Belated start for Crews

Crews, never one to doubt his own ability, said he can't wait for the challenge.

"Remember what I said when I first came here?'' Crews said. "I said I wanted to play in front of a sold-out crowd at Rupp Arena for Tennessee.''

The Vols (14-6, 2-3 SEC) will do just that as 8-point underdogs when they play the Wildcats (15-5, 4-2) in the CBS-televised game.

UT has dropped four of its last five games, and prior to last year's 75-67 win in Lexington, had lost eight in a row in the series and 27 of the past 28 games in Rupp.

Chris Lofton, who scored what was then a career-high 31 points to lift the Vols to the rare Rupp victory, is expected to miss is second consecutive game with a sprained right ankle.

Freshman guard Josh Tabb will make his first career start after an 11-point effort in a loss at Ole Miss on Wednesday. Tabb hit 3 of 5 3-point attempts against the Rebels and pulled down five rebounds.

It will be the sixth different starting lineup Pearl has used this season.

Crews had two points and four rebounds against Ole Miss. How much he plays today depends on his foul situation and effectiveness. Crews has played 15 and 14 minutes, respectively, in the past two games and failed to score in double figures in the past four.

"This is not going to last,'' said the 6-foot-7 Crews. "Mississippi State is one of the most physical teams in the SEC, and I played fine against them.

"I've just been pressing and thinking too much. I know what I'm capable of.''

So does UT coach Bruce Pearl, and that's why Crews won't enter the game until three minutes or so have elapsed.

"I'm going to take a little pressure off Duke,'' Pearl said. "He's so hard on himself, more than anybody, and foul trouble is in his head a little bit.

"He doesn't play the first three minutes, and he doesn't have any fouls, it's good for him. He's picked up early fouls in the past few games and it's really disrupted him.''

Morris, who's averaging 15.9 points and 7.8 rebounds, figures to do plenty of disrupting.

In fact, Kentucky has a bevy of talented players eager to wreak havoc on the struggling Vols. Wildcats coach Tubby Smith indicated Lofton's absence does nothing to lessen his team's intensity.

"Even without Lofton, they're still a very good team,'' Smith said. "Whether he plays or not, we'll prepare like we normally would.''

Pearl said it's no secret what it will take for the Vols to have success on the offense end: 3-point marksmanship.

"Not having Chris, you take away a huge weapon as far as the 3-pointer, because our offense is to spread, penetrate and pitch; inside-out basketball,'' Pearl said. "But that's still the way to beat Kentucky because we don't have that power inside game.

"How did Vanderbilt beat them? They made 11 threes.''

Defensively, Pearl said, UT might not press as much.

"Chris Lofton is one of the best transition players in the country, because you get the ball down the floor to him and he gets the shots off quick,'' Pearl said. "So for us to create more transition with pressure defense doesn't necessarily make as much sense because we're not as good in transition without Chris.

"It's all about match-ups.''