Tennessee junior Chris Lofton is getting his share of recognition even if the Vols as a whole are not.

Lofton was named SEC men’s basketball player of the week for the fifth time in his career Monday, matching the school record previously held solely by former UT player Dyron Nix. Nix played with the Vols from 1986 through 1989.

Former Alabama player Kennedy Winston (2002-05) holds the SEC record for winning the award six times, while LSU’s Chris Jackson, Florida’s Vernon Maxwell and Kentucky’s Tayshaun Prince won it five times.

Lofton, whose 20.3-points-per-game average ranks second in the SEC, was not made available for comment because the Vols are in final exams week.

Tennessee’s team wasn’t ranked Monday, even after its 76-58 victory over Memphis on Wednesday. UT garnered an additional 29 points in the Associated Press poll, moving up to a tie for 31st with Michigan State. The Vols failed to get any more votes in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll than the previous week (3).

UT coach Bruce Pearl said he’s pleased with the recognition Lofton earned and is not worried about rankings.

"We said they (ESPN) didn’t even mention Chris during the Jimmy V Classic the night before we played Memphis, but this week he (Lofton) was Dick Vitale’s co-player of the week,’’ Pearl said. "Chris was playing like he was practicing earlier this season; He spent so much time in offseason practices getting other guys involved, he was just another guy out there.

"Now, you come to practice and you see Chris hunting his shot. He sees our offense runs a lot better when he’s more involved.’’

Lofton was 12-of-18 shooting from the floor for a career-high 34 points with five rebounds in the win over the Tigers, who dropped three spots to No. 19 in the top 25.

"We’re not one of the top 25 teams yet; we’re not good enough yet,’’ Pearl said. "We’ve only beaten one team in the top 25, and that was Memphis on our floor. We’re going to have so many games left against top teams, there will be room for us to move up or down in the polls.’’

The Vols have played three top-25 teams. In addition to Memphis, UT lost to No. 3 North Carolina and No. 18 Butler in the NIT Season Tip-Off.

The remainder of the Vols’ schedule features six games against five teams ranked in the top 25: No. 4 Ohio State, No. 5 Florida (twice), No. 9 Alabama, No. 12 LSU and No. 15 Oklahoma State. Texas — which plays at UT on Dec. 23 — received the 26th-most votes after defeating LSU last week.

Injury Update: Both JaJuan Smith and Dane Bradshaw were full-go Monday after missing the past two practices to rest injuries.

Smith’s left wrist — which was sprained in the Memphis game — was taped, while Bradshaw had avoided contact as a result of shoulder inflammation.

"JaJuan looked good and I don’t think he’ll miss a beat,’’ Pearl said. "Dane is just beat up.’’

Scrimmage: Pearl split the team for a five-minute full-court scrimmage to prepare for Saturday’s opponent, Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers, 8-2, are similar to UT with a strong transition game.

Pearl said Western Kentucky was the best team in the state of Kentucky last season and has reminded his team of the Hilltoppers’ win over Georgia this season.

Lofton scored six in the scrimmage including the game-winning trey with 7.1 seconds left to lift the "orange’’ team to a 13-11 win. Ramar Smith and Wayne Chism missed shots in the final seconds for the white, which was made up of non-starters. Pearl said JaJuan Smith played with the white team because he put him at shooting guard to match up against Lofton. Josh Tabb played with the orange team at small forward.