It was another day at the office for the Tennessee men's basketball team Saturday afternoon at Thompson-Boling Arena.

The No. 13 Vols used a 16-0 run three minutes into the game to get the upper hand en route to an 86-72 victory over Ole Miss before a crowd of 18,602.

Tennessee (16-3, 7-1 SEC) has won five in a row and 14 straight at home heading into arguably its biggest business trip of the season, at Kentucky on Tuesday night and a nationally televised game by ESPN.

"That's one of those history and tradition games,'' said first-year UT coach Bruce Pearl, who will break out his bright orange blazer for the rivalry game. "I'll be very honored to be on that floor coaching Tennessee.''

Pearl was relieved to leave The Summitt floor having closed out a three-game SEC homestand without a loss and continue to lead the Eastern Division.

"We held serve,'' Pearl said. "We did what we're supposed to do.''

Clarence Sanders led Ole Miss with a career-high 29 points - 21 coming on 7-of-11 shooting beyond the 3-point arc.

C.J. Watson paced the Vols with 18 and JaJuan Smith came off the bench to set career highs with 17 points and seven rebounds.

"I think it was my best game so far,'' Smith said. "But it's never good enough.''

Smith said Pearl has given him the green light to create on offense, whereas last year he feared being pulled out of the game by Buzz Peterson if he made a mistake.

"Coach just says, 'JaJuan, go out there and do what you do best,' '' Smith said. "(Ole Miss) was a very young team, we tried to jump out there and get their heads down. But they fought back.''

The Rebels (13-8, 3-5) rallied from a 46-27 halftime deficit with a 12-2 run that pulled them within 71-59 with 5:11 left.

The Vols answered with a 10-0 run over the next 44 seconds, forcing three consecutive turnovers off inbounds plays to send Ole Miss to its fifth straight defeat.

"They are a team that creates turnovers,'' Rebels coach Rod Barnes said. "Their style is hard to prepare for.

"The way they play, if you do not match their aggressiveness and their intensity, they are going to get a lead on you.'

The Vols were off and running from the opening tip with a tenacious transition game and a 59.4 percent shooting touch in building a 19-point halftime lead.

Sanders scored 17 through the first 20 minutes, but the rest of the Rebels were struggling. It turns out that leaving Sanders open on the perimeter was a price UT was willing to pay for stopping Ole Miss' most dangerous scorer, Dwayne Curtis.

Curtis, a 6-foot-8, 290-pound center, scored 10 points and had nine rebounds, but he grew visibly frustrated and committed four of the Rebels' 22 turnovers.

"I thought we did a good job fronting (Curtis), a good job of backside help, and when the ball went in there we doubled it,'' Pearl said.

Pearl was not pleased with his team's second-half performance.

UT opened the final 20 minutes by missing its first five shots and turning the ball over four times.

The Vols didn't get their first field goal of the second half until the 14:08 mark when Dane Bradshaw scored on an inside move that led to a three-point play and a 51-34 lead.

"Obviously it was a tale of two halves,'' Pearl said. "We played some really good basketball in the first half; the tempo was up. The Sanders kid was making shots, but they weren't getting the ball inside to Curtis.

"The second half, Mississippi, like a well-coached team and a team with heart will do, ignored the score and they played hard and battled.''

Pearl also paid tribute to the newest member of the "Bench Mob,'' forward Stanley Asumnu, who came off the bench to score 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting.

"I'll tell you what,'' Pearl said, "in the second half he made some big plays that kept Ole Miss at bay.''

Chilly: UT freshman forward Ryan "Chilly'' Childress has quickly become a fan favorite with his blue-collar style of play.

Childress had two points and three rebounds in seven minutes but drew one of the loudest cheers of the night when he tangled with Curtis, pulling him down during a pileup.

"That's kind of what we brought him in for,'' said Pearl, who recruited the 6-9, 250-pounder to Wisconsin-Milwaukee and convinced him to transfer. "It's great he's playing a role. Three offensive rebounds - that's just effort.

"It's good to see he has that kind of heart and toughness.''

Orange Slices: Pearl drew a technical foul for arguing a call during a timeout with UT holding a 58-42 lead with 11:21 left. It was UT's 100th game with Ole Miss with the Vols having a 64-36 advantage and eight straight wins over the Rebels at Thompson-Boling Arena. Watson's 18 points enabled him to move into 20th on UT's career scoring list.