Work on power moves at Pratt pays off bigtime

There are 12 baskets in the Pratt Pavilion, Tennessee’s sparkling new basketball practice facility. The Vols used every one of them the past few days to get better in the paint.

It paid off Wednesday night, as Tennessee’s big men delivered in a big way in a 93-71 SEC victory over Arkansas at Thompson-Boling Arena.

“We used all 12 baskets,’’ said UT coach Bruce Pearl, “and that’s all we did for 20 minutes, power moves.’’

Wayne Chism’s 15 points combined with a Duke Crews double-double — 11 points, 11 rebounds — to give the Vols plenty of presence around the basket against the physically imposing Razorbacks.

Chism was 4-of-7 overall, 3-of-4 on close-in shots. Crews was 4-of-5 from the field.

“Coach said we had to do a lot of power moves, and that’s what I did,’’ said Chism. “And they went in.’’

The Vols also rallied late to win the battle of the boards, 38-36, for the sixth consecutive game — against an Arkansas team that ranked No. 2 in the SEC in rebounding margin.

“Duke and Wayne and Tyler (Smith) and Brian (Williams), those guys have manned up a little bit,’’ said Pearl.

“They have to for us to beat the best teams on our schedule.’’

Crews’ double-double was the fourth of his career and first this season. It came in his sixth game since returning from a precautionary month’s layoff following a heart test.

“He’s back,’’ said Chism. “That’s Duke Crews.’’

Crews hopes he stays back. He appreciates that Tennessee can’t be one-dimensional.

“It’s a team effort,’’ he said. “Guys like JaJuan (Smith) and Chris (Lofton), as well as Tyler, they’re filling up a stat sheet. We’ve got to do our end.

“Rebounding was one of the things we had struggled with at times so we had to step it up.’’

The 11 rebounds tied Crews’ career high.

“I’m not calling ‘em out,’’ said Pearl. “I’m challenging them. They know what my expectations are.’’

Hopes Dashed: Arkansas coach John Pelphrey was relieved to be down only 43-38 at the half. The Vols, however, outscored the Razorbacks 11-1 to start the second half.

“I was surprised to only be down five points at halftime,’’ said Pelphrey, “and got optimistic.

“But certainly, Tennessee played better in the second half. … They just made some plays there and kind of just widened it out.

“They are good. There is a reason why they’re 22-2.’’

Line Up: One game after going 4-of-15 at the free-throw line at LSU, Tennessee hit 27 of 37 attempts for 73 percent.

The Vols hit their first 11 attempts and finished the half at 14-of-17. They started the second half with a streak of six before missing.

Chism, 44.9 percent on the year, was 6-of-7.

“I’m very happy for myself,’’ he said.

Childress Chilled: Ryan Childress didn’t dress because of the flu-like symptoms that have been sweeping through East Tennessee.

Pearl said Crews has shown some indications of being the next victim but played through it.

JaJuan Smith and Jordan Howell played sick at LSU last Saturday.

UT Notes: J.P. Prince was scoreless for the first time in his 15 games as a Vol. … Josh Tabb had a tip-in, his first field goal since the South Carolina game on Jan. 12. … UT is 5-0 against the Western Division with only a home game against Auburn remaining. … The Vols lead the Arkansas series 13-11. It’s their fewest games against any SEC opponent.

Arkansas Notes: Arkansas, which came into the game with 120 blocked shots, added only two against the Vols. … The Razorbacks were riding a four-game winning streak.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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