BigOrangeBasketball.comTennessee Basketball

In what was undoubtedly the most impressive season opener of the Bruce Pearl era at Tennessee, the Vols overwhelmed the Mocs from UT-Chattanooga, 114-75, at Thompson Boling Arena tonight. 

J.P. Prince Came Off The Bench To Score 14 Points

And it wasn’t like UTC is a bad team, either.  The Mocs are favored to win their division of the Southern Conference this year.

“It was a human highlight reel out there,” Pearl said following the game, referring to the offensive flurries and high-flying dunks that occurred throughout.

And while the offense will certainly grab the headlines, Tennessee’s performance on defense and rebounding was particularly impressive. Pearl said before the season that he thought this team would be a better defensive and rebounding team than his previous teams at UT, and tonight it didn’t disappoint. 

The Vols turned up the heat on the Mocs from the opening tap, and if the Mocs wanted to try and slow the Vols down, they were taken completely out of their game.  They were simply overwhelmed by Tennessee.

The Vols went on a 15-2 run between the first two media timeouts of the game and led 24-10 with 11:39 remaining in the first half, and then extended the lead to 60-37 at the half.

Tennessee went on a similar run to open the second half, and the Vols never looked back. They hit the century mark with more than eight minutes remaining in the game and led by 45.

The Vols had six players in double figures led by Tyler Smith with 21 points.  Cameron Tatum, a redshirt freshman, came off the bench to score 19 points in only 21 minutes.

Tennesse had two players with double-doubles.  Newcomer Bobby Maze was extremely impressive in his debut for the Vols at the point tonight, scoring 12 points and dishing out 10 assists, while committing only one turnover for the game.

Junior center Wayne Chism had the other double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds, including 11 defensive rebounds.

As a team, Tennessee set a school record for assists in one game with 32, and commited only 16 turnovers, a 2-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, which is extremely impressive for a team.

The Vols also completely turned around the rebounding margin tonight against the Mocs compared with last year’s game. Last year, the Mocs outrebounded the Vols 46-31, but tonight Tennessee won the rebounding battle 42-30.  In last year’s game, UTC had 17 offensive rebounds.  Tonight, it had seven.

Pearl acknowledged after the game that this was the best the Vols have played all season, including practice.

“I liked the purpose defensively and the extra pass. We set a school record for assists tonight, and that’s a great way to start,” Pearl said.

This is not a blog about Kentucky basketball, but since the Cats and Vols play in the same conference and in the same division, I can’t help but make a few comments about Kentucky’s shocking season-opening loss at home last night to VMI.

It’s not the loss to VMI that is so shocking (although that is a shocker in and of itself) but what is a shock is that a Billy Gillispie coached team would give up 111 points, and in regulation no less.  It makes you wonder whether or not Gillispie is getting through to his players.

A couple other notes about the game…

-It appears moving the three-point line back a foot this season may not be as big a factor this season as we might have thought. VMI shot 14-31 from three in the game last night or 45.2%.  But then again, perhaps it is a factor.  Kentucky was 3-16 from three or 18.8% for the game.

-And if you don’t think point guard play is important, consider the fact that Kentucky’s starting point guard last night, Michael Porter, committed five turnovers in 11 minutes during the first half last night.  At one point in the first half last night, Kentucky trailed VMI by 20+ points.

Granted, one loss does not a season make, particularly the first game.  But the manner in which Kentucky lost last night is certainly noteworthy, and extremely troublesome to Gillispie and the Wildcats.

The curtain officially rises on the 2008-09 edition of the Tennessee men’s basketball team Saturday night (7:00 p.m./Sportsouth) when the Vols take on UT-Chattanooga at Thompson-Boling Arena.

The Vols enter the season with two starters returning from the winningest team in school history and the defending Southeastern Conference champions and six newcomers who have yet to play in a regular season game.

Head coach Bruce Pearl, in his fourth season at Tennessee, said before preseason practice ever started that  “we will compete for the SEC championship. I’m confident this is a basketball team that will have what it takes to defend our championship.”

If the Vols are to have a legitimate shot at another SEC title and an extended run in the NCAA tournament, they will have to rely heavily on contributions from the most ballyhooed incoming class of players that Pearl has assembled at Tennessee.

With injuries and academic problems already taking their toll on this team, Pearl’s starting lineup Saturday night will likely feature three of those six newcomers who have yet to toe the line for the Vols in a real game. 

