Vols need consistency, momentum

That’s the goal.

The Tennessee men’s basketball team tries to do something today it hasn’t done since early January.
Winning two games in a row has been a little like splitting an atom for the Vols.

They did it twice in December and last managed the feat with back-to-back victories against Coastal Carolina and Georgia.
Momentum is all UT players are thinking about.

A game at Arkansas (17-9, 5-8 SEC) at 4 p.m. today is a chance to get things going with one week remaining in the regular season. That’s why they aren’t basking in any afterglow from Wednesday’s victory against South Carolina.

"That’s in the past," UT freshman guard Chris Lofton said. "We’ve got to get ready for Arkansas.
"It was great to get that win because we hadn’t won in a while, but we’ve got to move on."

UT (12-14, 5-8) is still striving for consistency.

It was there in the first half against South Carolina. It nearly vanished in the second twenty minutes, when the Vols held on for an 80-72 victory.

"It’s going to be a tough task playing down in Arkansas," Lofton said. "But I think we’re ready for the challenge.
"We’ll have to play our best offensively and defensively, and hopefully come up with a win."

Lofton is coming off of a career-high 25-point performance, including 7-of-13 3-pointers against the Gamecocks.
With senior Scooter McFadgon expected to miss his third consecutive game with a thigh bruise, even more is expected of Lofton.

"I just try to be more aggressive on the offensive end," he said. "I try to make the defense guard me and be a threat on the court at all times."

UT coach Buzz Peterson wouldn’t mind seeing the same determined Lofton against Razorbacks.

"That’s probably the best he has ever moved without the basketball," Peterson said of Lofton’s performance against South Carolina.

"He was cutting off screens and he got hot. His taking 13 threes, I love that."

But don’t expect Arkansas to make it easy. The Razorbacks are holding SEC opponents to 29.7 percent from 3-point range, second in the conference.

"They’re about as athletic as any team in this country, especially our league," Peterson said. "We’ve got to be strong handling the ball and handling their press. We’ve got to stop them from runs."

Tennessee has won the past four meetings with the Razorbacks, but Arkansas is 12-2 this season at Bud Walton Arena.
"They’ve improved in a lot of areas, and like a lot of teams, they’re better at home," Peterson said. "We’ve just got to go there and know we’re going to win that ball game."

Scouting Report: Arkansas has one of the youngest lineups in the SEC, starting two freshmen, two sophomores and a junior.
Sophomore Ronnie Brewer is one of the conference’s best all-around players. He averages 16.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.7 steals.

The son of former Arkansas All-America Ron Brewer has scored in double figures in 24 of 25 games.
Jonathon Modica averages 10.4 points and 6-foot-10 freshman center Darian Townes 9.9.

The Razorbacks had time to recover from back-to-back losses at Alabama and Vanderbilt by taking Wednesday off.

SEC Tournament: Possible first-round SEC tournament matchups for March 10 in Atlanta: Ole Miss vs. Vanderbilt, Georgia vs. Mississippi State, Tennessee vs. Arkansas, Auburn vs. South Carolina. Kentucky, Alabama, Florida and LSU would have first-round byes.