Gonzaga Game Preview

Tennessee		Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	APG
F	1 Tyler Smith	6-7	215	So.	13.1	5.1	3.3
F	4 Wayne Chism	6-9	242	So.	8.1	4.9	0.8
G	5 Chris Lofton	6-2	200	Sr.	14.8	3.4	2.7
G	2 JaJuan Smith	6-2	195	Sr.	14.1	2.3	2.8
G	15 Jordan Howell	6-2	200	So.	7.5	1.3	3.3
Gonzaga		Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	APG
F	31 Abdullahi Kuso	6-9	241	Sr.	6.4	4.2	0.2
F	25 David Pendergraft	6-6	223	Sr.	9.0	4.9	1.3
G	2 Jeremy Pargo	6-2	219	Jr.	12.8	4.2	5.8
G	15 Matt Bouldin	6-5	214	So.	12.5	4.4	2.3
G	22 Micah Downs	6-8	190	Jr.	10.7	5.3	1.8

Vols Travel to State of Washington for First Time

Tennessee will travelling to the state of Washington for the first time in school history when the Vols meet Gonzaga in the Comcast Battle In Seattle at 1 p.m. (PST) Dec. 29 at KeyArena.
The Vols will be playing their final game during the month of December, a month that has been spent primarily on the road. Four of UT???s five December games been 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.
UT stretched its winning streak to six games with an 82-75 victory at Xavier on Dec. 22. The Vols recorded three steals and outrebounded the Musketeers 6-0 while going on a 13-2 run down the stretch for the come-from-behind win. J.P. Prince scored a career-high 23 points to lead the Vols in the victory. Tyler Smith and Wayne Chism each added 12 points.
Tennessee has won 11 of its first 12 games for the second time in three seasons under Bruce Pearl. Pearl???s 2005-06 squad also won 11 of its first 12 games before suffering its second loss of the season.
Chris Lofton recently broke Allan Houston???s school record (346 from 1989-93) for career 3-pointers made against UNC Asheville. Lofton???s 350 career 3-pointers ranks second in SEC history behind only Arkansas??? Pat Bradley (366 from 1995-99) and 21st in NCAA history.
Lofton leads the Vols with 14.8 points while backcourt mate JaJuan Smith is adding 14.1 points per game. Sophomore forward Tyler Smith adds 13.1 points and is tied for the team lead with 3.3 assists. Freshman center Brian Williams has come on strong the last three games and is averaging 4.6 points and a team-best 5.6 rebounds on the season.
J.P. Prince, a sophomore transfer from Arizona, is averaging 14.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists in his three games since fulfilling NCAA transfer requirements earlier this month. He is shooting 60.7 percent (17-of-28) from the field on the season and was named the SEC Player of the Week after his 23-point performance at Xavier last weekend.

Tennessee Trends

A win would give UT a 12-1 record for the first time since the 2000-01 season.
Tennessee is averaging 25.6 points per game off turnovers this season (309 points in 12 games).
No UT player ranks among the SEC???s top 30 in minutes played.
Three of UT???s five games away from Thompson-Boling Arena have been sold out. The only two non sell outs were at the Legends Classic in Newark, N.J.
After opening the season by making just 3-of-17 (17.6 percent) of his 3-pointers, Lofton has made 37.8 percent (34-of-90) over the last eight games.
Lofton???s 1,749 career points rank eighth on UT???s all-time scorers list.
Tennessee has forced an average of 22.7 turnovers off an SEC-best 12.4 steals per game this year.
UT is leading the SEC with 21.0 assists per game.
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 home opener 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 36-2 at Thompson-Boling Arena since the start of the 2005-06 season.
UT has a 23-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 22-0 in non-conference home games under Bruce Pearl.
Bruce Pearl is 10-6 against ranked teams while at Tennessee.
The Vols have made at least one 3-pointer in 331 consecutive games.
Under Bruce Pearl, UT is 50-4 when leading or tied with five minutes left in the game.
UT is 38-4 when scoring 80 or more points under the direction of Bruce Pearl.
UT is 31-14 (.689) 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 1,402-904-2 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 236-86 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.

