Tennessee Volunteers v. Kentucky Wildcats: open game thread

by Joel Hollingsworth on Mar 2, 2008 9:52 AM EST in Tennessee Volunteer Basketball

	March 2, 2008, 12:00 EST TV: CBS, CBS Video Stream Radio: Vol Network XM Radio: 199 Phone Broadcast: TeamLine Live Stats: UTSports.com
25-3 (overall) 11-2 (SEC) No. 1 (AP) No. 1 (USA Today)		16-10 (overall) 10-3 (SEC) NR (AP) NR (USA Today)

Jackson the Mule says . . .	Tennessee		Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	APG
	F	1 Tyler Smith	6-7	215	So.	13.4	6.9	3.6
	F	4 Wayne Chism	6-9	242	So.	9.1	6.0	1.1
	G	5 Chris Lofton	6-2	200	Sr.	15.4	3.4	2.0
	G	2 JaJuan Smith	6-2	195	Sr.	14.0	3.5	2.4
	G	12 Ramar Smith	6-2	200	So.	8.2	2.4	3.1
	Kentucky		Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	APG
	F	34 Ramon Harris	6-6	213	So.	3.5	3.4	1.1
	F	42 Mark Coury	6-8	238	So.	2.2	2.0	0.7
	C	54 Patrick Patterson	6-8	232	Fr.	16.4	7.7	1.7
	G	3 Ramel Bradley	6-2	191	Sr.	15.8	4.6	3.3
. . . Oh, good. Another feline.	G	32 Joe Crawford	6-5	207	Sr.	16.8	3.6	2.3

Note that Patrick Patterson is out, and it's not entirely clear how the Wildcats will account for his absence. A Sea of Blue discusses a few possibilities.

Chris Lofton All-Time Career Three Watch:

Player	School	Record	Needed to break
J.J. Redick	Duke	457	50
Keydren Clark	St. Peter's	435	28
Curtis Staples	Virginia	413	6
Keith Veney	Lamar & Marshall	409	2
Chris Lofton	Tennessee	408	1

Lofton moved into fifth place against Auburn on February 20;
needs two three-pointers to move into 4th; should do it this afternoon;
is averaging 3.39 threes per game this season;

whether Lofton can get the record depends on the number of games remaining:

	Games remaining	Needs to average
Regular season	3	16.67
SEC Tourney	4	12.5
	5	10
	6	8.33
	7	7.14
NCAA Tourney	8	6.25
(best guess)	9	5.56
	10	5
	11	4.55
	12	4.17
	13	3.85

One more time: We probably care more about this record than Chris Lofton does.

And finally, lurking in my inbox this morning was this email from Kentucky fan Larry:

Tennesse could never, EVER, be Kentucky's equal in Basketball. We lead 140 to 65 all time in the series. WE have seven national titles, WE are the all time leader in wins in division 1. YOU celebrate halloween all year with those pumpkin colored jerseys.Good luck in Catlanta. GO BIG BLUE. Please respond, that is if you can spell.

My response:

Hi, Larry. Kentucky's got a fantastic program, and you should be proud of it. We're proud of ours, too, and we're really looking forward to this game. Good luck this afternoon.

By the way, where did you go to law school? I went to UT.

;-)

Joel

I tried to refrain, I really did. But like the Vols at the Alamodome last year, I started well, but finished poorly. Let's hope the team does better than I this afternoon.

Leave your pre-, in-, and post-game thoughts below.

Go Vols! Hulk smash 'Cats!

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Comments

"Larry"

Larry sounds much like a stereotypical Alabama football fan by priding himself in what others have accomplished decades ago. Only problem is that he presents himself as more ignorant. He forgets that Kentucky isn't the only state with spell-checkers on their computers.

by Aerobab on Mar 2, 2008 10:21 AM EST reply actions

Here's ...

to a good, clean contest guys. I hope it is worthy of both programs.

Good luck.

A Sea of Blue -- Kentucky Sports for the Discerning Fan.

by Glenn Logan on Mar 2, 2008 11:39 AM EST reply actions

Welcome Back, You Old Mule

Jackson, we missed you last week. You've had a great run vs. felines this year...keep it up!

by Aerobab on Mar 2, 2008 11:41 AM EST reply actions

Full House

Looks like TBA is rightfully jam packed! Can't wait to get it on!

by Aerobab on Mar 2, 2008 12:03 PM EST reply actions

1st posessions

Both teams had turnovers on their 1st posessions. UT was able to capitalize on theirs!

by Aerobab on Mar 2, 2008 12:08 PM EST reply actions

Inspired

Hulk has these boys fired up! Playing great on both sides of the ball! 11-2 Vols, early on.

by Aerobab on Mar 2, 2008 12:14 PM EST reply actions

Lofton--THREEE!

