Tennessee All-American Chris Lofton has been a man of few words throughout the majority of his career.

When Lofton chooses to speak, however, he doesn't mince words.

That was the case following the seventh-ranked Vols' (3-0) lackluster 89-75 men's basketball victory over Prairie View A&M on Friday night.

"We're not the top-10 team we're ranked to be,'' Lofton said. "We're beatable right now.''

Lofton said there was no good reason the Panthers (1-2) were able to stay with UT much of Friday night's game.

"We can make all the excuses we want, but we weren't ready to play,'' Lofton said. "They came out with passion, and we came out lackadaisical. We've been blowing people out by 40, and I think we underestimated this team tonight.''

Vols' coach Bruce Pearl said he expects Lofton and his teammates to get their act together.

"They will talk about this a lot, amongst themselves,'' Pearl said. "We won't get beat for a while because we're not ready to play.''

The Panthers (1-2) out-shot the Vols from the floor, the 3-point arc, free-throw line and out-rebounded UT.

Lofton, who's mired in a 6-of-28 shooting slump (3-of-17 beyond the arc), said he was as responsible as anyone.

"Personally, I'm not happy because I haven't been playing good,'' Lofton said. "The good thing is the team is winning. That's the thing about this team, someone else will pick you up, and Tyler (Smith) did that tonight (Friday).

"I just want to be playing better. I'm never satisfied with how I play, anyway, so I'm trying to shake this off.''

Aside from his shooting, Lofton hasn't played bad.

Through three games, Lofton has nine assists and three turnovers and he has hit 14 of 16 attempts from the free-throw line.

Still, Lofton said he doesn't take any satisfaction in making one of five Sports Illustrated regional covers.

"It's great for the school,'' Lofton said, "but I really don't deserve it.''

The Vols will head to Newark, N.J., later this week for a Friday night game against West Virginia and then a Saturday night game against Texas or New Mexico State.

So how does Lofton feel about UT's chances against some big-name opponents?

"We're not looking past Middle Tennessee State,'' said Lofton, referring to the Vols' 7:30 p.m. Tuesday home game. "They gave us a run for our money last year.''

Pearl gave the Vols an earful in a lengthy post-game talk after Friday night's game.

Lofton said there's only so much Pearl can do.

"Coach is pushing us,'' he said, "but he can only coach us and put us in the right places.

"It's going to be up to us.''

Fever Pitch: Pearl, like Lofton, praised sophomore transfer Tyler Smith for his 15-point performance, which included five steals.

"Tyler did a really nice job for us,'' Pearl said, "and he was playing with a fever.''

Tyler Smith is the Vols' leading scorer through three games with 39 points. JaJuan Smith is second with 37 points and Ramar Smith is third with 36 points. Lofton has 29 points.

Ramar's Throws: Pearl said point guard Ramar Smith just needs to get his mind right after his embarrassing 0-for-12 performance from the free-throw line against Prairie View A&M.

"Free-throw shooting is very mental,'' Pearl said. "I don't know if we were as ready to play as we needed to be.

"The fact (Ramar) got to the foul line 12 times is a really good sign.''

Ramar Smith is the only Vol to score in double figures in each of UT's first three regular-season games.

© 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.