Directing the team at the point will be 6-2 junior college transfer Bobby Maze, who has looked explosive and under control in the Vols first two exhibition games.  Maze will be one of the most important components to the success of this year’s team.  The Vols, who struggled at the point last season, particularly in the post season, will need Maze to carry the load and play a lot of minutes.  With the announcement earlier this week that freshman Daniel West will be ineligible to play this season, Maze is the only scholarship point guard on the roster.  Maze will have to be in great shape, he will have to play smart, and stay out of foul trouble.

Perhaps the most excitement about this team and the class of newcomers appears at the wing positions where Pearl will start two true freshmen, 6-6 Scotty Hopson and 6-8 Renaldo Woolridge.

For the first time since Pearl has been at Tennessee, the Vols will have a decided height advantage against the opposition’s backcourt most of the season, even in SEC play.  Hopson comes to UT as Pearl’s first McDonald’s All-American and the most highly regarded recruit in the class.

Opposite Hopson is Renaldo Woolridge, another new Vol with the biggest upside on the roster.  The 6-8 Woolridge is the son of former Notre Dame star and long-time NBA veteran Orlando Woolridge and has enormous potential.

On the inside for Tennessee, SEC preseason Player of the Year Tyler Smith returns at the big forward and junior Wayne Chism returns at center.  The Vols are hoping for a breakout season from Chism at the 5 spot.

The Mocs of UT-Chattanooga enter Saturday night’s game the favorite to win the North Division of the Southern Conference with five senior starters, including two returning all-conference performers in 5-11 wing Stephen McDowell and 6-7 forward Nicchaeus Doaks.  Between them, they averaged 28.4 points per game a year ago.

The Vols enter this game and this season ranked 13th and 14th in the two major polls. They have 13 games to prepare themselves for SEC play, beginning with the Mocs.

Individually, the Vols will need to find their roles and grow into them.  Collectively, they will have to develop a chemistry and personality to carry them through the rigors of a challenging non-conference schedule as well as the SEC.

Keys To The Game 

• UT-Chattanooga – The Mocs will rely on their five senior starters not to get rattled and to control tempo.  Look for the Mocs to use a lot of shot clock during their possessions and to try and slow Tennessee down offensively by employing a lot of zone.
• Tennessee – Look for the Vols to press and press early and try to create tempo.  UT will want to play fast.  This game will be a battle of wills.  The Vols were outrebounded terribly by the Mocs last year in Chattanooga, 46-31.  With Tennessee’s bigger lineup, it will be interesting to see if the Vols improve that margin this time around.
• Depth – Once you get past UTC’s starting five, the Moc’s don’t have much experience on the bench.  Look for UT to be aggressive around the basket early to try to get the Mocs into foul trouble and force them to go to their bench.  The Vols are inexperienced as well on the bench, but they are much more talented.
• The X Factor – Look for a big contribution from redshirt freshman Cameron Tatum off the bench for Tennessee.  Tatum figured to start the season at a wing for Tennessee until he injured his knee and missed most of the preseason.  Tatum played in both preseason games, however, and is rounding back into form.  He will be a key player for Tennessee if he stay’s healthy.
• Halftime – If this is a 10-point game or less at halftime, look for it to go down to the wire.

Lineups

UT-Chattanooga

Record:  0-0

PG  Keyron Sheard  6-2, 184, Senior

W   Stephen McDowell, 5-11, 185, Senior – All Southern Conference last season

W   Kevin Gofney, 6-5, 202, Senior

F    Nicchaeus Doaks, 6-7, 239, Senior – All Southern Conference last season

C   Khalil Hartwell,  6-8, 222, Senior

Head Coach – John Shulman

Tennessee

Record: 0-0

PG  Bobby Maze  6-2, 185, Junior

W   Scotty Hopson, 6-6, 185, Freshman

W   Renaldo Woolridge, 6-8, 208, Freshman

F    Tyler Smith, 6-7, 215, Junior

C    Wayne Chism, 6-9, 242, Junior

Head Coach – Bruce Pearl

With injuries, eligibility issues and academic suspensions all affecting Tennessee’s preparations for the upcoming basketball season, coach Bruce Pearl has said this preseason has been the most challenging of his coaching career.

Never before in Pearl’s tenure at Tennessee have the Vols had so many expectations and yet so many

Tyler Smith

question marks.

