The injuries, slumps, attrition and spurts of freshmanitis have passed.

The Tennessee men's basketball team says it's heading to Columbus, Ohio, for its first-round NCAA tournament game with Long Beach State ready to play.

"We've had all our bumps and bruises and put all that behind us,'' senior Dane Bradshaw said. "I think we're focused.''

The No. 25 Vols (22-10) tip off against the Big West tournament champion 49ers (24-7) at approximately 2:45 p.m. Friday (TV: WVLT) in a South Regional game.

"We look at this as a four-team tournament,'' UT coach Bruce Pearl said. "If you break it down like that, it's not so overwhelming.''

There were times this season when it appeared the Vols' chances to make the NCAA tournament were underwhelming.

The first challenge came before the season started, when 6-foot-10 senior-to-be Major Wingate was dismissed from the team after failing multiple drug tests.

The next thing that happened was Bradshaw's struggles to deal with his shoulder tendinitis and Jordan Howell breaking a bone in his hand -- on two occasions, in October and December.

Then, UT's freshmen had their struggles.

• Ramar Smith's late enrollment and early season heavy turnover ratio at point guard.

• Freshman guard Marques Johnson announcing his transfer to North Carolina State after fall term.

• Wayne Chism learning to control his emotions after leaving the bench during the Vanderbilt game in Nashville.

• Duke Crews' SEC season slump, which saw him drop from a double-figure scoring average to 7.1 points in SEC play.

The most threatening dagger was the final one, when Chris Lofton suffered a sprained ankle against South Carolina on Jan. 20 and the Vols were forced to play four games without him, going 1-3 and falling to 2-4 in SEC play.

"I remember when we were 2-4 in the SEC and there were some doubts, but we hung in there together,'' Lofton said. "It's win or go home now.''

Crews said UT fans needn't worry about the freshmen getting a case of stage fright.

"This is a new season; our freshman year is over,'' Crews said. "We (freshman class) came here to make history, and we're all sick about what happened in Atlanta.

"We want our class to be known for something special.''

Crews said the freshmen don't feel like they were paid their fair due by the national media.

"Not to take anything away from Texas, but they (analysts) are talking about them winning a national championship and some people are writing us off in the first round,'' Crews said. "We beat Texas, we played Ohio State within a basket and we scored 52 points on North Carolina in the second half.

"But we're not promised and extra game. We have to earn it, and I know I'm not ready to go home.''

Bradshaw said the freshmen and his teammates can learn from the first-round SEC tournament loss to LSU, so long as they're not consumed by it.

"That loss could be good in the long run if we learn from it,'' Bradshaw said. "But heading into that game we'd won seven of eight and were one of the hottest teams in the country.

"We can't led one bad shooting night affect our confidence.''

This year's Vols have been through too much together for that to happen.