NASHVILLE: Tennessee freshman point guard Ramar Smith suffered a slightly sprained ankle in Monday night’s win but is expected to play in tonight’s Preseason NIT south bracket championship game.

The Vols play UNC-Wilmington at 9 p.m. with a trip to the NIT semifinals in New York City on the line.

"We put Ramar on crutches after the game as a precaution, like those football players in walking boots," UT coach Bruce Pearl said. "We took X-rays and they were negative, and he’s been getting electronic stimulation when his foot’s not in an ice bucket.

"We’ll see how he is in our walk-through this afternoon, but I think we’re going to play him and see how it goes."

If Ramar Smith isn’t up to speed, freshman Marques Johnson would get more playing time and it’s quite possible junior Jordan Howell will, too, even though Howell is still recovering from a broken bone in his shooting hand.

Pearl said he expects a real challenge from UNC-Wilmington, which defeated Belmont Monday night.

"They have two enormous post players, it’s a physical team, and they shoot the three extremely well," Pearl said. "This team went 25-8 last season and beat George Mason. They were also 5-1 at neutral sites.

"Yes, they lost some personnel from last year, but this is a program with great expectations of winning."

Pearl said his team would watch a great deal of tape today in preparation for tonight’s game.

"We’ll have to watch more film tonight that we ever had, so the guys can see what they’re doing wrong that we’ve talked about not needing to do wrong," Pearl said. "The film doesn’t lie."