Guards JaJuan Smith and Jordan Howell ruled the court, but forwards Duke Crews and Tony Passley showed why Tennessee's frontcourt game promises to be better this season.

Select UT basketball players competed in pick-up games for nearly two hours Tuesday.

Smith opened the games on fire, hitting six of his first eight shots from all over en route to a 16-of-32 afternoon.

Smith's touch dropped off a bit after he suffered a mild ankle twist. Howell canned 16 of 30 shots -- like Smith, most from 3-point range -- and showed improved ball-handling ability.

Smith and Howell guarded one another and ran the point for their respective teams.

Meanwhile, combination-guard Josh Tabb learned at his physical Tuesday that he has a broken right wrist and will be sidelined at least a month.

"I was saving a ball in a pick-up game at home a couple of weeks ago and I ran into a wall,'' said Tabb, whose hustling tendencies were one reason UT recruited him. "But it feels good to finally be here.''

Passley, who's expected to be officially cleared to return to the team this week, gave the gifted Crews all he wanted.

The two matched up in half the games, with Passley making 9 of 21 shots and Crews 11 of 17. Crews held a slight edge on the boards and appeared more comfortable working near the basket, but Passley showed better shooting range. Crews' defensive skills were impressive, as he blocked at least six shots and altered several others.

"I think our inside game, more than anything else, still needs the most improvement,'' Smith said. "It's hard to get a lot of work on the interior in pick-up games and without the coaches here.''

The Vols' workout, as mandated by NCAA rules, was unsupervised.

Returning UT standouts Dane Bradshaw and Chris Lofton were present, but neither played due to injuries. Bradshaw is coming off a fractured wrist while Lofton has a strained leg muscle from his work at Atlanta's adidas camp last week.

"I'll be all right real soon,'' said Lofton, who despite his injury took countless practice shots. "I think things are going good for us.''

Freshmen Wayne Chism and Marques Johnson completed the first term of summer school and won't be in school for this second session.

Both players, according to Smith and Howell, impressed during unsupervised workouts.

"All of these freshman are really talented,'' Howell said. "The sky is the limit for these guys.''

Smith Update: Signee Ramar Smith remains caught up in the NCAA Clearinghouse.

A source on the team said Smith believes he has a qualifying test score, but it's a matter of if he can get his paperwork cleared soon enough. Smith might need to wait until fall term to join the team.