It's a whistle flop

Tennessee coach Buzz Peterson said Monday he doesn't blame the Vols' 66-63 loss at South Carolina on Saturday on bad officiating. But he does feel the whistle-blowers put his team at a decided disadvantage.

UT was called for 24 fouls compared to South Carolina's 13, despite the fact that the Vols played mostly zone defense.

While Peterson said two critical defensive fouls on C.J. Watson were questionable, what bothered him more were three charging calls.

"We had a young man who did a lot of flopping,'' Peterson said, referring to South Carolina forward Carlos Powell. "That's fine, but the officials have to be aware of it and make the appropriate calls.

"Sometimes they get carried up in the home crowd and go with it. That happened three times in the game. I never felt like there was much contact.''

Flopping is the art of a defensive player falling backwards as if he had been knocked down, hoping to influence the official to call a charging foul on the offensive player.

Brandon Crump was called for two charging fouls, the latter his fifth foul with 3:22 to play and UT leading 61-60. Major Wingate was called for a charge with 5:13 to play.

On Monday's SEC coaches teleconference, South Carolina coach Dave Odom said he was concerned about one of his player's tendency to overact when attempting to draw a charge. He did not mention Powell by name.

Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings also was asked about flopping and said - without naming names - there is at least one player in the SEC who does a good job of getting away with it.

"There are certainly some theatrics to it,'' Stallings said.

Peterson wants an interpretation from John Guthrie, supervisor of SEC officiating.

"On Brandon's post move inside, he has his forearm out to hold position,'' Peterson said. "That's what we teach. That's the way I've always been taught.

"He didn't use it to push off. He just had it straight out there. What I need to know from the supervisor is, is that legal? Is your forearm up there legal?''

Peterson said after watching the tape he saw no contact by Watson, either defending a 3-point shot by Tarence Kinsey with 8:27 to play, or when Tre Kelley drove the lane with 20 seconds to play.

South Carolina made all five free throws.

"I didn't see it and I don't see how the official could see it (on Kelley's drive) from the backside, either,'' Peterson said. "C.J.'s back was to the official who called it.

"But those two calls don't bother me as much as the flopping.''

The loss dropped UT to 9-7, 2-2 SEC, heading to Florida on Wednesday.

"You can't blame the officiating,'' Peterson said. "We had other chances to win the game and didn't.

"I know this, I saw some guys really upset in the locker room, with water coming out of their eyes.

"That's something I haven't seen in a while. You could tell it really tore them up.''

Lofton Fan: Odom was still wondering Monday how Chris Lofton's 3-point shot at the buzzer managed to avoid going in the basket.

Lofton is shooting 50.6 percent from 3-point range, but only 29.2 percent (7-of-24) in SEC play.

Lofton is hitting 75 percent (8-of-12) from inside the 3-point arc in SEC games.

"He's going to be a force to be reckoned with in this league,'' Odom said. " It's an accident when he misses.

"Sometimes guys are hired guns who can only do one thing. This guy is not a specialty player. He's not one-dimensional. He's a complete offensive player.''

Gator Depth: Florida coach Billy Donovan said Matt Walsh's ankle injury is healing ahead of schedule. However, the Gators (11-3, 3-0 SEC) are doing fine without their No. 2 scorer.

Anthony Roberson was named SEC player of the week Monday after scoring 64 points in a pair of road wins.

Freshman Corey Brewer has boosted his scoring from 7.5 (overall) to 10.7 in SEC play. Sophomore Lee Humphrey has done likewise, from 6.4 to 9.3.

"They're doing a terrific job of absorbing that loss,'' said Vanderbilt's Stallings. "It helps that (Donovan) has got a deep, talented bench.

"He's got guys he can go to and they're producing for him.''

Donovan said former starter Adrian Moss will have an MRI exam to determine if he can continue to play with a herniated disc.

Mike Strange may be reached at 865-342-6276.