Vols junk their stinky T-shirts

With the Tennessee basketball team in a funk on the court — coupled with the smell emanating from shirts-and-skins practices — coach Buzz Peterson felt like it was time for a change.

The Vols got their official UT practice gear back on Tuesday.

"There's no big deal about it," Peterson said. "I just got tired of smelling the stinky T-shirts.

"I felt like we needed to be more organized and it was a good day to go back to the orange and white."

It was the first time UT players worked out in their official practice attire since losing 88-63 at home to Vanderbilt on Jan. 8.

Tennessee (11-14, 4-8 SEC) won two of its next three games after going to the shirts-and-skins motif.

Since then, the Vols are on a 1-7 skid and desperate for a change.

Enter South Carolina. The Gamecocks (14-9, 6-6) visit Thompson-Boling Arena tonight for a 7:30 tip-off.

South Carolina gets a look at a UT team limping into its final four regular-season games.

Senior forward Brandon Crump is limping on two injured ankles. Senior guard Scooter McFadgon is limping on an injured right leg.

McFadgon did return to practice Tuesday, but wasn't close to running at full speed.

"I think Brandon will play a lot more than Scooter," Peterson said. "Scooter took a lot of shots (Tuesday), but he's still not moving anywhere near 100 percent."

The extent of McFadgon's play will be a game-time decision.

South Carolina comes to town with its own Jekyll and Hyde issues.

After beating Kentucky 73-61 at home, the Gamecocks lost 87-68 at Alabama on Saturday. They're 1-7 away from the Colonial Center, the only road victory coming at Georgia.

"Tennessee shoots the ball well and has great talent," South Carolina coach Dave Odom said. "It will be a hard-fought and meaningful game for both teams."

The Vols remember the first meeting with South Carolina. The Gamecocks won 66-63, aided by some beneficial late-game officiating and a missed last-second 3-pointer by UT freshman Chris Lofton.

"I think they remember a lot," Peterson said. "I'm going to make sure they understand how close we were to winning that ballgame.

"A couple baskets here and there and we would have won it. A couple of stops and it would have been our ballgame."

UT forward Andre Patterson is ready for another shot at the Gamecocks.

"I still got faith," Patterson said. "If we're not ready to play South Carolina, then I don't know what to say about the character of our team.

"We had a tough loss up there that we should have one. We should want to get this one back. We always come out and fight hard. We don't give up and we haven't given up on this season."

Scouting Report: South Carolina gets most of its energy from 6-foot-7 senior Carlos Powell.

He's averaging 15.2 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. Powell had 20 points in South Carolina's first victory against UT.

Tarence Kinsey (6-7 junior guard) averages 9.6 points.

Josh Gonner and Antoine Tisby have been big coming off the bench.

Gonner burned UT for 16 points, including four 3-pointers, in the first meeting. Tisby, a 6-8 junior center, had 12 points and seven rebounds in the loss at Alabama.

South Carolina is limiting opponents to 43 percent shooting from the field, third best in the league.

It's reunion time again for UT sophomore Major Wingate. USC's Powell and Wingate were teammates for one season at Wilson High School in Florence, S.C.

He's also close friends with Gamecocks' sophomore Brandon Wallace.