Lofton wakes Vols up

He overslept.

Tennessee's freshman guard took a little nap and got to Thompson-Boling Arena later than usual on Wednesday night.

When Lofton woke up, so did the Volunteers' basketball team.

The Maysville, Ky., native fired in a career-high 25 points, including seven 3-pointers, to carry UT to a topsy-turvy 80-72 victory against South Carolina.

"I overslept," Lofton admitted after the game. "Usually I get here first, but I got here kind of late. So I'm just going to use that routine from now on."

Things were anything but routine for the Vols in the first half. Tennessee was sizzling.

UT had an 18-2 lead six minutes into the game. The Vols led by as many as 26 points and finished the half coasting, 51-28.

"The first half was quite an accomplishment by our guys," UT coach Buzz Peterson said. "We were hitting on all cylinders and everything was clicking."

The big accomplishment in the second half was holding on for dear life when South Carolina rallied.

The Gamecocks had trimmed UT's lead to 75-72 when Vols' senior Brandon Crump came to the rescue.

He scored 12 of his 22 points in the second half, including four game-saving free throws in the final 36 seconds.

Crump was playing on two bad ankles and still finished with a double-double, collecting 10 rebounds.

"The second half they came out and threw some punches at us, but we held on," Peterson said.

That's all that mattered for UT (12-14, 5-8 SEC) as it snapped a three-game losing streak.

South Carolina (14-10, 6-7) went home feeling like it let an opportunity slip away.

"This game was like a banquet with food spread before us," South Carolina coach Dave Odom said.

A hungry Tennessee team just took the last bite.

When the Vols started to stumble, Lofton was there to provide a lift.

During one five-minute stretch in the second half, Lofton buried four 3-pointers.

His seven for the game were one off a UT school record (held by Allan Houston) and the most by an SEC player in an SEC game this season.

Lofton's last three came with 6:11 remaining and gave the Vols a 75-60 cushion.

"I caught fire for a little bit," Lofton said. "But that's the way I play. When I catch fire, I just keep shooting.

"If I got it, I was going to try and make something happen. They gave me some open looks and I knocked them down."

Then South Carolina came knocking. The Gamecocks proceeded to go on a 12-0 run as UT continued its season-long struggle with the closing minutes.

Tennessee had held its turnovers to four in the first half, but finished with 16, several of those coming in the final five minutes.

Antoine Tisby came off the bench to lead South Carolina with 18 points. Carlos Powell and Josh Gonner added 15 apiece.

Tennessee got 10 points from Andre Patterson, including a high-rise slam on a putback of a Lofton miss.

C.J. Watson finished with nine points, nine assists and three steals. Dane Bradshaw had a season-high seven points to go with five assists and three steals.

But Lofton and Crump stole the show.

"I didn't remember the last time we won," Lofton said. "That's bad when you don't remember the last time you won.

"We were worried there late, but Brandon came through and hit those free throws."

Notebook: Crump passed Greg Bell, Gary Carter, Howard Wood, Len Kosmalski and Ed Wiener to move into 24th on UT's all-time scoring list.

Crump stands at 1,218, just behind A.W. Davis (1,225) and Bill Justus (1,236).

Senior Scooter McFadgon, UT's leading scorer (14.1), missed his second consecutive game with a bruised right leg.

He came out in street clothes and is still listed as day-to-day.

Watson's three steals moved him past John Higgins to No. 11 in career steals (131).

Next up: The Vols travel to Arkansas (17-9, 5-8) on Saturday for a 4 p.m. tip-off.

It's a game that could be an early preview of UT's first-round opponent in the SEC Tournament in Atlanta.

The fourth-seed from the West, currently Arkansas, will play the fifth-seed from the East, currently UT, at 7:30 p.m. March 10 in the Georgia Dome.