Lofton's goal: 'Win'

"Right now I'm just worried about making my team better,'' said Lofton, a unanimous first-team selection as voted on by SEC coaches. "For me, it's all about getting the wins.''

Lofton broke the school's single-season record with 114 3-pointers and hit a school-record nine 3-pointers in a game against Georgia while making 43.7 percent of his 3-point attempts, third best in history.

"I'm really happy for Chris,'' said UT coach Bruce Pearl, who was the SEC Coach of the Year last season as voted by the Associated Press. "It's what you would have expected for him.''

Pearl said he didn't necessarily expect other Vols to make preseason all-conference teams, but he wouldn't have been surprised if they did.

"You look at what JaJuan Smith did, he should have been sixth man of the year last season,'' Pearl said. "And then Dane Bradshaw. What can you say one of about everything he meant to our club.

"But you look at the 16 players that made first or second team in the SEC, and half of them are going to be in the NBA.

That's a moot point to Lofton; as far as he's concerned his teammates should have gotten more respect.

"I think Dane and JaJuan should have gotten some kind of recognition,'' Lofton said. "They deserve it.''

Lofton said teams shouldn't pay too much attention to the preseason All-SEC team when working up a game plan for Tennessee.

"If they think they just have to stop me, they'll be in for a big surprise,'' Lofton said. "We have all kinds of weapons on this team.''

Stay The Course: Pearl operated Monday's practice with a sense of urgency.

"We play in one week, and I'm just not putting in some zone offense for the first time,'' Pearl said. "I can only put in a few sets because of time limitations, and we have so many people learning this for the first time.

"We're going to have to be one of those teams that gets better throughout the season.''

Pearl said it's not a matter of effort.

"The players have a lot on them,'' he said. "But they're handling it.''

Injury Update: Junior guard Jordan Howell was held out of Monday's practice as he continues to recover from a broken bone in his hand. Howell had his cast removed Friday, but the injury has yet to heal sufficiently. He remains day-to-day.

Freshman center Wayne Chism missed the final 30 minutes of practice after suffering what Pearl called a "tweaked'' hamstring. Pearl said the injury is not thought to be serious.