And then follows that with a bucket off the steal!

by Aerobab on Mar 2, 2008 12:20 PM EST reply actions

Attacking

Good to see the Vols getting down low again. Missed that in the 1st half vs. Vandy.

Half way through the 1st...Vols lead: 20-5

by Aerobab on Mar 2, 2008 12:29 PM EST reply actions

wow

What a Ball screen! Jujuanny missed the dunk though. Picks up the foul, but converts 2 FTs.

by Aerobab on Mar 2, 2008 12:37 PM EST reply actions

Fizzled

Momentum has swung. UK's hit their last 7 trips down the floor. Tennessee is struggling from the field. We still lead by 10 with 4 to go in the half.

by Aerobab on Mar 2, 2008 12:44 PM EST reply actions

Lost

I've been lurking silently, not wanting to comment then disappear for lunch, but it's taking forever, and . . .

. . . where's my pizza and where's our offense?

Go Vols!

by Joel Hollingsworth on Mar 2, 2008 12:44 PM EST reply actions

Vols shoot a lower percentage from 3 feet than

3 point distance. Gotta fix that.

by wvvol on Mar 2, 2008 12:51 PM EST reply actions

Wow, we got a call there

This is a different feeling.

by wvvol on Mar 2, 2008 12:52 PM EST reply actions

Hey all

How's it looked so far?

by David Hooper on Mar 2, 2008 12:54 PM EST reply actions

average

We came out on fire while UK was cold. Then roles reversed. So we've seen pretty much all extremes from everybody.

by Aerobab on Mar 2, 2008 12:57 PM EST up reply actions

Vols are having trouble finishing from < 3 feet

Getting to the hole, but blowing the shot. And it's not just Ramar this game.

by wvvol on Mar 2, 2008 1:02 PM EST up reply actions

Hey Y'all!

Glad to have the company!

We survived the monumental collapse and we're still up. Good omen.

by Aerobab on Mar 2, 2008 12:55 PM EST reply actions

Halftime stats


27	Points	34
10/20 - 50%	Field Goals	12/29 - 41%
3/6 - 50%	3-Point FGs	3/9 - 33%
4/9 - 44%	Free Throws	7/10 - 70%
15 (2/13)	Rebounds (Off-Def)	16 (6/10)
10	Total Fouls	9
1	Steals	3
2	Blocks	2
5	Assists	9
9	Turnovers	4
5 / 9	Assist/Turnover	9 / 4
3	Bench Points	5
2	Second Chance Points	4
0	Points Off Turnovers	10

Tennessee'd better wake up. It's a lot closer than the stats make it look.

Go Vols!

by Joel Hollingsworth on Mar 2, 2008 12:57 PM EST reply actions

Good to have you back, Joel.

My attempt at halftime was FAIL. It looks like a typical game between these two teams. They're better at percentages, but we get a lot more chances. My guess is we run their legs off in the second half.

by David Hooper on Mar 2, 2008 1:00 PM EST up reply actions

Pearl has been subbing pretty liberally

so Vols should be fresh late in the game.

by wvvol on Mar 2, 2008 1:03 PM EST up reply actions

Two of three TX lessons at play here

I'm disturbed at our tendency to let teams off the mat when we have them down. It was one of the three key lessons of the Alamodome. One of the others was to not put too much stock in the other team's star players being out or in foul trouble. I'm still worried about this one.

Go Vols!

by Joel Hollingsworth on Mar 2, 2008 1:08 PM EST up reply actions

Second Chance Points

We've thrived off of 2nd chance points. We're hurting pretty badly there. Just look at UK's Drebs. In particular, Tyler 'Garbage Collector' Smith hasn't come through yet.

C-Lo has 7 (I think), so UK is doing well at keeping him covered.

by Aerobab on Mar 2, 2008 1:06 PM EST up reply actions

Foul trouble doesn't look good

for Kentucky. 2 guys with 3 already - Bradley and Crawford

by David Hooper on Mar 2, 2008 12:57 PM EST reply actions

The <3 feet problems

shouldn't remain throughout the game. That's too basic of a shot for problems to be systematic. A bad run happens from time to time.

by David Hooper on Mar 2, 2008 1:05 PM EST reply actions

It carried over to the 2nd half

Still can't buy one from in close.

by wvvol on Mar 2, 2008 1:22 PM EST up reply actions

My momma says

that they should retire EG's shorts instead, because they're the only reason she or any of her sisters ever went to a basketball game. I think they'd look quite fetching framed on the wall.

by Holly Anderson on Mar 2, 2008 1:13 PM EST reply actions