UT happy to do some homework

Just ask No. 8-ranked Memphis, No. 18 Oklahoma State, Texas, Vanderbilt and No. 20 Kentucky. Those are the trophy wins hanging on the wall of the Tennessee men's basketball team.

But that's just half the story.

At least of late, the flashes of futility have been equal in number for a young team that obviously despises road trips.

Even UT coach Bruce Pearl was scratching his head after a mindnumbingly lethargic 81-64 loss at South Carolina on Saturday.

After a lengthy post-game session of soul searching among Pearl, his staff and his team, Pearl admitted it was tough to explain what might have been the worst loss in his two years at Tennessee.

"I won't have a lot of good answers for you, because I have a lot of questions myself," Pearl said.

A good place to start would be why? Why is a team so strong at home (6-0 in SEC play) so inept on the road (0-6 in SEC play)?

Freshmen -- as in four 18-yearolds seeing significant minutes -- offer an obvious answer, but not an excuse Pearl wants to overuse.

The simple truth is the Vols (189, 6-6 SEC) have lost six SEC road games, the past four by an average of 16.5 points to Ole Miss, Kentucky, Florida and South Carolina.

During the six-game road skid, UT's defense is surrendering an average of 83.2 points per game.

South Carolina (13-12, 3-9) torched the Vols by hitting 29-of-54 shots, including 13-of-28 3-pointers.

"There's not too many opportunities left, and we're really going to have to prove ourselves the next couple of road games (at Arkansas on Saturday and at Georgia the following Saturday)," UT senior Dane Bradshaw said. "We'll have to learn from this and figure it out."

The good news is the Vols don't have to worry about it Wednesday.

Tennessee, unbeaten at home this season, returns to Thompson-Boling Arena against No. 25 Alabama (19-7, 6-6). Game time is 8 p.m. (TV: WVLT).

"Alabama comes in and I told our team I think they're the second most talented team in our league," Pearl said. "The way (Florida's) Al Horford and Joakim Noah matched up against Richard Hendrix and Jamareo Davidson, those guys played really well against Florida. Then they beat Kentucky (on Saturday)."

Here's some more good news. The Crimson Tide is 1-5 in SEC road games, the only victory coming at LSU on Jan. 31.

Road woes aren't exactly unusual in the SEC. After Saturday, road teams are 19-53 in conference play this season.

So, it's not all gloom and doom for the Vols, even after the rough weekend in Carolina.

UT's strength of schedule and RPI remain among the top 20 in the nation, an obvious good sign with NCAA Selection Sunday just three weeks away.

"We've just got to go back home and work on everything we did wrong (against the Gamecocks)," UT freshman Wayne Chism said.

The key word, music to the ears of Vol fans, is "home."

Junior guard Chris Lofton threw in some fairly simple advice for his freshman-laden teammates:

"Don't quit," he said. "We've got four more (regular-season) games left and we've got to win as many as we can because the committee will look at that.

"I think we're all going to try and put this game behind us. They're not getting any easier in the SEC."