Tough Stretch

Beginning with the UNC Asheville game Dec. 19, Tennessee started a stretch where the Vols??? next four games were against opponents entering the game with a combined 36-7 record ... UNCA was off to its best start since 1983-84 with an 8-2 record while Xavier (8-2), Gonzaga (9-3) and Ole Miss (11-0) are also off to exemplary starts.

Winning Coaches

Saturday???s game will feature two of the winningest active coaches ... Mark Few???s career winning percentage of .800 (220-55) is second among all active Division I coaches while Bruce Pearl???s .782 (374-104) ranks third.

Looking At Gonzaga

Gonzaga enters Saturday???s game with a 9-3 record following a 68-72 loss to Oklahoma at the All-College Classic in Oklahoma City Dec. 20 ... Junior guard Jeremy Pargo, the younger brother of former Arkansas star Jannero Pargo, leads the Zags with 12.8 points per game ... A first team all conference selection last year, Pargo is averaging 5.8 assists per game ... A member of the WCC All-Freshman team last season, 6-foot-5 sophomore guard Matt Bouldin is second on the team with 12.5 points ... Junior center Josh Heytvelt, a Naismith Award candidate, saw his first action of the season against Oklahoma after suffering a stress fracture in his right ankle during the fall ... The Zags lead the WCC in scoring defense, allowing just 61.6 points per game ... They also lead the conference in field goal percentage defense (.382), 3-point field goal percentage defense (.289), rebounding margin (+5.4 rpg) and assist/turnover ratio (1.03) ... Gonzaga edged Saint Mary???s by two votes as the preseason favorite in the West Coast Conference in a poll of the league???s coaches ... The Zags have won seven consecutive WCC regular season titles ... Mark Few is 220-55 in his ninth season as Gonzaga???s head coach.

Lofton Breaks Houston???s 3-Point Record

Chris Lofton became Tennessee???s all-time 3-point leader against UNC Asheville (12/19/07), passing the legendary Allan Houston ... Lofton???s 350 career treys rank first at Tennessee, second in SEC history (Arkansas??? Pat Bradley had 366) and 21st in NCAA history ... The senior All-America candidate has made 37 3-pointers this season and is shooting 35.3 percent from behind the arc ... He currently holds Tennessee career records for 3-pointers made (350), attempted (821), made per game (3.37) and percentage (.426) ... 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.

Balanced Offense

Tennessee is leading the Southeastern Conference in both scoring and assists but does not list a single player among the top 10 in either individual category ... UT is averaging an SEC-high 87.8 points per game but leading scorer Chris Lofton ranks only 14th in the league individually with 14.8 points ... Six Vols are averaging eight or more points this season ... Tennessee also leads the SEC and the nation with 21.0 assists per game but UT leaders Jordan Howell and Tyler Smith rank in a tie for 14th with 3.25 assists per game ... Six Vols are averaging at least 2.50 assists per game for the year.

UT Leading The Nation in Assists

According to the Dec. 17 NCAA statistics, UT is leading the nation with 21.3 assists per game ... The Vols rank second nationally with 12.8 steals and an assist-turnover ratio of 1.59 ... UT???s 88.6 points per game are fourth in the nation and its 10.2 3-pointers are ninth nationally.

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 27.8 3-point shots per game this season ... 42.9 percent (333 of 776) of the Vols??? shots have been from 3-point range ... UT is averaging 9.7 3-pointers made per game on the year ... 13 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.
Lofton became UT???s career leader for 3-pointers made against UNC Asheville. The senior guard???s 350 triples rank second in SEC history.
JaJuan Smith???s seven 3-pointers against Middle Tennessee (11/20/07) rank in a tie for fourth on UT???s single-game lists.