NASHVILLE -- Chris Lofton kept firing that sweet-looking three-ball Saturday at Vander bilt. Funny thing, he kept missing, too.

"I didn't know what was going on,'' said Frank Lofton, his dad, watching Tennessee's struggles from the Memorial Gym stands. "I've seen him do that a time or two, not too often.''

The best 3-point shooter in the SEC missed his first seven tries.

"I'm like, 'Man, am I ever going to make one?' '' said Lofton.

At long last he did, his eighth attempt. Then he missed two more.

"It was kind of weird,'' said teammate Stanley Asumnu. "We're in there at night (after practice) getting up shots and you see him standing there, making shots, making shots.

"To see him in this game ... "

Missing shots, missing shots ...

But nobody was feeling as uneasy about this development as Andre Patterson.

The Vols' self-described class clown was secretly wishing he could take back his latest jest - especially after Lofton bricked a free throw to snap his streak at 38 in a row and miss tying the school record.

"I had told Chris he must have sold his soul to the devil for a jumper like that,'' Patterson confessed. "I said I was going to pray for God to give it back to him.''

With Vanderbilt up 16 early in the second half, the Vols looking as limp as week-old lettuce and Lofton's heavenly jumper kicking off the rim, Patterson was thinking maybe somebody up there didn't have a sense of humor.

But then Lofton's 11th 3-point try made everything OK.

The Vols were clinging to a hard-fought 59-57 lead when Dane Bradshaw drove into the paint, drew a crowd of Commodores and kicked the ball out to a wide-open Lofton at the head of the key.

Swish!

UT was up 62-57 with 1:09 to play and on its merry way to a stunning 68-59 come-from-way-behind victory to close out the regular season.

When Lofton let 'er rip that last time, coach Bruce Pearl was standing on the baseline under the basket like a beacon in his orange blazer, giving it all the body English he could.

"Automatic,'' thought Asumnu.

"With (Lofton) and a wide-open look?'' said Bradshaw. "I was already getting back on defense.''

So the SEC's best 3-point shooter finished his worst 3-point-shooting day as a Vol at 2-of-11.

But forget that. This wasn't his worst scoring day as a Vol. Inside the arc, Lofton sank six of seven shots.

Showing a resourcefulness that bodes well for the final two years of his career, he hustled up 21 points, every one of them vital to a team trying desperately to regain momentum for the postseason push.

He got his first basket of the game by pump-faking a defender into the air and driving to kiss the ball off the glass. Same for his second bucket.

"Everybody knows I'm a 3-point shooter,'' he said. "I saw 'em jumping every time I put on the head-fake so I tried to go to the hole and get some easy buckets.''

Vandy led 37-21 when Lofton made his next drive for a basket. That was the turning point.

When he finally hit a trey, it cut the gap to 44-37.

"I can't quit shooting,'' said Lofton. "I've got to stay aggressive.''

His next basket was a layup after C.J. Watson's steal off Tennessee's press. That one got the Vols even, 44-44.

With Vandy up 45-44, Lofton rebounded a Commodore miss and dribbled the length of the court to give the Vols their first lead.

With 4:08 left, he stripped the ball from Derrick Byars and raced for a layup to tie it 54-54.

Vandy was preoccupied with Lofton's long-range game, and rightfully so. But his short-range game was the new dimension.

"They did a good job of hedging out and taking the 3-point line away,'' said Pearl. "To a smart player's credit, he goes and takes it off the bounce and scores.''

So it didn't turn out to be Lofton's worst day as a Vol after all.

On the contrary, it might have been his best.