East reruns await Vols

Mid-February means it's sequel time in SEC basketball. Tennessee hopes today's visit to Georgia is more on par with Godfather II than Caddyshack II.

The Vols' road to an SEC Eastern Division title is paved with rematches, the first a 3 p.m. tipoff (TV: WVLT) at Stegeman Coliseum.

UT (22-2, 9-1 SEC) will be trying to extend its winning streak over the Bulldogs (10-12, 3-6) to eight games. No. 7 was an 85-69 romp in Knoxville on Jan. 26.

The fourth-ranked Vols have six conference games remaining, five of them rematches against Eastern Division rivals.

"The hard thing about going through the second time," coach Bruce Pearl said, "is we put our game plan out there the first time we go.

"What we do the first time is what we think we have to do to beat the opponent, so they get a real good look at how we want to try to play."

So far, that hasn't been a terrible disadvantage.

In 2005-06, Pearl's first year at UT, the Vols went 5-0 the first time through the East and 4-1 in the rematches.

Last season, the Vols were only 2-3 at the turn and went 4-1 the second time through.

This year, Tennessee went 4-1 through the first half, losing only at Kentucky.

The win over Georgia might have given the Bulldogs a blueprint for how the Vols play, but Georgia is even more depleted today.

Billy Humphrey, the second-leading scorer at 13.1 points a game, is serving the third of a three-game suspension.

The Bulldogs didn't miss Humphrey on Wednesday in an 82-64 romp over South Carolina. However, being down even by one body could be a problem against Tennessee's depth and will to push the tempo.

"Recently we're down to seven scholarship guys," said coach Dennis Felton, "and yet we've still competed and played well enough to give ourselves a chance to win every game.

"We have nothing but fight left in us."

And, apparently, nothing but zone defense. Felton, who prefers man-to-man, has played almost exclusively zone without Humphrey.

"Are they going to zone Chris Lofton and JaJuan Smith?" Pearl asked. "That's pretty hard.

"They might try a triangle-and-two or a box-and-one. You've got to go through all the scenarios in your mind and be prepared to handle whatever they throw at you."

Warning to anyone who would zone the Vols: Lofton and JaJuan Smith are only the second SEC tandem to play together with 200 or more career 3-point baskets each. Lofton has 392, Smith 225.

The 1991-92 Arkansas team had Todd Day with 226 and Lee Mayberry with 218.

Smith is fresh off a 32-point outburst against Arkansas in which he was 6-of-6 from 3-point range, thwarting the Razorbacks' plan of shadowing Lofton.

"Whoever's night it is that night," said Smith, "we just praise 'em and try to get 'em the ball and hope he puts us on his shoulders and reels us in."

About Georgia: The win over South Carolina snapped a five-game losing streak, one that included Georgia's only two home losses this season, to Kentucky and Vanderbilt. The Bulldogs are 11-2 in Stegeman.

The game is listed as a sellout (by UT) but that includes several busloads of Tennessee fans. Georgia listed attendance against South Carolina as 6,897 and a university release described the crowd as "raucous." The State newspaper of Columbia, however, described the crowd as "lifeless," and estimated the crowd as much smaller than the official figure.

The MVP: Sundiata Gaines, Georgia's senior guard, has scored 32 and 27 points, respectively, in his past two outings. He is the only Bulldog in history with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 400 assists and is also the school's career steals leader.

JaJuan Smith will head up the defensive posse on Gaines.

"He does it all," said Smith. "He's everywhere on the floor. He's the MVP.

"We know he'll get his and we're just going to try keep him under control and make the other guys make plays."