NASHVILLE -- On a night when he hit seven of 10 shots, led his team in scoring and outshot shooter Chris Lofton, JaJuan Smith offered a surprising postgame insight.

"One of my goals is to be the defensive player of the year in the SEC this year,'' Smith offered Tuesday night after Tennessee's 8775 victory over UNC Wilmington.

That's music to UT coach Bruce Pearl's ears.

This edition of the Vols needs great defenders. Not just in its press, but when the other guys do get the ball across half-court.

Tuesday night was a case in point. Tennessee forced 32 turnovers, topping the prodigious total of 29 it squeezed out of Fordham the previous night.

But when Wilmington did beat the press it shot 53.1 percent from the field.

"We struggle defensively when it gets to a half-court situation,'' Pearl said.

"Right now, we're able to win this way but when we go to New York we might be playing a team we can't beat this way.''

Butler, maybe?

Butler, an upset winner over Indiana on Tuesday night, awaits the Vols at Madison Square Garden next Wednesday in the NIT Season Tip-off semifinals.

Pearl knows Butler. Butler knows Pearl. They went at each other in the Horizon League for the four years Pearl was at Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

"Butler is a nightmare to prepare for, an absolute nightmare,'' Pearl said.

"We've got to learn to cover the ball-screens. They do it as well as anybody in the country.''

Butler has an offensive system predicated on forcing you to make mistakes in your half-court defense. It works. The Bulldogs are good at it.

Tennessee's success is predicated on forcing turnovers before an opponent ever gets to the half-court game.

If you were sitting courtside at the Gaylord Entertainment Center -- and plenty of courtside seats were available in a crowd of 3,351 -- you might think Smith is well on his way to his goal of being the SEC's best defender.

He led the Vols with five steals, after all.

Pearl, however, is a harsher judge than you or I.

"He could be the best defender in the country,'' Pearl said, "but JaJuan knows I'm not going to put that on him right now if he won't guard every possession.

"He a first-class athlete that belongs at the University of Tennessee. If he wasn't playing basketball, he'd be catching passes. He could be a track star.

"I expect a lot of him. Yeah, he's capable of being a great defender.''

Smith shrugged:

"He says I take plays off.''

The ones he doesn't take off, though, are often spectacular.

To set the scene, UT's lead was a shaky 53-49 early in the second half when Smith bellied up on his man, Montez Downey, near midcourt, all arms and legs, and ripped the ball away.

Before Smith could get untangled and streak for a layup, Downey had no choice but to foul him.

That was the first in a stretch of five consecutive Seahawk turnovers.

The fifth was even more impressive.

Smith again came out high to harass his man, slapped the ball away and then dived on the floor, getting an arm between the befuddled Seahawk's legs to grab possession and call timeout.

"I just timed it right on the crossover (dribble),'' Smith said. "But I've got to credit Josh Tabb for that.

"He came off the bench right before that and forced a turnover (on a five-second count).

"I told him, 'You made me do that. You got me ready to guard somebody.' ''

Tabb, a freshman, might seem an unlikely role model for a junior. But whatever works.

Now the trick is to keep Smith ready to guard somebody. Every night. Every possession.