Lofton on the run

Lofton erupted for 12 consecutive points in the second half to lead Tennessee to a 64-53 victory over Murray State before a crowd of 6,745.

The Vols (4-0) trailed 32-26 at the half and were down 47-46 before Lofton got things going, en route to a game-high 18 points.

Lofton hit a 3-pointer with 7:26 left to put UT up 49-47 and ignite a 12-1 run in which he scored all of the Vols' points.

"I knew in the second half I had to step up or we'd come out of here with a loss,'' said Lofton, who was 1-of-7 shooting through the first 20 minutes. "I knew what I needed to do.''

UT also knew it had to stop Murray State's Trey Pearson. Pearson, the Ohio Valley Conference's preseason player of the year, entered the game averaging 19.5 points.

The trio of Lofton, C.J. Watson and JaJuan Smith held Pearson to eight points on 3-of-11 shooting - 0-for-6 behind the 3-point line.

UT coach Bruce Pearl, leery of the Racers' depth, substituted generously through the first half; none of the Vols played more than 15 of the first 20 minutes.

But when Shawn Witherspoon knocked down a 3-pointer to open the second half, the OVC preseason favorites were up nine points and it was time for UT to pick up the tempo.

Watson scored his first points when he hit a 3-pointer with 18:21 left that brought the Vols to 35-29.

Watson's trey ignited a 10-2 run that Lofton capped with a 3-pointer, cutting Murray State's lead to 37-36 at 15:33.

Watson tied the game at 42-42 3 1/2 minutes later with a pair of free throws.

MSU's Issian Redding came back with a trey, but the Vols responded with an Andre Patterson bucket inside and a Dane Bradshaw layup with 8:59 left to go up 46-45, giving UT its first lead since 6:18 of the first half.

Redding came back with another jumper to give Murray State (1-2) its final lead of the night before Lofton's heroics.

Summary on D3