Perfect at home, Vols need one for the road

For Tennessee’s men, the basketball road goes on forever but the party has never started.

"We haven’t won a league game on the road,’’ UT coach Bruce Pearl said with a shake of his head, "and that’s just hard to believe because we’ve played well in every one of them except Florida.

"We just haven’t been able to break through.’’

The Vols (18-8, 6-5 SEC) are undefeated at home. They won three non-conference games at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville.

But their only true road win was at Louisiana-Lafayette way back on Nov. 27.

In contrast to last year when UT zipped through its SEC road schedule at 6-2, this year’s club is 0-5 with three opportunities (obstacles?) left.

None is riper for the picking than today.

South Carolina (12-12, 2-9) limps into the 3:30 tip-off (TV: WATE) at the Colonial Center with the conference’s worst overall record and worst home-court mark.

The Gamecocks are 1-4 at home in SEC play, winning only against Arkansas.

They’ve lost at home to Georgia by 19, to Auburn by five, to Kentucky by 38 and to Florida by 34.

They’ve also lost at home to Clemson by 21 and to Kansas by 16.

Overall, South Carolina has lost five in a row. The Vols are on a three-game winning streak.

The question is whether the efficiency and confidence will survive the transition from Thompson-Boling Arena to a hostile environment.

Pearl thinks it will.

"We’ve obviously gotten some things figured out,’’ he said. "In two of the three home games we were challenged.

"They were close games. We had to make plays down the stretch.

"We’ve still got issues but I think we’ve figured out how to win.’’

Then vs. Now: Last year the Vols opened SEC play in Columbia and rallied from 16 points down in the second half to win 76-69.

"That game was the key to our season,’’ Pearl said. "It was absolutely the catalyst to the season we had winning the East championship.

"This game is just like all of the last several. It’s just one more to get closer to what our goal is, which is trying to get in the NCAA tournament.’’

As one of a handful of SEC "bubble" teams, the optimistic view is that a win today would lock the Vols into an NCAA at-large bid. They would finish no worse than 7-9 in SEC play, considered the minimum requirement for an NCAA bid.

About The ’Cocks: South Carolina is down to an eight-man rotation as sub Chad Gray is expected to miss today’s game due to a toe injury.

Senior point guard Tre’ Kelley is the top scorer in SEC play at 19.8 points per game. In all games, Kelley averages 18.0 points and 5.04 assists.

Brandon Wallace ranks No. 2 in the league in both rebounds (9.7 per game) and blocked shots (64). Wallace and Kelley rank 1-2 in minutes played in the league.

The Gamecocks’ league record is no fluke. Carolina ranks last in the SEC in scoring, field-goal percentage, field-goal defense, rebounding margin, assists and steals.

Vol Stuff: UT guard Chris Lofton needs five 3-point baskets to pass Vanderbilt’s Scott Draud into fourth place on the SEC career chart. Lofton is at 284. ? Eleven different Vols have hit 3-pointers this year. Eight have made at least 10 of them. ? Keep an eye on the SEC freshman-of-the-year race. In conference play, Patrick Beverly of Arkansas is averaging 14.0 ppg and UT’s Ramar Smith 13.8. Beverly has the edge in 3-point and free-throw percentages. Smith has more assists.