The expectations start with Pearl, who in his first three seasons at Tennessee, has guided the Vols to three NCAA tournament appearances, two SEC Eastern Division championships, one SEC championship, the school’s first-ever No. 1 ranking, and the winningest season in program history just last year.

The question marks come in the form of six newcomers, extremely talented but very young and inexperienced, four of whom are true freshmen.

Then you lose a potential starter for most of preseason practice to knee surgery.  You lose another to a shoulder injury, and you lose your backup point guard for the season because of an eligibility issue.

Combine the expectations, question marks and bad luck with one of the most difficult schedules in all of college basketball, and you have a real mystery on your hands as to how this season may play out.

It’s common among coaches these days in all team sports to divide their seasons into four quarters for planning and evaluation purposes.  With that in mind and with the season opening Saturday night, I’m going to offer some analysis as to what to look for, what to hope for, and how the first quarter of this season may play out in terms of wins and losses.

The Vols are scheduled to play 31 regular season games this year.  So I’m identifying the first quarter of the season as beginning with UT-Chattanooga and ending with the UNC-Asheville game on Dec. 3.

What to Look For:

• The Starting Lineup – It looks as if Pearl will go with three newcomers in the backcourt who have never played a regular season game for the Vols.  Junior college transfer Bobby Maze will start at the point, and true freshmen Scotty Hopson and Renaldo Woolridge at the wings.  SEC Preseason Player of the Year Tyler Smith will start at power forward or the 4 spot, and junior Wayne Chism will start at center.  But don’t get hung up on who starts.  With Pearl, it’s more about who finishes, and who gets the most minutes.
• Backup point guard – With freshman Daniel West no longer available to fill the backup point guard role, Pearl has said that J.P. Prince, Josh Tabb and walkon Michael Hubert are all possibilities to sub for Maze.  It will be interesting to see who emerges from this group, who is most productive, and most importantly, who is most productive for the team.
• Offensive Production – With so many newcomers, it will be interesting to see where Tennessee’s offense comes from and from whom.  Teams will no doubt try to take the Vols out of their comfort zone, which is an up-and-down game.  They will try to force the Vols into a half-court game and will dare the Vols to beat them from the outside.  And with the 3-point line moving back a foot this year, the Vols can expect to see more zone.
• Leadership – The Vols had two of the best leaders in the history of the program the past two seasons in Chris Lofton and JaJuan Smith.  With those guys gone and with six newcomers on the roster, it will be important for new leadership to emerge.  It will be interesting to see who steps up.
• Some Losses Early – Combine the most difficult schedule that Pearl has ever played with the youngest team he has ever fielded, and there is a strong probability that the Vols will endure a few losses, enough to even drop out of the Top 25 early in the season.

What To Hope For

• Gradual Improvement – No matter what the Vols record in November and December 2008, they will be judged more by what they do in 2009.  Just look at Kentucky last year.  The key for the Vols, especially early, is less about wins and losses, and more about players getting experience, gaining confidence and understanding their roles. The Vols will not be limited by talent, only by inexperience.  The competition the Vols will face is strong enough to exploit their lack of experience early.  It is what the Vols learn from their inexperience that will matter later on.
• Improved Team Defense – Again, the Vols may struggle defensively early, and not knowing how or where exactly the offense is going to come from, the Vols will need to be better defensively.  Pearl said at his media day press conference that he believed this team would be a better half court defensive team than his previous teams.  They will need to be.
• Team Maturation – Believe it or not, this team has the chance to be better than either of Pearl’s first three.  They may not, and likely will not, be better in terms of wins and losses than last year’s team, but if this team matures throughtout the season like good teams do, they have a chance to advance in postseason play farther than any Tennessee team in history.

First Quarter Wins and Losses

• Overall Record: 4-3
• I expect the Vols to lose one of their first three between UT-Chattanooga, UT-Martin and Middle Tennessee.  The most likely candidate would be UT-Martin.  UT-Martin has the best player in the country that no one has ever heard of outside the Ohio Valley Conference in Lester Hudson.  He’s a 6-3 guard who is proven where Tennessee is most unproven – in the backcourt.
• I expect the Vols to lose two of three in the Old Spice Classic.  The tournament field includes three other ranked teams in Michigan State, Gonzaga, and Georgetown, besides Tennessee, and the Vols open with Siena, who returns all five starters from an NCAA tournament team that shredded Vanderbilt in the first round last season.  Because this event is so early, I expect the Vols to lose to Siena in the opening round, and then split the next two games in the loser’s bracket.  Win or lose, the Vols have a lot to gain by playing this strong of a field so early in the season.
• The Vols close out the first quarter of the season with a win over UNC-Asheville at home.

