LAHAINA, Hawaii - It's a start.

Tennessee's 69-57 win over Stanford in the opening round of the EA Sports Maui Invitational on Monday night got the Vols on track to fulfilling the goal they brought on the long trip to paradise.

The second step was against No. 11 North Carolina in the semifinals.

"Last night we were in a meeting,'' UT coach Buzz Peterson said, "and I asked the guys what's the one word that's on all of their minds? What were they thinking about when it comes to what they want to prove.

"Immediately, they said respect.''

Beating Stanford, a program that has averaged 25 wins a year for the past decade, ranks as one of the biggest non-SEC wins of the Peterson era at UT.

There was little time to celebrate it, however. The Vols (1-0) were back at the Lahaina Civic Center for a 9:30 p.m. (EST) tipoff on Tuesday.

The Tar Heels (1-1) routed Brigham Young 86-50 earlier Monday, advancing to the semis along with Texas and Iowa.

"I really can't wait to play them,'' UT point guard C.J. Watson said of the Tar Heels. "(Beating Stanford) was a great win for us and our confidence is really up.''

Tennessee was on the verge of blowing out the Cardinal (1-1), racing to a 53-33 lead with 10:48 left to play.

However, Stanford is too solid to fall apart.

A 14-0 rally fueled by Cardinal rebound baskets cut the Vols' lead to 53-47 at the 5:39 mark.

Finally, Major Wingate's layup broke a Tennessee drought of 5 minutes, 43 seconds.

Dan Grunfeld's two free throws made it a 57-51 game with 3:47 left, but the Vols made 12 of 14 free throws to preserve the victory.

Scooter McFadgon led UT with 21 points. Watson scored 16. Brandon Crump, limited by foul trouble, added 10.

Grunfeld set the pace for Stanford with 19.

UT's pressure defense forced 24 Stanford turnovers. The Cardinal made a game of it, however, by crashing the boards.

"We got a lot of scores out of our defense,'' said Watson, "but we had trouble rebounding in the second half. It was hard to find them (to block out) in our zone defense and they were sending four guys to crash the boards.''

The Vols led 32-20 at the half despite not getting a single basket from Crump. He had two free throws before sitting down with two fouls at the 8:20 mark.

The slow early going produced a 6-6 tie, but shortly after UT switched from man-to-man to a trapping zone defense, the tempo picked up.

Dane Bradshaw blocked a Grunfeld shot, after which McFadgon drilled a contested 3-pointer that triggered an 11-0 run.

McFadgon scored two more baskets and Jemere Hendrix hit a jumper as the Vols scored on five consecutive possessions to open a 17-6 lead.

The lead grew to 24-12 when Watson forced a turnover that ended up with Chris Lofton lobbing for a McFadgon jam on the break.

"I didn't anticipate playing that much zone,'' Peterson said, "but it helped us out.

"The second half, we figured they'd get more physical on the offensive glass, and they did.''

Peterson didn't expect to find his team with the pleasant dilemma of protecting a 20-point lead against a team that is ranked No. 25 in the coaches' poll.

"I told the guys,'' he said, "'They're going to make a run at you. You've just got to hold on.'

"When it got down to six, I told C.J. to keep pushing it. We got so many baskets in the first half in transition.

"He did a tremendous job tonight of leadership. He wanted the basketball in his hands and he was talking to the guys.''

Speaking of transition, hardly anyone does it better than North Carolina, which happens to be Peterson's alma mater. His old coach, Dean Smith, was in the stands Monday night.

"It's just another opponent,'' Peterson said. "Coach (Roy) Williams has those guys fired up from that game against Santa Clara (a 77-66 upset loss last Friday).

"I love having the opportunity to play some of the good teams in the country. I told the guys, you beat Stanford and you'll gain a little respect. Then you've got North Carolina and you can get more respect.''

Remembering Lundy: Peterson said the team dedicated the game to News Sentinel sportswriter Gary Lundy, who died Monday afternoon.

"I knew him as a father,'' Peterson said. "He and his son (Christian) never missed one of our camps.''

Last Time: The Vols are 1-6 against the Tar Heels with the most recent meeting in the 2000 NCAA tournament. North Carolina rallied in the final minutes to send UT home from the Sweet 16 in Austin, Texas.

Maui Notes: Faces in the crowd Monday night included Ernie Grunfeld and Danny Ainge. Ainge's son, Austin, is a BYU point guard, not to mention the cousin of UT quarterback Erik Ainge. Experimental rules used in the tournament include moving the 3-point arc back 9 inches and widening the lane by 3 feet. The Civic Center is so small (2,400) and the interest in the event so high that the general-admission side of the gym is cleared of fans from the previous game to make room for fans of the schools playing.

Mike Strange may be reached at 865-342-6276 or strange2@knews.com.