Lots of Bobble Heads : govolsxtra.com

A win is a win.

That said, Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl is the first to admit his team's 89-75 victory over Prairie View A&M was one of the more lackluster wins in recent UT history.

"That was kind of one of those nights,'' Pearl said after holding a lengthy post-game discussion with his seventh-ranked team. "There's not a whole lot that I can say that would be terrifically positive, other than to give Prairie View credit for a great effort and an inspired contest.

"It was a contest we could have lost.''

Tyler Smith led the Vols with 15 points and five steals, but the performances of others weren't so memorable: Ramar Smith was 0-for-12 from the free-throw line, Chris Lofton was 3-of-13 from the floor and JaJuan Smith was 2-of-12 shooting.

The crowd of 18,846 at Thompson-Boling Arena was left shaking their heads when the unheralded Panthers (1-2) took a 36-35 lead into halftime.

This would be the same Prairie View A&M team that lost a 104-48 contest to Oklahoma State just one week ago.

The Panthers jumped out to a 5-0 lead before the Vols reeled off the next seven points, capping the run on Tyler Smith's three-point play.

UT's lead lasted 62 seconds before Prairie View tied the game. The Panthers went back up on Johnny Cobb's transition bucket, making it 9-7 at the 15:57 mark.

The Panthers, paced by Aaron Smith's 21 points, held the lead for the rest of the half and went up by as many as six points.

"Obviously, we got jumped a little bit at halftime, or we might not have come out playing so much better,'' said Ryan Childress, who had 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting. "I think it was a lack of focus on our part. We need to be in control of the game, and tonight, I don't think we were.''

Pearl agreed.

"We play harder than our opponents almost every night; we didn't tonight,'' Pearl said. "Sometimes, and this isn't as much a criticism as a fact, you have those nights. Sometimes. They don't happen often.''

Prairie View out-shot the Vols from the floor (46.8-percent to 45.1-percent), the 3-point arc (11-of-23 to UT's 4-of-21) from the free-throw line (6-of-10 to the Vols' 21-of-47 effort), and they out-rebounded UT 48-43.

The Vols' saving grace was their defense; UT forced 30 turnovers.

The Vols opened the second half on a 6-0 run that included two steals and gave UT a 41-36 lead at the 18:24 mark.

The Vols gradually built the lead, in part because of an 11-2 run midway through the second half that included four forced turnovers.

"Give our guys credit, we took control with our second-half defense,'' Pearl said. "We shot 57-percent in the second half, and if we convert our free throws, the margin is more comfortable.''

Prairie View A&M coach Byron Rimm II said his team came to Knoxville intent on scoring an upset.

"We were not just happy to be here,'' Rimm II said. "We were determined to win, to cause one of the biggest upsets in the country. We really believe we can compete with any team in the nation.

"We had some writers who wrote we were the worst team in the nation, and that kind of fueled our fire.''

Indeed, and Tennessee almost got burned before pulling out its 19th consecutive home-court win.

The Vols play host to Middle Tennessee State at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday before concluding the StubHub Legends Classic with a 9 p.m. game against West Virginia Nov. 23 and then a match up with Texas or New Mexico State on Nov. 24.

Williams Down: UT freshman center Brian Williams went down with an injury with 12:48 left in the game and was helped off the floor.

Pearl said Williams banged knees with an opponent, and should be fine. Williams had his knee iced and did not return to action after the injury.

Orange Slices: UT had 19 steals, tied for third-most in team history … Childress' 14 points tied his career-high.

Lots of Bobble Heads

Another subpar effort has UT fans mystified after sloppy victory