GREENSBORO, N.C. -- When Tennessee celebrated the nail-biter win over Winthrop on Thursday, one of the loudest locker-room cheers went to Jordan Howell.

C.J. Watson's foul problems forced Howell to play a season-high 14 minutes but he said he's got plenty left in the tank for today's second-round NCAA tournament game with Wichita State if needed.

Nine of Howell's minutes came during a span of the second half after Watson picked up his fourth foul with 16:05 to play.

That's about three or four times his usual stint.

"I felt it at first, but then I caught my second wind,'' Howell said Friday. "I was fine after that.

"I feel good today. I think all of us are living off adrenaline so aches and pains aren't an issue right now.''

Howell had one basket, two rebounds, one assist and one turnover. But stats weren't foremost on his agenda.

"I just tried to keep us going, like C.J. always does,'' Howell said. "My teammates were encouraging to me throughout the game.

"They were saying, 'Just keep doing what you're doing.' ''

UT coach Bruce Pearl liked the confidence and aggressiveness Howell showed.

"Jordan just kept us in the game,'' Pearl said. "He didn't play not to lose. He played to win.''

ESPN's Presence: UT will continue to grant ESPN's' cameras total access behind the scenes as long as the Vols stay alive in the tournament.

Friday's segment captured the Vols arriving too early for their pregame practice on Thursday and being forced to use a wadded-up jacket instead of a basketball to walk through formations.

Turgeon's Roots: Wichita State coach Mark Turgeon lists Roy Williams, Larry Brown and former UT coach Jerry Green as his career influences.

He played for Brown and then Williams at Kansas. His first job was as an assistant under Williams at Kansas with Green. Then Turgeon went to Oregon when Green got the job in 1992.

"I was with Coach Green nine years,'' Turgeon said. "I think the thing he really showed me was how to rebuild a program.

"I took over two programs (Jacksonville State and Wichita State) that weren't in great shape. He taught me how, if they say no, how to figure out a way to get them to say yes when you ask for things and try to get things done.''

Turgeon said he hadn't heard from either Brown or Williams since winning his first NCAA tournament game on Thursday.

"I think Coach Brown and Coach Williams expected me to be here sooner,'' Turgeon said. "They probably wondered what the heck took me so long.''

Year in Knoxville: Tad Boyle, Turgeon's associate head coach, came to UT with Green from Oregon in 1997, then left after one year.

"It was great to experience a conference like the SEC,'' Boyle said. "The SEC football weekends, I'd never experienced anything like that before.

"The basketball was definitely a different style from the Pac-10.''

Experienced Guys: UT's Andre Patterson played three NCAA tournament games at UCLA. Wichita State has two tournament veterans. Kyle Wilson played two games for Illinois in 2003 and Karon Bradley played five games as Marquette reached the Final Four in 2003.

Extra Points: UT's first steal today will break the school record of 292, set in the 30-game season of 1988-89 (which ended in an NCAA tournament loss in Greensboro). ... The 63 points against Winthrop was the lowest total of the year. The previous low was 64 against Murray State. ... UT basketball sports information director Craig Pinkerton is a Wichita native but attended Kansas State. ... UT's first-round win improved its NCAA tournament slate to 9-14.