Western Kentucky Review

Tennessee came into this game looking into a trap. The Vols were going up against a very good Mid-Major team after pulling off an upset of #19 Memphis over a week and a half ago. Factor in the fact that the Vols play #15 Oklahoma State in Nashville on Monday night and this was a very scary game. I’ll have to admit, I was a little worried in going into this game. I knew that Pearl wouldn’t overlook the Hilltoppers, but I was afraid his team might. While the Hilltoppers were able to keep the game close, the Vols were able to come away with a double digit victory of 93-79 on a night that was definitely perimeter oriented. Here are some thoughts from the game:

1) Over the last two weeks, it would be hard pressed to say that there has been a better player in the whole country than Chris Lofton. Lofton is averaging 29.3 points per game going back to the Louisiana-Lafayette game on 58% shooting from beyond the arc. What has really improved over the last two games is his ability to drive to the basket. Pearl talked in the preseason about how Chris worked on that part of his game over the summer, and it looked like in the first few games that he was pushing too much. It looks now like that summer work has paid off and he is putting the whole game together.

2) Ramar Smith had by far his best game in a Tennessee uniform today. He seems like he has finally grasped the offense that Pearl wants to run, and isn’t having to think as much with the ball now. It looks like the move to start Jordan Howell has allowed Ramar to get into the game on the bench, and when he enters the game, he already is in the flow. That’s great news for the Vols who need Ramar to play at the best of his ability to be able to go far this year.

3) How about the performance by Ryan Childress today! He looked like a man possessed on the boards today, doubling his career high and hitting double digit rebounds with 10. Childress was big today given that Bradshaw was hurting and Crews and Chism seemed to struggle some what. If Ryan can continue to give the type of effort he gave today, that will be huge for the Vols.

4) Tennessee has really improved its defense since a year ago. Maybe it’s the fact that they are playing more players and thus they are fresher, but the half court defense is really improved. The Vols had back to back shot clock violations on defense in the second half, and held the Hilltoppers to 29% shooting from 3, which is 18% below their average of 47.7% on the season.

In probably what is beginning to seem redundant…..

Stat Line of the Night:

                TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
Player Name     FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
Lofton,Chris    11-15   5-9    5-7    0  5  5   1  32  4  1  0  1  32