Crump could be out four weeks

It's possible Tennessee's senior forward could be out until late February. The Vols have 10 SEC games remaining.

Crump suffered a badly sprained left ankle early in a loss to Louisville on Saturday.

UT coach Buzz Peterson initially said it was a day-to-day situation, but admitted Thursday that Crump could miss two to four weeks.

"This is a difficult injury for Brandon," Peterson said. "For this to happen so late in his senior season has been tough, but he's doing everything he can to get back on the court."

The 6-foot-10 Crump entered the Louisville game ranked second on the team in scoring (12.1) and rebounding (5.6).

"He's burning the midnight fuel trying to get better," Peterson said. "These guys have to rally around each other and get better."

Since Crump's injury, the Vols (10-9, 3-3 SEC) have lost by 23 points to 14th-ranked Louisville and 22 points to seventh-ranked Kentucky on Tuesday.

UT gets back on the road Saturday for a game at Auburn (9-9, 0-5). Tip-off is 6 p.m. EST.

"We just need to come out and prove a point," sophomore Major Wingate said. "Nobody's really down about the losses. We're just disappointed we didn't play the way we know we're capable of playing."

Wingate, a 6-10 sophomore, has been a key contributor in Crump's absence. He scored a career-high 13 points against Louisville and topped that with 14 against Kentucky.

Wingate will definitely have a size advantage against the guard-oriented Tigers. Auburn's tallest starter is 6-6 senior Quinnel Brown.

Like the rest of the Vols, Wingate has tried to look beyond Crump's absence for recent woes.

"We've just been a step slow," he said. "Offensive rebounds, back cuts, coming off screens, setting screens, everything was just a step slow. That's what we came in and concentrated on (Thursday).

"If we're not on the same page defensively, it's going to be a really long game."

Peterson just wants to see some fight.

"Any team in the country is one sprained ankle away from something changing," he said. "That's the situation we're in. We just want to find the key to getting it going again."

Howell And Auburn: UT redshirt freshman Jordan Howell is heading to familiar turf Saturday. Howell is a native of Auburn and his brother, Brett (out with mononucleosis), is a sophomore for the Tigers.

Auburn connections run deep in the Howell household. Rex Howell, Jordan's father, played for the Tigers in 1966. Uncle Alex Howell was a two-year starter for Auburn in the late 1960s.