Crump toes line at right time, brings back smiles

Luckily for Tennessee, the senior forward was able to turn anger management into determination.

"I was pretty (ticked off)," Crump said of the Vols' close-call 80-72 victory against South Carolina on Wednesday.

Crump had watched a 26-point UT lead deteriorate in a flurry of turnovers and missed one-and-one free throws, one by Dane Bradshaw and two by C.J. Watson in the final minutes.

"We had three chances of one-and-ones," Crump said. "There was a game earlier this year (Dec. 30 against Nebraska) and it was the same situation. We just kept missing free throws."

The Vols lost that game against Nebraska.

Crump decided he wasn't going to let that happen against the Gamecocks.

UT (12-14, 5-8 SEC) had a 75-60 lead with 6:11 remaining. A few minutes later, it was 75-72.

Crump, who said he wasn't even sure he would be able to play on his two injured ankles, then hit four clutch free throws in the final 36 seconds.

"It looked like the same thing was coming again," Crump said of recent UT woes down the stretch.

"It was my turn to step up and hit free throws and I knew I wasn't going to let that happen again because it's a sick feeling being up by 26 points and not being able to get the win."

Instead of feeling sick, the Vols were finally able to smile again.

C.J. Lofton carried UT through a sluggish second half with four huge 3-pointers en route to a career-high 25 points.

Crump finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds.

"I think it was one of the better games of this conference season I've had," he said. "I didn't know if I was going to be able to go. Through two days of practice, I honestly did not feel good."

UT coach Buzz Peterson said he left it up to Crump on his playing status Wednesday. The Vols were already missing leading scorer Scooter McFadgon, out with a bruised knee.

"It's on you," Peterson told Crump. "I want you to go, but if you can't give us 100 percent, I don't want you to push it.

"Once he got in the flow of things, he got more relaxed and did a nice job out there."

The Vols went through a light day of workouts on Thursday preparing for Saturday's trip to Arkansas (5-8, 17-9). Tip-off is at 4 p.m.

Crump would just like to see UT put an entire game together like the first half it had against the Gamecocks.

Shots were falling. Defense was aggressive. Turnovers were limited to four and rebounding was a positive instead of an irritant.

Tennessee put together what might have been its best half of the season with a 51-28 lead.

"I know a lot of people are saying why couldn't we play like that all year and every game," Crump said. "Some of the shots we hit (against South Carolina), we hadn't been hitting in the last few games.

"Everybody just played together and had fun."

McFadgon's Status: Peterson said McFadgon would make the trip to Fayetteville.

"Whether he'll play or not, I just don't know," Peterson said. "He's really sore and just doing a lot of rehab."