It’s not about how this team starts, but how it finishes.  It should be fun to watch this team grow up.

Daniel West

News today that freshman point guard Daniel West will in fact be ineligible to play for Tennessee during the upcoming season is a big loss for the Vols.

While West did not figure to start, he did figure to play a key role as backup point guard.  Today’s decision leaves head coach Bruce Pearl with only one scholarship point guard in junior college transfer Bobby Maze. Should Maze go down with an injury at some point during the season, the Vols will have to manage without a point guard.  That’s not a position you want to be in when you’re an NCAA Division I basketball team playing in one of the nation’s power conferences.

The Vols are now in a position where they will go as far as Bobby Maze will take them.  If Maze can remain healthy, the Vols could still have a promising season.  If he goes down at some point, all bets are off.

The loss of West means more than likely that J.P. Prince will now work in relief of Maze in the substitution pattern.  While this scenario may seem viable on the surface, it could prove to haunt the Vols especially in tightly contested games, particularly conference games and tough matchups against the likes of Memphis, Gonzaga and Siena. Not only will Prince be playing out of position at the point, but it will take him away from his natural position at the 3, something that the Vols painfully experienced last year in postseason play.

In games where every possession matters, ineffective point guard play could kill the Vols.  Lapses of ineffective offense over the course of five to 10 minutes a game can mean the difference between winning and losing.

In one respect, Pearl finds himself in a situation similar to his first season at Tennessee when he only had one true point guard on the roster in C.J. Watson.  But he had Dane Bradshaw to back Watson up.

Once again this season, Pearl finds himself with only true point guard.  And while Prince may be more athletic than Bradshaw, he’s not the passer and ballhandler that Bradshaw was.

What Pearl does have in his favor this year over that first year, however, is a much more talented roster, albeit a very inexperienced one.  Tennessee recently added a walkon point guard, Michael Hubert, who wasn’t even on the roster two weeks ago.  Hubert has been impressive backing up Maze in the two exhibition games, but that was against Division II competition, not Florida or Kentucky.  It will be interesting to see if Hubert gets meaningful minutes early in the season as Prince recovers from a shoulder injury and how effective he is.

One thing’s for sure, the Vols’ backcourt will be tested early.  UT will face the preseason Ohio Valley Conference backcourt of the year when UT-Martin comes to town Nov. 18th. That will be followed by Middle Tennessee and its All-Sunbelt guard Kevin Kanaskie.  Then you have Siena which returns its starting backcourt from the NCAA team that defeated Vanderbilt in the first round last year. And then there’s Marquette in the SEC/Big East Challenge which also returns its starting backcourt from a year ago.

The other matter that now needs to be addressed post haste with West’s dismissal is signing a point guard in the 2009 recruiting class.  While it remains uncertain whether or not West will eventually play at Tennessee, you certainly can’t count on it at this point.

Only two point guards that Tennessee has shown interest in up to now remain uncommitted leading up to the November signing period.  They are Johnnie Lacy from Massachusetts, who appears to be leaning to Minnesota, and Gentry Hines from Memphis.  It appears unlikely at this stage that the Vols will sign a point guard during the early signing period, but they will definitely need to address the position once again in the spring.

During the 2008-09 season, the University of Tennessee will celebrate 100 Years of Tennessee basketball.  The culmination of that celebration will occur Feb. 14, 2009, when the university will announce its Vol All-Century Team at the Vanderbilt game in Thompson-Boling Arena.

Over the past five weeks, I’ve been announcing my All Vol starting five, which culminated today with Chris Lofton becoming the fifth member of my starting five.

Below is a recap of my Vol All-Century Team starting five…

Bernard King

Bernard King, forward. Consensus first-team All-American and SEC Player of the Year all three years at UT.

Ernie Grunfeld

Ernie Grunfeld, forward. Two-time first-team All-American and first-team All-SEC for four years

Dale Ellis

Dale Ellis, forward.  Two-time SEC Player of the Year.

