There were a few anxious moments Thursday night at Thompson-Boling Arena, but by halftime all was well in Tennessee's Big Orange Kingdom.

The 21st-ranked Vols reigned supreme in the instate battle with Tennessee Tech, scoring a 101-77 men's basketball victory before an announced crowd of 19,001.

Tennessee's seventh consecutive win gives coach Bruce Pearl a 20-2 record at home over the past two seasons, 6-0 this year.

The Golden Eagles (5-7) held a 29-26 advantage over the Vols (11-2) with 8:18 left in the first half when Belton Rivers scored three of his team-high 20-points on a trey.

But then UT's defense kicked in, and the offense kicked it up a notch.

Ryan Childress split a pair of free throws to spark a 19-0 run that Chris Lofton capped with a reverse layup that made it 45-29 with 4:01 left in the half.

Tennessee Tech missed four shots and committed three turnovers during the Vols' big run.

The Golden Eagles got to single digits one final occasion, when a Daniel Northern bucket made it 47-38, but the Vols finished the half on a 9-0 run to take a 56-38 lead by halftime. UT held a double-digit lead for the remainder of the game.

Junior JaJuan Smith scored a career-high 23 points to lead the Vols. Childress and Duke Crews recorded their first career double-doubles - Childress with 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Crews with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

"Offensively, obviously we did a terrific job,'' said Pearl, whose team is back in action at 8 p.m. Saturday when it plays host to East Tennessee State. "Twenty-five assists and eight turnovers is handling the ball well.''

Dane Bradshaw matched his career high with nine assists while committing one turnover, and Ramar Smith scored 13 points while dishing out four assists and making one turnover.

"Ramar has come a long ways, and I knew that would happen once he got comfortable in the offense,'' JaJuan Smith said. "He's getting me and Chris a lot of open looks.''

Not that Lofton was willing to take them.

While JaJuan Smith was 9-of-16 shooting from the field, Lofton attempted only 11 shots, making five en route to 14 points.

"Chris looked like he did in the early season; he does what he has to do,'' Pearl said. "Whatever Chris' scoring average is (22.5 entering the game), it wasn't even a factor or in his head. That's leadership.''

Childress let it be known early on he was going to make his minutes count, scoring eight points and pulling down six rebounds in the 10 minutes he played of the first half.

"You're not going to slouch around when you have your family there,'' said Childress, who had 15 family members in attendance. "I wasn't going to force anything, but I knew they were there.''

Crews wasn't satisfied with his first double-double.

"It was weak,'' said Crews, who was 4-of-8 shooting. "I just didn't feel like I got it going. We thrive offensively off our defense, and in the post we didn't do as well.

"I know I can do better. You can always do better.''

Pearl said the Vols will practice twice today in preparation for the game with East Tennessee State.

Been A While: Crews' and Childress' double-doubles marked the first time two UT players accomplished the feat since Ron Slay and Brandon Crump turned the trick in an 83-66 loss to Texas A&M on Dec. 4, 2002.

Return Of Tony: Sophomore Tony Passley saw his first playing time since UT's 76-58 win over Memphis on Dec. 6, four games ago. Passley played eight minutes, collecting three rebounds and three points.

Walk-Ons: Ben Bosse and Tanner Wild got action for the first time since the 89-64 win over Murray State on Dec. 1. Rick Daniels-Mulholland played for the first time since the 83-52 season-opening win over Middle Tennessee State, and Justin Jackson played for the first time since seeing action in four games last season.