This might be the last stat Tennessee needs to hear at the moment, but here goes:

In the first half of its win at Ole Miss on Wednesday night, Vanderbilt hit 15 of 20 shots.

That's 75 percent. Not quite the 78.9 percent Kentucky hit in the second half of its 80-78 win over the Vols, but not bad.

"We like how our team is playing right now,'' Vandy coach Kevin Stallings said Thursday.

The upshot is that if Tennessee was looking for a soft touch to break a two-game losing streak, the Vols won't find it Saturday in Memorial Gym.

The Commodores haven't mailed it in. They've won three of their past four games, all on the road.

Once again, the Vols will face a motivated opponent and will have to rise to the occasion. Vandy is 7-8 in SEC play and knows it has to get to .500 to foster even a razor-thin hope of getting to the NCAA tournament.

"We're still thinking that might give us an opportunity if we could make something happen in the SEC tournament,'' Stallings said.

Some UT fans, meanwhile, are pointing the finger at the officials after the tough loss to Kentucky.

Tennessee's half-court defense is a more-likely culprit. Curly Neal used to get more resistance from the Washington Generals than Rajon Rondo got from the Vols in the second half.

To The Victor: UT's loss handed the SEC regular-season championship to LSU, regardless of Saturday's games.

Coach John Brady thinks sophomore center Glen Davis is also a lock for player of the year over UT's Chris Lofton, among others.

"When you look at it from the first SEC game through the whole season,'' Brady said, "I don't think anyone is close to the consistency with which Glen Davis played.

"In every game, you knew what you were going to get. It wasn't seven or eight points one night and the next game 25.''

No argument here. Davis is working on a string of eight consecutive double-doubles.

Tourney Bracket: If the SEC tournament started today, Tennessee would get the winner of a Georgia-Auburn first-round match. That could change after Saturday's games, though.

LSU, Alabama and Arkansas are set as the West Nos. 1, 2 and 3 seeds, respectively. In the East, UT is No. 1 and Vanderbilt No. 4. Everything else is up for grabs.

The Vols and Alabama would meet in the semifinals if they both win Friday.

Noah's Arc: If the SEC gave a most-improved player award, it would be hard to deny Joakim Noah, the 6-11 pony-tailed Florida sophomore.

With his front teeth wired together after taking C.J. Watson's best elbow a week earlier, Noah poured in 37 points against Georgia on Wednesday. That matches Jonathan Modica of Arkansas for the high game in the league this year.

In the crowd was dad Yannick Noah, the former tennis great.

"He is about the most driven and motivated kid I've ever been around,'' said Florida coach Billy Donovan.

"When you've got a dad who played at the highest level in any sport, you realize the people you're going up against are just as talented as you are and what happens is you've got to do things to separate yourself. Talent's only going to take you so far.''

In the Moment: UK coach Tubby Smith said his chest-bump with guard Brandon Stockton after the final horn Wednesday was spontaneous.

"I was reaching out to grab his hand and all of a sudden I felt like I needed to throw a chest bump on him,'' said the normally reserved Smith.

Stockton fought for the steal with 10 seconds left that helped seal the win.

Etc.: The Vols were still a No. 3 seed Thursday in Joe Lunardi's updated "Bracketology" on ESPN.com. If Rod Barnes is canned at Ole Miss he'll just miss becoming the school's winningest coach. His 145 wins are four short of the record. According to the Jackson Clarion-Ledger, Barnes won 86 games his first four years, but only 55 so far in his last four.

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