Allan Houston

Allan Houston, guard.  UT’s all-time leading scorer and second all-time in SEC.

Chris Lofton

Chris Lofton, guard

.  UT’s all-time leading 3-point shooter and 4th all-time leading  scorer

Chris Lofton

Coming out of high school, Chris Lofton would have been perhaps the most unlikely candidate to become a member of the Tennessee Volunteers All-Century basketball team.

Despite being named Mr. Basketball in his native Kentucky during his senior year of high school, Lofton was not recruited by either Kentucky or Louisville, the state’s two basketball powerhouses.  Lofton, instead, was signed by then Tennessee head coach Buzz Peterson as a mere afterthought.

What began as an afterthought at Tennessee became a career from which legends are made, and Lofton unquestionably carved out a legendary career for himself as one of the best Vols ever.

Lofton joins Bernard King, Ernie Grunfeld, Dale Ellis and Allan Houston as part of my Vol All-Century team starting five.

Known for his incredible three-point shooting and immeasurable range, Lofton completed his career as the all-time leader at Tennessee in three-point field goals with 431.  His 431 career three-pointers also ranks him first in the category in Southeastern Conference history and third in NCAA history.

Lofton ranks fourth on UT’s all-time career scoring list with 2,131 points and he led the Vols to a school record 31 wins this past season and the program’s first outright SEC championship in 41 years.

He was a three-time second team All-American and three-time first team All-SEC selection. He was also the 2007 SEC Player of the Year and a member of the 2008 John Wooden All-America team.

Lofton’s accomplishments were made even more remarkable when it was disclosed at the end of last season that he had played his senior year while battling testicular cancer, which he was diagnosed with following the conclusion of the 2007 season.

In addition to the individual and team records with which Lofton was a part, he will be forever remembered for some of the great shots in UT basketball history.  Who will ever forget his three-point shot over Kevin Durant of Texas in 2006 in Tennessee’s overtime win against Texas?

Or his game-winning, last-second, two-point basket against Winthrop in the 2006 NCAA tournament?

Or his nine three-pointers at Georgia in 2006 in which he singlehandedly led the Vols to victory?

I distinctly remember one of Lofton’s best performances ever that very few Vol fans ever saw.  It was a non-televised game against Vanderbilt in Nashville.  The Commodores triple-teamed Lofton virtually every time he touched the ball in that game, but Lofton put on a shooting exhibition nonetheless, making 6-7 three point attempts and scoring 29 points.

In addition to the historic 2008 season, Lofton will be forever the leader of three-straight NCAA tournament teams and back-to-back NCAA Sweet 16 teams.

Lofton was a winner and a warrior, and it is appropriate that the player who wore No. 5 would become a member of the Vol All-Century team starting five.

“No. 5 will be hanging from the rafters some day at Tennessee,” Bruce Pearl said.

Renaldo Woolridge Led Tennessee with 15 Points

The Tennessee men’s basketball team played a little more like Tennessee tonight, especially in the first half, in dismissing the Tusculum Pioneers 82-51 at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Opening the game in their signature Bruce Pearl press, the Vols went on a 36-0 run after the first minute of the game and led 39-2 with seven minutes remaining in the first half.  The Vols forced 19 turnovers in the first half which resulted in 22 points.

“It was good to see Tennessee basketball from this group,” Pearl said. “We were much more aggressive and physical tonight.”

Tusculum shot 15.8% from the field in the first half and just 28.0% for the game.

As in the first exhibition game, five Vols scored in double figures led by freshman Renaldo Woolridge’s 15 points.  Wayne Chism added 13 points, Tyler Smith 12, Scotty Hopson 11 and Cameron Tatum 10 points for Tennessee. 

“We play best when everyone contributes,” Pearl said.

Woolridge got the start tonight for Tennessee.  Vol center Brian Williams, who started the first exhibition contest on Monday, has been battling tendonitis in his knee, Pearl said after the game, and aggravated the injury during pre-game warmups and did not play.

The remainder of the starting lineup was the same tonight for Tennessee as it was against Indianapolis with Chism and Smith in the front court, and Bobby Maze and Hopson joining Woolridge in the backcourt.

Tennessee took much better care of the basketball against Tusculum, commiting only 10 turnovers compared to 20 against Indianapolis in the first exhibition contest.

