Bruce Pearl promised Tennessee fans excitement.

Few expected it would come this soon, and against a Division II opponent at that.

The Vols pulled out an 86-78 victory over Division II Southern Indiana in both teams' exhibition opener Thursday night at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Tennessee hit 32 of 37 free throws and forced 27 turnovers en route to the victory.

Pearl's "controlled chaos" press wasn't exactly what the 10,808 listed in attendance expected, but produced when it mattered most down the stretch.

Specifically, after UT squandered a 14-point second half lead and fell behind the 10th-ranked Screaming Eagles by a 65-60 count with 7:43 remaining.

"I'd gotten kinda nervous and scared,'' said C.J. Watson, who scored 16 of his game-high 27 points in the final nine minutes. "I didn't want to lose; I tried to take the game over.''

Watson's clutch shooting combined with the Vols' defensive pressure proved to be the right mix for the comeback.

The Vols broke out their most-effective press after a Dane Bradshaw free throw cut the lead to 65-61.

Bradshaw struggled through a 2-of-10 shooting effort, but he was at the tip of the pressure, forcing a steal that led to a Watson 3-pointer pulling the Vols to 65-64.

Tennessee's press forced another turnover on the ensuing inbounds pass, and Watson canned a pair of free throws to make it 66-65 with 7:17 left.

Southern Indiana rallied with a bucket and a free throw to go back up 68-66, but a Stanley Asumnu layup and Chris Lofton's highlight three-point play gave the Vols a 71-68 lead they didn't relinquish.

Lofton, closely guarded, dribbled behind his back and slipped through two Eagle defenders, drawing contact before scooping in a reverse layup off the glass.

"I saw an opening and took it to the hole,'' said Lofton, whose 26 points came on 7-of-11 shooting from the field (4 of 8 on 3-pointers). "That felt like a real game out there tonight.''

Southern Indiana's Chris Thompson scored two of his team-high 21 points to pull Southern Indiana back to 71-70 after Lofton's score, but the Vols answered with an 8-0 run - four Waston free throws and buckets by Lofton and Asumnu - to put the game away.

"We did enough things right to win, that's the bottom line,'' Pearl said. "I was pleased with the pressure; forcing 27 turnovers, you have to be.''

The Vols staked out to a 41-35 half-time lead, thanks in part to an 8-0 run midway through the half.

Prior to the run, the lead had changed hands eight times.

Asumnu put an exclamation mark on the Vols' first 20 minutes of basketball under Pearl with a two-handed dunk off a turnover as time expired.

"There will be a lot more of those,'' said Asumnu, who finished with 10 points and eight rebounds. "We're going to be up and down the court and fast paced.''

Major Wingate proved to be up to the task from a cardiovascular standpoint, recording a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds in 34 minutes.

Wingate, however, struggled to post up against the smaller Eagles and didn't attempt his first field goal until the second half.

"It's not where you start, it's where you finish,'' Pearl said. "We have a lot of work to do, but these guys found a way to win tonight.''

Notebook: Pearl said suspended forward Andre Patterson worked his way off the scout team offense this week and will be worked into the starting rotation starting today. Pearl's technical triggered a 9-2 Southern Indiana run. Pearl said the Vols' backcourt depth prevented sophomore guard Jordan Howell from seeing any playing time.