No time for UT to worry minus Lofton

Then a Thompson-Boling Arena crowd of 23,238 got really quiet, real quick.

The clock showed 18 minutes, 11 seconds remaining in the second half.

The scoreboard showed Tennessee holding a 37-27 lead against South Carolina.

The JumboTron showed No. 5 in white rolling on the floor, clutching at his right ankle in obvious pain.

Tennessee star guard Chris Lofton was hurting and his UT teammates were worried.

"I got nervous," junior guard JaJuan Smith said of his reaction to seeing Lofton on the floor. "I went up to him and asked him if he’s all right and he said, ‘Yeah, I’m just going to go out for a few minutes.’

"That gave us a lot of confidence and we just fought through it."

Depending on the extent of Lofton’s injury, the Vols’ could be doing a lot of that in the coming weeks.

Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl didn’t have time to worry about Lofton during a game UT eventually held on to win, 64-61.

The worry came later for Pearl.

"You really need at least 24 hours to get a decent exam," Pearl said of Lofton’s prognosis. "It is swollen and it swelled up pretty good after it came out of the boot. It’s an ankle sprain."

Sprain, not break: That was the good news.

The bad news was Lofton had to be carried off the court by teammates Jordan Howell and Ryan Childress.

After a short stay on the end of the bench being examined by trainer Chad Newman, Lofton left for the dressing room and didn’t return.

He’s scheduled for precautionary X-rays on Monday morning and is listed as "out indefinitely" according to a UT post-game release.

"Now is when I’ll start to worry whether he’ll be ready to play on Wednesday (at Ole Miss), or at Kentucky (Jan. 28), which is obviously a game that matters to him," Pearl said of the Maysville, Ky., native.

"Chris’ team rallied around him. Look at all the guys who had to step up and make plays."

Against the Gamecocks, Lofton was held scoreless for 10 minutes in the first half.

The SEC’s leading scorer (21.5 points per game) came out with a different look in his eyes the second half, scoring UT’s first two baskets on a drive in the lane and a tip-in.

"I’m just so sorry he turned his ankle, or whatever the status is of his injury," South Carolina coach Dave Odom said. "I truly hope he’s OK. I don’t like to see anybody hurt, particularly players who affect the game and he’s exceptional.

"Every possession they have the basketball, he has to be accounted for."

In Lofton’s absence, the onus falls on a possible guard rotation of JaJuan Smith, Jordan Howell, Dane Bradshaw and Josh Tabb to go with Ramar Smith at the point.

JaJuan Smith had a team-high 21 points in Lofton’s absence. Tabb played 28 minutes and hit a clutch 3-pointer with 4:44 remaining.

Howell, still playing with a soft cast on his right hand, added three points and an assist.

"I think getting Jordan Howell back tonight was very significant," Pearl said. "Jordan played 16 minutes and he was just solid.

"Without his 16 minutes without Chris, we might have been even more challenged."

Now Pearl gets ready for the unknown.

"We’re going to have to prepare for Ole Miss with or without Chris and have those scenarios available," he said. "I’ve got a lot to think about as far as our rotations are concerned."

Freshman Wayne Chism was one UT player who didn’t seem too worried about Lofton.

"Without Chris in the game, sometimes we play pretty well," Chism said. "It’s no big difference if he’s in or out."

Stay tuned.