ATHENS, Ga. - To the scrapbook of amazing snapshots in this surreal Tennessee basketball season, add this one:

Maybe 30 minutes after UT's 83-78 win Saturday, first-year Bruce Pearl walks out of the tunnel into Georgia's Stegeman Coliseum to do his radio show and what does he see?

Several hundred orange-clad Vol fans cheering, waiting to hang on his every word.

"I'm telling you right now,'' Pearl says to them in a raspy voice, "we don't win this game without you all in the house.''

They roar.

"Ten-year extension,'' shouts a guy in an orange baseball cap.

"We don't win this game without you coming, coach,'' hollers another guy.

Georgia coach Dennis Felton had just finished with his radio show and was leaving unnoticed as Pearl arrived, the conquering hero.

What must Felton have been thinking at this scene in his own house?

That he'd give anything if Georgia fans would load up in busses and go on the road with him, that's what.

"That,'' said Felton, "can have as much to do with building a program as anything else that can happen.''

Pearl's trying to make his pilgrims feel important, of course, but he might possibly be right. Maybe UT doesn't win without them.

As it was, Tennessee hung on for dear life, surviving a ferocious Georgia rally.

An 18-point UT lead was whittled to 67-65 before the Vols regrouped in the final four minutes.

For sure, the Vols don't win this game without a career effort from guard Chris Lofton.

Think about it: His 31-point performance in Rupp Arena on Tuesday was only his second-best work of the week.

This time, he saved UT's bacon with 33 points and 9-of-12 3-point marksmanship.

His eighth 3-point bucket, the one that tied Allan Houston's school single-game record, was breathtaking, pumping UT's lead to 71-65 with 3:14 left.

His ninth trey, the one that broke Houston's 16-year-old record, afforded the Vols a 77-70 cushion with 1:11 to play.

"He's as good a contested shooter as I have ever seen,'' said Felton. "He flat out won the game for them today.''

But maybe Pearl was right. Maybe even a Super Lofton wasn't enough.

Maybe UT doesn't survive without 1,500 to 2,000 Tennessee fans (an estimate from a Georgia official) helping make it a sellout of 10,523, the first in at least two seasons.

Four busloads came from Knoxville, heeding Pearl's plea to follow the Vols on the road.

Many more came on their own. Some couldn't find a ticket and were turned away.

The ones who got inside made themselves at home. Just before the national anthem, they chanted "orange,'' and then "white.''

During the playing of Georgia's school song, "The Battle Hymn of the Bulldog Nation,'' they irreverently broke out in a verse of "Rocky Top.''

UT athletic director Mike Hamilton said he shook hands with Vol fanatics from all points.

"I don't know how this will all end up when it's all said and done,'' Hamilton said, "but for me and the athletic program, it's one of those special times you're going to look back on for a long, long time.''

If LSU coach John Brady took offense at Pearl playing to the LSU students at the end of a defeat in Baton Rouge, he might have popped a gasket at what the Vols did at the final horn Saturday.

The players filed up the steps through the seats to the mezzanine level to mingle with the cheering, stomping orange people.

"It was real special,'' said Lofton. "We didn't have any road support last year. Maybe the coach's family and some of our family and that was it.''

Andre Patterson, who gave a vital effort (15 points, six rebounds), said the players felt the energy emanating from the upper deck.

"You come in on the road and then it's quiet and you've got your fans yelling,'' he said. "It's kind of strange.''

There have been a number of strange moments this season. Stay tuned because the strangest - and the best - may be yet to come.

Mike Strange may be reached at 865-342-6276 or strange2@knews.com.