Strange: UT's life in SEC goes on without top gun

Dennis Felton testifies that "you can do all the right things and he can still pull a rabbit out of his hat and beat you.''

Unfortunately for Tennessee, Lofton won't be taking over any games or pulling any rabbits out of his hat until his sprained ankle heals.

Life goes on in SEC basketball this week and the coaches agree the Vols are in for a major adjustment while the SEC's leading scorer is on the shelf.

"It takes the guy away from them that can just absolutely change the face of the game,'' Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said Monday.

"They'll depend on their press a little more and on their defense a little more.

"They've got other good players. It still won't be easy when you play them.''

Georgia's Felton doesn't understate Lofton's importance to Tennessee.

"There's no doubt,'' Felton said, "he is the single biggest reason for the success they've had. Not the only reason, but the single biggest reason.''

South Carolina's Odom got the first look at UT sans Lofton. He was out the final 18 minutes of the Vols' 64-61 win on Saturday.

"You just hate to see players get hurt,'' Odom said, "particularly great players who have an effect on their team and the league race.''

Lofton's effect on the race is anyone's guess. His effect on Tennessee is that he's the first Vol to notch five 30-point-plus outings in a season since Allan Houston in 1991-92.

"He gets 23 a night and everybody knows he's going to get them,'' said Auburn's Jeff Lebo, "and that's going to be hard to recover from.

"It's a lot different than football. In basketball, one injury or one new guy coming in can make a big difference or hurt you.''

Lofton's absence will likely last a couple of weeks. It's almost certain he won't play Wednesday at Ole Miss.

"I think guys can rally and raise their level,'' said first-year Rebels coach Andy Kennedy.

"The long-term is what you worry about, when reality sets in. For us, there's no question they'll come in with renewed energy.''

Kennedy is new to the league but no stranger to Lofton. He was an assistant coach at Cincinnati, one of the schools that recruited Lofton in Maysville, Ky.

"To see how he has evolved as a player is a tribute to Chris and his hard work and to coach (Bruce) Pearl and his staff,'' Kennedy said.

"You hate to see a kid who's worked so hard to put himself in position to have the type year he's having sustain an injury. Hopefully, he'll be back sooner rather than later.''

Wild West: The SEC West is shaping up as a brawl. Aside from Ole Miss (1-4) everybody is either 2-2 or 2-3.

Why no separation? While the Eastern Division has produced five road wins, West teams are 0-14 away from home.

"If we don't have somebody go on the road and win, it's going to be a bunch of eight-and-eights,'' said Mississippi State's Rick Stansbury. "Everybody's good at home.''

Slow Starts: Had Alabama coach Mark Gottfried ever seen anything like his team falling behind 18-2 to Georgia on Saturday?

You bet. The Crimson Tide trailed Arkansas 20-2 on Jan. 6.

The difference was Alabama lost 88-61 at Arkansas, but rallied to win 78-76 over Georgia on Ron Steele's basket at the buzzer.

"You get some energy from the crowd at home that you don't get on the road,'' Gottfried said.

"It (Georgia) was unbelievable. They were pulling up behind the 3-point line and knocking down shot after shot like it was Jerry West out there.''

Weekly Honors: Derrick Byars of Vandy is the SEC player of the week after averaging 19.0 points in wins over Alabama and Kentucky.

Barry Stewart of Mississippi State and Shelbyville, Tenn., is the freshman of the week for scoring 22 points against Auburn.

"Barry Stewart just finds ways to get things done because he's so smart,'' said Stansbury. "When he adds more strength to that frame he is going to be a terrific player.''

Rupp Busters: Vanderbilt has won consecutive trips to Rupp Arena but Stallings said he hasn't broken any secret code on how to beat Kentucky on its home court.

"I'm still the owner of that 62-point loss (106-44) we suffered four years ago,'' Stallings said. "We'd have to win a lot of games to make up that differential.''

Most Improved: All of a sudden Arkansas 7-footer Steven Hill is a threat at both ends of the court.

A prolific shot-blocker, the junior had never scored more than six points in an SEC game until two weeks ago. He's gone for eight, 15 and 16 in his past three games, hitting 20 of his past 22 shots.

"Most of them are dunks,'' Hill told the Northwest Arkansas Times. "I would hope I could hit 20 or 22 dunks.''

Odds & Ends: Official Tom Lopes had an exciting week. He teed up UT's Pearl at Auburn on Wednesday when Pearl protested the controversial timeout awarded to the Tigers with 21 seconds to play. Saturday, Lopes blew the whistle (erroneously, it turned out) on a controversial shot-clock violation against Georgia that gave Alabama possession to make its game-winning basket. Mississippi State plans to remodel Humphrey Coliseum and build a practice facility. "You've got to keep up with the Joneses,'' said Stansbury.

Mike Strange may be reached at 865-342-6276 or strange2@knews.com.