Childress handles dirty work

"There can't be any pacing yourself,'' Tennessee's sophomore forward said Thursday.

"You just never know how many minutes you're going to play so you just play as hard as you can.''

Here's a UT basketball trend-watchers alert:

Childress logged 23 minutes Wednesday night in UT's 69-66 overtime win against Alabama. That's a career-high for SEC games.

Dane Bradshaw played 21 minutes, his fewest this season except for the Dec. 1 Murray State game in which he was in foul trouble.

"The fact is that Ryan has played consistently well,'' coach Bruce Pearl said Thursday as the Vols (19-9, 7-6 SEC) prepare Saturday's 1 p.m. visit to Arkansas (16-11, 5-8).

"We keep a plus-minus chart and Ryan's numbers have been terrific. So, by design, we wanted Ryan in there a little bit more because of what he's doing defensively and rebounding.''

Bradshaw, the senior starter, continues to struggle with his scoring. By this point, 28 games into the season, there is little difference between Childress' numbers and Bradshaw's.

Bradshaw is averaging 5.6 points and 4.1 rebounds; Childress averages 5.3 points and 3.9 rebounds.

But don't get the idea Childress is impatient to nudge Bradshaw out of the lineup. He, along with everybody else, is rooting for Bradshaw to pull out of his shooting slump.

"Everybody goes through their little spurts of up and down,'' Childress said.

"A normal layup you take for granted, then you look up and it rims out. That's just how it goes sometime.''

Like Bradshaw, Childress ranks scoring several rungs down on his to-do list.

Where Bradshaw contributes assists, the 6-foot-9 Childress gives the Vols more size.

"The so-called dirty work is more my responsibility,'' he said.

"Hit the boards, take the charge, make the extra pass, set a good screen, get the loose balls.''

Growing up in Loveland, Ohio, (outside Cincinnati) Childress never dreamed of doing his dirty work in Knoxville.

He was headed to Wisconsin-Milwaukee until Pearl changed jobs. All of a sudden his future was up in the air.

He talked to Cincinnati and scheduled a visit to DePaul. But when Pearl offered to bring him to Tennessee, it was a done deal.

Childress said he's never second-guessed the detour, even though he might be starting at UWM.

"In the end, what's that going to get you as far as experience and the type of competition you go up against?'' Childress said.

"Here, I get pushed every day to get better. That's what I love about it. It's such a great challenge for me, yet I'm able to have some success along the way.''

Speaking of success along the way, the Vols could use a dose Saturday at Arkansas in the form of their first SEC road win of the season.

"We know that's imperative right now,'' said Childress. "We don't want to put it off until Georgia.''