Tennessee men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl is looking forward to watching his Vols struggle in tonight's exhibition opener against Southern Indiana.

That's right, struggle: look ugly, fail, etc.

"I'm interested in getting exposed from a strategic standpoint,'' Pearl said. "Somebody is going to guard us and make us look bad. They're going to put pressure on the ball. We're not going to be able to get our looks, and let's see how we respond to that and handle it.''

Tipoff is at 7:30 tonight at Thompson-Boling Arena.

UT athletic director Mike Hamilton said Pearl could have scheduled a creampuff for an exhibition opener. By doing so, the Vols could run up the score and create a false sense of security.

"But Coach Pearl didn't choose a lay-down opponent, and I admire that,'' Hamilton said. "Exhibition games are where you're supposed to learn about yourself. A couple years ago we beat someone by 60 or 70, and you're thinking, what a waste of two hours that was.''

Indeed, Pearl is more into reality, and the facts are that UT has a limited number of scholarship players (nine with Andre Patterson suspended) and is working in a new system.

The Screaming Eagles, ranked No. 10 in the Division II preseason top-25 poll, will likely show there's still much work to be done. Southern Indiana, where Pearl started his head coaching career, is just what UT needs to find itself, Pearl said.

"I brought them in because they're one of the best Division II teams in the country, and we need to get exposed,'' Pearl said. "Because of our numbers, we just haven't been able to practice and challenge each other.''

Though the Screaming Eagles will be smaller along the front line, Pearl said Southern Indiana is athletic, well-coached and knows exactly how to break the Vols' defensive pressure.

"They have the best scouting report on me in the country,'' said Pearl, who was 231-46 in his nine years at Southern Indiana, including the 1995 Division II national title. "Rick (Herdes) spent nine years as my assistant, and his top assistant (Marc Hostetter) was a three-year starter for me at point guard and won a national championship as a sophomore.''

Pearl said he's anxious to see UT's point guard, senior C.J. Watson, show his play-making abilities in the open court.

"Ryan Childress has really improved too, and he's ready,'' Pearl said. "The only problem we'll have is our number of players available.''

Hamilton said he's anticipating a crowd of about 5,000 for tonight's game. Already, 13,000 tickets have been sold for the Nov. 18 regular-season opener against East Tennessee.

UT's second - and final - exhibition game is Nov. 11 against Carson-Newman.

Mike Griffith covers University of Tennessee men's basketball. He may be reached at 865-342-6289.