The Vols led 49-12 at halftime.  They were outscored 39-33 by Tusculum in the second half, although as Pearl pointed out after the game, the Vols did not press in the second half.  The Vols were also outrebounded by the Pioneers, 43-41.

Pearl did not seem pleased with Tennessee’s half-court offense in the second half, saying the Vols weren’t as aggressive as they were in the first half, and settled for too many tough shots.

The Vols shot only 45.5% from the field for the game and 30.8% from three.

Interestingly, in the two exhibition games, the Vols are 30.0% from three, compared to 35.6% from three last season.

Perimeter shooting, both from two and three, will be a key for Tennessee this season.  Teams will undoubtedly try to slow Tennessee down and make the Vols prove they can beat them from the outside, especially with the three-point line extended a foot this year.  And with the losses of Chris Lofton and JaJuan Smith, there will be more pressure on Tennessee’s newcomers to deliver.

Junior wing Josh Tabb did not play again against Tusculum, apparently still related to academic discipline issues.  On a brighter note, Tatum had another solid outing coming off the bench.  The redshirt freshman, who missed most of the preseason with a knee injury, scored 10 points tonight, including two three’s, in only 18 minutes of action.  I continue to emphasize that a healthy Tatum will be big for the Vols this season.

Next up for the Vols is the regular season opener against UT-Chattanooga next Saturday night at Thompson-Boling Arena.

The Mocs are the preseason favorite to win the North division of the Southern Conference this season.  They return three starters from last year’s squad, which fell to Tennessee in Chattanooga, 76-70.

Tyler Smith

Tennessee junior forward Tyler Smith was one of 50 players named today to the John R. Wooden Player of the Year and All-American Team preseason list.

The list is comprised of players based on last year’s individual performance and team records.

North Carolina center Tyler Hansbrough, who won the Wooden award last season, headlines this year’s list.

The SEC has four other candidates on the preseason list in addition to Smith.  They are Nick Calathes of Florida, Devan Downey of South Carolina, A.J. Ogilvy of Vanderbilt and Patrick Patterson of Kentucky.

Bruce Pearl Directs His Team

The 2008-09 edition of the Tennessee Vols will have one last tuneup game tonight against Tusculum at 7:30 at Thompson-Boling Arena before the games begin to count and the RPI starts to build.

The Vols face another NCAA Division II opponent in the Tusculum Pioneers from Greeneville, Tenn., who finished in the middle of the pack in the South Atlantic Conference last season. Coach Bruce Pearl’s squad is coming off a less-than-impressive 87-73 victory against Indianapolis on Monday night.

What to Watch For

1. Starting Lineup Changes – Pearl indicated after the UIndy game Monday night that he was not pleased with the frontcourt starting lineup of Brian Williams, Tyler Smith and Wayne Chism, admitting that both Smith and Chism were playing out of position as evidenced by the fact that each committed four turnovers.  Pearl acknowledged that Smith’s natural position was the 4 and Chism’s the 5.  It will be interesting to see if Pearl adjusts his lineup tonight to return Smith and Chism to their natural positions and brings Williams off the bench. And if so, who then starts along with Bobby Maze and Scotty Hopson in the backcourt? 
2. Cameron Tatum – Injured for most of preseason practice, Tatum played 15 minutes against UIndy coming off the bench and scored eight points.  Look for Tatum to get more minutes tonight and a possible start.  He’s a big key to this season if he’s healthy. 
3. Improved defense – One of the few weaknesses of Pearl’s teams since his arrival at Tennessee has been team defense, particularly in the half court. The Vols simply allowed UIndy way too many points Monday night which kept the game respectable.  Pearl said at his media day press conference that he expected this team to be a better half court defensive team with its additional size and athleticism from the newcomers.  They didn’t show it Monday night. With all the new faces, team defense will continue to be a work in progress, but the Vols need to show improvement tonight.
4. Momentum Builder – This season will be all about building confidence in this team, particularly with all the new players.  The Vols need a decisive win tonight (25+ points).  The competition only gets tougher from here on out.

About Tusculum:

This Season:  Defeated Lee University 72-60 last Saturday.

Last Season’s Record: 13-15

Key Players:  Kyle Moore, 6-3 guard, 16.6 PPG last season, transfer from Winthrop; Ryan Troutman, 6-2 point guard; Josh Bennett 6-7 forward.

Head Coach:  Jim Boone, fourth season at Tusculum.  363 career wins.