Lost in the brilliance of everything else he did Saturday for Tennessee, Chris Lofton also outrebounded teammates Duke Crews and Wayne Chism combined.

I suppose there could be a scenario in which that's a good thing. But a game in which Lofton has five rebounds is not one of them.

No wonder coach Bruce Pearl opened his press conference after a 93-79 win over Western Kentucky with the cautionary assessment:

"We've got some really interesting things going on with personnel right now.

"I hope they don't continue, but I would expect they might because we're so young.''

That Lofton, JaJuan Smith and Ramar Smith combined for 68 perimeter points more than compensated for the fact that Western Kentucky freshman center Jeremy Evans, thoroughly outplayed his more celebrated UT counterparts, Crews and Chism.

Bottom line, Tennessee outgunned a dangerous mid-major visitor, so if you're taking 'em one game at a time, good enough.

But by the time Pearl got to the media room for the post mortem, his thoughts appeared to be spinning forward to Monday night. Maybe that's why he seemed subdued.

Big, strong, undefeated Oklahoma State is coming to Nashville, returning all five starters from the team that manhandled the Vols last December in Oklahoma City, 89-73.

Pearl recalled that experience thusly:

"Who's next to get dunked on?''

The answer in the rematch will be Crews and Chism unless they step up bigger than they did against Western Kentucky.

The unheralded Evans (who was averaging 5.8 points) opened the game with an offensive tip-in and went on to bag the Hilltoppers' first three baskets.

He finished with 13 points (on 6-of-6 shooting) and 10 rebounds, six of them on the offensive glass.

Evans dunked on Crews late in the first half. In the second he had a sequence where he scored on a put-back, drew an offensive foul on Crews, then beat Chism back in transition for a layup.

Moments later, Chism picked up his third foul 25 feet from the basket.

Crews did rally a bit in the second half, finishing with eight points, three rebounds.

Chism never rallied, recording an empty-set double-double: zero points, zero rebounds. Both were career firsts.

"I think both Duke and Wayne are terrific,'' Pearl said. "But we are in big trouble Monday night if those two don't get it going because Oklahoma State will bite their heads off.''

On this night, Ryan Childress was Tennessee's best big man, which no doubt caught the Hilltoppers by surprise.

The sophomore forward had gotten off to a fast start, then lost his mojo about the time the Vols went to New York for Thanksgiving.

He found it Saturday, filling out his box score with seven points, a career-high 10 rebounds and a career-high 22 minutes.

"Great timing,'' noted an appreciative Pearl.

Said Childress, "That's the way our system works. Every night can be somebody else's night.''

But Monday night can't be Tennessee's night unless Crews and Chism come to play. The Cowboys are too good and too physical to let the Vols get away with anything short of their "A" game.

And did we mention they live to attack the basket?

"You think they might go high-low about 12 times in the first half?'' Pearl said. "That would be my guess.''

It would be the smart move, until the Vols prove they can stop it.

One good thing about basketball is you usually don't have to endure a whole week with the sour taste of a poor performance in your mouth.

In Chism's case, a shot at redemption comes quickly.

"I'm very confident he'll come back with a new swagger on Monday,'' said Childress. "We're going to need him.''

Him and Crews.

They'd better have their heads in the game. If not, they'll get bitten off.