It was a busy time in San Antonio for Tennessee men’s basketball Thursday, even though the Vols weren’t able to advance to the Final Four.
UT All-American Chris Lofton finished second in the 3-point shootout and coach Bruce Pearl was presented with the Adolph Rupp national coach of the year award.
Lofton’s run for the 3-point shootout championship round started with a 19-17 head-to-head win over Vanderbilt’s Shan Foster.
With the field cut to four, Lofton led second-round scorers with 18 to advance to the championship round where LaSalle’s Darnell Harris bested him, 16-11.
“I can’t say I’m happy with second, I wanted to win,’’ Lofton said. “But it was fun. This is a great environment, I just wish I could have been playing in a game.’’
Lofton’s parents, Frank and Kathy, were in attendance.
UT athletic director Mike Hamilton said he has been proud to have Lofton represent the Vols for four years and was pleased to hear Pearl was honored.
“Bruce’s honor was well-deserved,’’ Hamilton said. “A lot of coaches did a good job this year, but for us to have what could be considered our best season ever, with 31 wins, a No. 1 ranking and our first SEC outright title in 41 years, it’s gratifying to see Bruce win the award.’’
Meanwhile, Pearl will do pregame analysis for CBS on Saturday for the Final Four.
Vanderbilt 93, Tennessee 79, Feb. 9…
Signing day celebration at Neyland…
Notre Dame beats Tennessee 72-44…
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 19
VolPride_13 writes:
Why would you post this before the thing even comes on?
Vol_In_Ohio writes:
That's very annoying if they haven't shown it yet. It wasn't on ESPN2 during the NIT championship, was it?
Any surprise movie endings for films that haven't come out we should know about?
nastyman writes:
Thanks alot.. Man I'm watching the thing right now!! Please print an apology.
ULTIMATEVOLUNTEER writes:
I think I saw Shan Foster throw a ball at that 2nd rack to move it!
sevenmaxims#354995 writes:
Pearl has now won National COY awards 2 of the 3 years he has been at Tennessee.
dvols writes:
usual choke job by lofton
jelyhupla writes:
dvols... you are an idiot. Where would UT be the last 4 years w/o Lofton? No SEC regular season, No 2 east championships, No 2 sweet sixteens. It is crazy how dumbarses like you can be critical of one of the best players in UT history.
jelyhupla writes:
Evidently you dont remember the Winthrop, Texas, and South Carolina games to name a few.
eb502us#225637 writes:
Think the UK fans are thrilled with the Rupp award?
VolJunkie writes:
Glad to see Lofton do well, had to be bittersweet, "This is a great environment, I just wish I could have been playing in a game.’", says it all.
The Rupp award for CBP is continuing validation of what CP has already accomplished. As fans we so much want to have already "arrived", we need to remember that CBP is only starting to get players that fit his system/style of play. This is still a program on the rise, we have a great group of players returning and an incredible class of freshmen coming in ... the best is yet to come.
HotlantaVol writes:
You guys crack me up. You are constantly complaining that KNS is too slow getting news out on this site with complaints like "ESPN posted this 3 hours ago" and "Fox Sports posted that yesterday". Now, when they are on top of their job, you complain about that as well.
Is it possible for any of you to post a comment that congratulates Lofton and Pearl without embedding the congratulations within a plethora of complaints about everything? UT Athletics should be a source of pride for all of us. Lots of schools would be thrilled to have the records, traditions and history we are fortunate enough to have. Enjoy it for once.
Congratulations Lofton and Pearl!! Way to represent the Vols!! Go Vols!!
elmdayoh writes:
I agree that you can't dis Lofton for anything. Nobody is perfect and he had his bad times but the GOOD out weighed the bad by a large percentage. Chris is a great player and great person. Hope he has a great future in whatever he wants to do.
One final thought as I watched replay of Louisville game last night... why was Steven Pearl in the game?? Where was Childress, Williams or Tabb? Was this just CBP gettin his sons name into the boxscore? He made some critical mistakes that could of gotten the Vols even at that time! I just didnt understand that move as well as the point guard thing. I always heard "You dance with the ones that brought you". Howell? R Smith?
TnKyFlAlGaScLaAkMi writes:
usual stupid comment by d(umb)vols
johnlg00#206211 writes:
elmdayoh, as for Steven Pearl being in the game when he was, IIRC, he was in for JaJuan, who had two fouls in the first half. Therefore, Childress or Williams would not have worked in that spot. Steve is a little bit bigger than Tabb, but I agree that he would have been a decent choice. Anyway, Steve had, IIRC, two rebounds and an assist while he was in, not a bad four minutes or so. He did get beat on one play that gave up a score, but he was certainly not alone in that regard. CBP has explained over and over why he made the change at point guard. He has also admitted that it didn't work as well as he had hoped. Continuing with your metaphor, the "ones that brought (us)" were missing the beat late in the season. Not every experiment works as one hopes, but sometimes they need to be tried anyway. I certainly agree with your comments about Chris.
Vol_In_Ohio writes:
They did run this article before it aired on ESPN. That kind of ruined it for me. Good to see CL grab 2nd place though.
VOLS85 writes:
Hey, he beat Shan Foster, that was worth it for me!
HotlantaVol writes:
KyScGa . . . speaking of dumb, if those are supposed to be the states of the SEC, you have two of them wrong.
AK is Alaska. AR is Arkansas.
MI is Michigan. MS is Mississippi.
Go back to wherever you are from. Your stupidity is more acceptable there I'm sure.
TommyJack writes:
HotlantaVol: With respect to KyScGa, you are, of course, correct. If you were calling him stupid re his remarks on Dvol, I disagree. That comment was dead-on.
MillisaAnn writes:
Congrats to Coach Pearl for winning the award and to Chris Lofton for coming in 2nd in the 3 point contest.
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