Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl still isn't exactly sure what to expect from his men's basketball team entering tonight's preseason NIT game against Fordham.

"We want to have an identity, and we have to make choices as to what we want our identity to be,'' said Pearl, whose 25th-ranked team tips off at 8 o'clock tonight (TV: ESPNU) at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville. "What I saw Friday night was a team that played hard and unselfishly.''

In an 83-52 win over Middle Tennessee State, Pearl also saw a Vols' team that has yet to find the cohesion necessary to have any sort of chance of defending the SEC East crown.

Tonight's opponent is an experienced Rams' team returning four starters from last year's 16-16 squad, including preseason Atlantic 10 center and player of the year candidate Bryant Dunston.

Dunston, a 6-foot-8 junior, scored 14 points in Fordham's 70-68 season-opening victory over Sacred Heart on Friday night. He was a first-team all-conference pick last year, too, averaging 16.1 points per game and 7.6 rebounds, fourth best in the Atlantic 10.

"Bryant is also one of the nation's leaders in free throws attempted,'' Pearl said. "He's strong, and we saw a little bit Friday night that our young inside players were foul prone because of their lack of experience.''

Pearl said he took some comfort in the Vols' out-rebounding a taller MTSU team by 11, and indicated he has confidence freshmen Wayne Chism and Duke Crews will be up to the challenge.

The identity of the team, however, figures to revolve around UT's perimeter players, hence the concern with junior preseason All-American Chris Lofton's slow start.

Lofton scored 10 points in each of the Vols' exhibition games and took only six shots in a six-point effort against MTSU. Pearl attributes much of that to the foul trouble Lofton ran into against the Blue Raiders, but some of it had to do with Lofton not being aggressive enough taking open shots.

"I talked to Chris a little bit about it, but we're not going to make too big a deal about it,'' Pearl said. "If time and score were different factors, Chris would have been more aggressive hunting his shot.

"As our schedule continues to toughen and we play better teams, Chris will be able to do what Chris has always done against better competition. He gets the shots when he has to.''

Pearl said some of Lofton's early scoring woes have to do with him being a marked man.

"Chris is obviously getting a lot of attention,'' Pearl said. "Every time he touches it, he's getting hedged or trapped.''

Lofton's offseason work to improve his ability to drive to the basket has yet to pay dividends, and Pearl has let the shooting guard know he'd prefer the open 3-pointer to a forced drive to the hoop.

Pearl said that because of Lofton's thicker build, when there's contact he's not as likely to get the call, even with his All-American status.

Another detraction is UT's youth at point guard.

Departed point guard C.J. Watson had good chemistry with Lofton, having already played a year with him heading into last season.

Predictably, freshmen point guards Ramar Smith and Marques Johnson have had early-season struggles as they adjust to Pearl's system.

Until one or both players settle, a large part of UT's identity remains undetermined.

Fortunately for the Vols, junior wing JaJuan Smith has shown he can create his own shot this season, leading UT in scoring in each of the team's three outings.

Pearl noted Smith led the team in his "Plus-Minus'' category with 32, meaning the Vols outscored MTSU by 32 points when Smith was on the floor. Another way to look at that is the Blue Raiders, in their 83-52 (31-point) loss, outscored UT by one when Smith wasn't in the game.

"It's such a simple stat,'' said Pearl, who tracks each player's plus-minus closely, "but whenever you look at a game and you're trying to determine who played well, the plus-minus is pretty indicative.''

The winner of the Vols' game with Fordham plays Tuesday night against the winner of tonight's second game at the Gaylord Entertainment Center, UNC-Wilmington vs. Belmont. The losers also meet Tuesday. Game times Tuesday night are 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. The winner of the Nashville bracket advances to play in New York City next week.

The Line: UT opened as a 15-point favorite over the Rams.

Passley's Technical: Pearl said he thought Tony Passley's technical foul against MTSU was debatable.

"I looked at it on film, and I didn't think there was much there,'' Pearl said. "I thought he was not trying to be sarcastic; he tapped his head and said there were no hard feelings.''

The Point: Pearl said both Johnson and Ramar Smith had their positives in the win over MTSU.

"Marques looked real comfortable offensively, and he has a good feel for what we do already,'' Pearl said. "Defensively and rebounding is a focus issue for him. He's aware of it and working on it. He knows he can't come in and be a liability.''

Ramar Smith, Pearl said, posted a 20 in the plus-minus category and played well defensively.

"Anytime you don't have one of your best outings, it's good there's another one right around the corner,'' Pearl said. "Ramar needs to put that one behind him and look forward to Fordham.