eastern Division in a preseason poll of the league???s coaches ... The Hilltoppers seven consecutive winning seasons (2001-2007) in both conference and overall play is the longest current streak in the Sun Belt ... Darrin Horn is 89-43 in his fifth season as the head coach at his alma mater.

Tennessee Triplets

The senior trio of Chris Lofton, JaJuan Smith and Jordan Howell have comprised to make Tennessee one of the most dangerous 3-point shooting teams in the nation ... The threesome are a key reason the Vols lead the SEC and rank among the national leaders with 10.3 3-pointers per game ... All three players rank among the top 10 in the SEC in terms of 3- pointers made per game ... Lofton leads the team and ranks second in the SEC with 3.11 triples per game ... Smith is fifth with 2.78 and Howell is ninth with 2.22 treys per game.

It Doesn???t Rain 3s, It Pours Them

The 3-point shot has been a key part of Tennessee???s repertoire this season ... The Vols are averaging 29.0 3-point shots per game this season ... 44.5 percent (261 of 586) of the Vols??? shots have been from 3-point range ... UT is averaging 10.3 3-pointers made per game on the year ... 11 different Vols have made a 3-pointer this season.

??? UT shattered the previous school record of 37 3-point attempts by firing up 50 shots from beyond the arc against North Carolina A&T (11/27/07). It is the third-highest total in SEC history.

??? Chris Lofton broke his own single-game record for attempts by going 8-of-20 from 3-point range against North Carolina A&T (11/27/07). It tied for the third-highest number of attempts in SEC history.

??? The Vols have tied the school record for 3-pointers made in a game with 16 two times this season. They performed the feat less than a week between games, doing it against Middle Tennessee State (11/20/07) and then against Texas (11/24/07).

??? Lofton???s eight 3-pointers against North Carolina A&T are tied for second-most in school history. Lofton already holds the school record with nine triples in a game against Georgia his sophomore season.

??? JaJuan Smith???s seven 3-pointers against Middle Tennessee (11/20/07) rank in a tie for fourth on UT???s single-game lists.