Tennessee fired Buzz Peterson as men’s basketball coach at the end of last season, but that’s not stopping him from pulling for the Vols against Winthrop.

"I want to see my seniors do well, so I’m rooting for those guys hard,’’ said Peterson, who led Coastal Carolina to a 20-10 record, the school’s first winning season since 1993-94. "C.J. Watson is the first kid I recruited at UT.’’

Peterson will need to wait another year for another shot at taking the Chanticleers to the postseason. They weren’t invited to the NIT despite winning 14 of their last 16 games and finishing second in the Big South.

Had Coastal Carolina beat Winthrop in the Big South tournament championship game — they lost, 51-50, on a last-second shot — Peterson would have been in the NCAA tournament likely playing the Vols.

"I saw the bracket, and it showed me if we could hold on for 14 seconds, we’d have been playing Tennessee,’’ said Peterson, whose team has nine freshmen and beat Winthrop twice in the regular season. "Winthrop and Tennessee is an interesting match up. They’re totally opposite types of teams.’’

UTcoach Bruce Pearl said Coast Carolina closed the season in impressive fashion.

"I’ve watched his Coastal team, and he did a lot with a little,’’ Pearl said. "They’re not nearly as talented as Winthrop, and he beat them twice and gave them a great game in the championship game.

"Buzz has done an amazing job there, and as far as the success we’ve had here, I’ve always said this program was in good shape when I got here because there were good people around. It’s not the deepest team, but there was just enough of everything to put the pieces together.’’

Pearl said he’d love to call Peterson to "pick his brain’’ on Winthrop, but it’s simply not considered good etiquette.

"I won’t call anyone in their league,’’ Pearl said. "It’s not acceptable. No one in the SEC would give up tape or a scouting report on us; if they did, there’d be some issues.’’

Peterson shared some insights on the game with the News Sentinel.

Tempo and turnovers, Peterson indicated, are the keys to a Tennessee victory.

"Winthrop is a half-court offensive team that has a lot of experience and has been there before,’’ Peterson said. "They have the size to compete with high major teams, and they’re pretty thick, too.’’

Peterson said the Eagles’ 6-foot-10 center, Craig Bradshaw, has a good shooting touch and senior James Shuler, a 6-6, 235-pound wing, is a tough match-up.

The Vols’ half-court defensive struggles — particularly in the interior — have been well documented.

Peterson said another pivotal match up is between Winthrop’s 6-5 two-guard Torrell Martin, a two-time Big South tourney MVP, and UT’s sweet-shooting sophomore, Chris Lofton.

"Martin is a very good athletic player,’’ Peterson said. "He held (Jack) Leasure, our player of the year, to 1-of-15 shooting. He’s athletic enough to guard Chris, but Chris has that long range.’’

Having never played against Pearl, Peterson couldn’t predict Winthrop’s ability to break UT’s press, but he said it is an obvious key.

Once the Eagles get into their half-court game, they run disciplined plays and sets, Peterson said.

"It will all already be drawn up,’’ Peterson said. "Everything on offense will be very structured.’’

UT has been at its best when it scores off turnovers and in transition. But if Winthrop handles the press effectively, the Vols will be forced to face what Peterson said is a sound defense.

"(Eagles coach) Gregg Marshall has been there a long time,’’ he said. "They’ll do a lot of things. They’ll play a 3-2 zone and a lot of man to man.

"I think they’ll go half-court as much as possible.’’

Peterson reiterated he’s hoping for the best for UT.

"I did a lot of work recruiting those guys,’’ Peterson said. "I’m pulling for them.’’