A look at important dates for Thompson-Boling Arena.

April 19, 1979: First proposal for a UT sports arena near Civic Coliseum.

April, 1982: B. Ray Thompson donates $5 million and UT Board of Trustees approves $30 million project.

Nov. 2, 1983: Groundbreaking ceremony at present site near Tennessee River.

May 15, 1985: Construction worker Paul Dalton killed at work site.

Dec. 3, 1987: Arena opens with Vols-Lady Vols doubleheader. UT's Dawn Marsh scores first basket in 102-59 Lady Vols' victory against Stetson. Crowd of 25,272 sees Clarence Swearengen score first men's basket during 82-56 romp past Marquette.

Dec. 9, 1987: Record women's crowd of 24,563 watches Tennessee take on Texas.

Oct. 18, 1988: Michael Jordan scores 25 points for Chicago during an exhibition game versus Seattle in front of 17,327.

Jan. 21, 1989: Attendance record set when 25,610 see Kentucky beat UT 66-65.

March 1989: Thompson-Boling hosts SEC men's tournament. UT loses to Florida 76-71 in semifinals; Don DeVoe's final home game as coach. Alabama defeats Gators 72-60 in championship.

Nov. 28, 1989: Wade Houston's first game at home as UT coach ends in an 83-70 loss to ETSU.

March 15-17, 1990: UT hosts NCAA Regional. Michigan State advances with 62-58 victory against UCSB, and Georgia Tech (led by Dennis Scott and Kenny Anderson) rallies from 17 down to beat LSU (led by Shaquille O'Neal and Chris Jackson).

March 30, 1990: Women's final four draws 19,467 for semifinals.

April, 1, 1990: Oak Ridge's Jennifer Azzi named Most Outstanding player as Stanford beats Auburn 88-81 for NCAA Women's title.

Feb. 10, 1990: One of the most memorable games to ever take place in arena. LSU gets arena-high 49 points from Chris Jackson and UT gets 43 points from Allan Houston in a 119-113 LSU victory. Crowd of 20,128 saw Shaquille O'Neal add 17 points for LSU and Greg Bell 31 for UT.

March 18, 1992: 4,810 see UT beat UAB 71-68 in NIT game.

March 24-26, 1993: NCAA Southeast Regional returns to Thompson-Boling. Michigan beats Kansas led by 44 points from Glenn Robinson, and Duke defeats Marquette — coached by soon-to-be Vols coach Kevin O'Neill.

Nov. 27, 1994: O'Neill makes UT debut with 74-54 victory against Tennessee Tech.

Feb. 17, 1996: Kentucky hands UT its worst Thompson-Boling Arena loss, 90-50.

Feb. 25, 1997: Kentucky beats UT 74-64 in O'Neill's final home game as coach.

Nov. 14, 1998: Jerry Green era begins with 75-62 victory against Winthrop.

Feb. 28, 1999: UT beats Kentucky 68-61 en route to SEC East title.

Feb. 23, 2000: UT makes it back-to-back victories against Kentucky at Thompson-Boling, winning 74-67 en route to a 26-7 season and NCAA Sweet 16.

February 2001: UT loses three consecutive SEC games as the Green era begins to come to an end.

Nov. 16, 2001: Buzz Peterson era begins with 72-63 victory against Tennessee Tech.

March 18, 2003: Vols lose NIT home game 70-60 to Georgetown.

March 5, 2005: Vols defeat South Carolina 63-56 in what proves to be Peterson's final home game.

March 28, 2005: Bruce Pearl named UT coach in ceremony at midcourt.

Nov. 18, 2005: UT gives Pearl a memorable debut with a 106-83 victory against ETSU.

Jan. 21, 2006: UT beats eventual national champion Florida 80-76. Crowd of 24,011 watches Chris Lofton score 29 points.

Dec. 23, 2006: UT defeats Texas 111-105 in overtime thriller seen by 20,778.

Feb. 27, 2007: UT again beats eventual national champion Florida, 86-76, to post its first undefeated season (16-0) at the arena.

March 2007: Work begins on $20 million Phase One renovation project. Thompson-Boling seating capacity reduced to 21,678 with 32 new luxury suites, new-look black seats and a center-hanging scoreboard.

Nov. 2, 2007: Vols open 2007-08 with an exhibition game against California (Pa.).

Thompson-Boling Arena Records

Most individual points: UT-43 by Allan Houston (2/10/90); Opp-49 by Chris Jackson of LSU (2/10/90)

Most made field goals: UT-15 by Dyron Nix (11/25/88); Opp-17 by Gary Payton of Oregon State (12/10/89)

Most individual 3-pointers: UT-8 by Allan Houston vs. Fordham (12/29/89); Opp-10 by LSU's Chris Jackson (2/10/90).

Most individual rebounds: UT-20 by Dyron Nix vs. UTC (12/3/88); Opp-21 by Kelly Wise of Memphis (12/5/00)

Most team points: UT-118 vs. Tennessee Tech (11/25/88); Opp.-119 by LSU (2/10/90)

© 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.