Three of the biggest weapons in Tennessee's arsenal could prove to be moot tonight.

Vols' coach Bruce Pearl is counting on a fourth: Homecourt advantage.

UT has won games with 3-point shooting, an annoying press and sheer hustle.

Georgia's deep, talented and energetic backcourt has Pearl concerned entering tonight's 7:30 p.m. game at Thompson-Boling Arena.

The Vols bring a 10-1 overall mark (1-0 SEC) into the game. The Bulldogs, with wins over Georgia Tech and Clemson, are off to their best start in four years at 10-4 (0-1 SEC).

"Georgia goes five deep at guard, and they play 10 or 11 guys,'' Pearl said. "Our press won't be a factor at all as far as wearing them down.

"And Georgia plays a tight, aggressive man-to-man defense ... they give up the fewest 3-pointers in the league.''

As for the hustle factor, Pearl's counting on the crowd to keep his players fired up against a determined Bulldogs team.

"Any time you pull the curtains back (for more seating in the arena), for someone other than Kentucky, that's worth talking about,'' Pearl said, referring to a crowd that's anticipated to be over 20,000. "This is going to be an event. Georgia is a rivalry team, and they play as hard as anyone we'll play this season.

"I'm glad our students are back. We'll need every ounce of intensity the crowd brings.''

The Bulldogs, like the Vols, rely heavily on their backcourt for scoring; their top five scorers are guards. More than a quarter (27.1-percent) of Georgia's field goals have come from behind the 3-point arc.

Tennessee, meanwhile, ranks last in the SEC in 3-point field-goal defense.

The Bulldogs guards also are adept at penetrating, much like those at Oklahoma State. The Cowboys, of course, dealt the Vols their only loss, 89-73 on Dec. 22 in Oklahoma City.

"That is a concern,'' Pearl conceded. "I think whichever team handles pressure the best will win.

"It's how they handle our full-court pressure and how we handle their half-court pressure.

"We always prefer (playing) uptempo, but we're not talented enough or deep enough to dictate tempo.''

Pearl said center Major Wingate will have his hands full against Georgia's multiple posts.

"They are big, strong, and they play three centers,'' he said. "They'll play (Younes) Idrissi in there, (Dave) Bliss will start and they have a seven-foot freshman (Rashaad Singleton).

"Our bench will be a factor because they will be playing their bench.''

Though Pearl didn't say it, an obvious key for UT will be seniors Andre Patterson and Stanley Asumnu breaking out of their slumps.

Patterson, who backs up Wingate at center, has had just two rebounds and 11 points in the past two games combined. Asumnu, the Vols' athletic small forward, has two rebounds and eight points over that span.

"You just look at our schedule and you know how big this game is,'' Pearl said. "Any SEC win is a great win for us.''

The Vols follow tonight's game with a trip to LSU on Saturday, a road game at No. 5 Memphis on Wednesday and then a home game with No. 2 Florida on Jan. 21.

Scouting Report: South Carolina coach Dave Odom said the Gamecocks stressed not letting the Vols 3-point shooters get comfortable and did a good job with that in limiting UT to just 23 first-half points on Saturday.

"We had defenders on their shooters,'' Odom said, "but there's a huge difference between having a defender on a shooter and having a shooter's attention.''

The Numbers: UT leads the SEC in scoring offense (84.3 points per game), 3-point field-goal percentage (.432), turnover margin (plus-8.00), steals (10.82 per game), assist/turnover ratio (1.53) and 3-point field goals made (9.27).

The Vols are last in scoring defense (71.1), field-goal percentage defense (.459), 3-point field-goal defense (.408), rebounding offense (32.7 per game), rebounding margin (minus-3.3), rebounding defense (36 per game) and offensive rebounds (10.09).

Muska-Tears: Xavier coach Sean Miller complained in Monday's Cincinnati Post newspaper about UT postponing its return trip to Cincinnati to play the Muskateers.

According to Miller, the Vols' June decision to opt out of the game led to Xavier playing two games in three days.

The Muskateers beat St. Bonaventure on Saturday, 99-71, and followed that with an 82-63 win over Eastern Kentucky on Monday night.

The Vols played South Alabama on Jan. 4 instead of playing an arranged date with Xavier. UT is scheduled to play the return game at Xavier during the 2007-08 season.

Orange Slices: UT's four-game win streak is the third longest in the SEC behind Florida (14) and Ole Miss (five) ... Dane Bradshaw has more assists this season (47) than point guard C.J. Watson (46) and leads the SEC in assist/turnover ratio (3.92) ... UT is receiving more votes in the Associated Press and Coaches' Poll than any SEC team but Florida.