No dunking zone created by Vols

Commercial Appeal

Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl screams at his team during first half action against Memphis.

MEMPHIS - You could call the Tennessee defensive scheme that gave Memphis the blues Saturday night "The Perfect 10.''

The Vols' ability to execute coach Bruce Pearl's plan will lead to the school's first No. 1 ranking ever this afternoon when the top 25 polls come out.

"We're not celebrating anything, and we're not going to,'' Pearl said. "Our fans met us last night when we returned and we appreciate that.''

More than 500 staged a spontaneous celebration at 2:30 a.m. Sunday at Thompson-Boling Arena when the Vols got back from their 66-62 win.

"It was nice,'' Pearl said, "but we came to practice today (Sunday), watched film on Vanderbilt, and we moved on.''

Tennessee (25-2, 11-1 SEC) plays the Commodores (23-4, 8-4) in Nashville at 9 p.m. (TV: ESPN) Tuesday.

But before the Vols' fan base moves on, it's worth a closer look at how UT tamed the previously unbeaten Tigers.

Pearl said the Vols' philosophy was the same as it had been in the past two meetings with the Tigers.

"If you allow them to get to the rim, they are going to beat you,'' Pearl said. "They run a very unique offense that requires a unique defensive game plan.''

So the Vols' employed a collapsing man-to-man defense in limiting Memphis (26-1) to eight baskets in the paint, a season-low 27 second-half points, and as far as anyone can remember, no dunks.

"We call that our '10' defense,'' said UT assistant Jason Shay, who did the scouting report on No. 1-ranked and previously unbeaten Memphis. "You get in the gaps and shrink the court.''

Associate head coach Tony Jones gave his take on the 10.

"It's a packed-in man defense,'' Jones said. "We use backside help to deter drives to the basket.''

The result was the Tigers settling for shots on the perimeter. Early on, Memphis was rolling, hitting seven of its first 11 attempts from beyond the 3-point arc.

Pearl told his team at halftime the Tigers couldn't keep hitting at that clip - and they didn't - making only one of their final 16 treys, none in the second half.

"We'll be fine,'' Pearl calmly told UT athletic director Mike Hamilton after he came out of the locker room for the second half. "We're trying to be patient on offense; we just need to make plays.''

The Vols' offense did just that, with Tyler Smith, Wayne Chism and J.P. Prince hitting clutch baskets along the way.

In the meantime, Memphis coach John Calipari could not solve UT's amoeba-like defense.

"It acted like a zone, because you have to have more than one guy guarding the ball,'' Pearl said. "You let (Derrick) Rose or (Chris) Douglas-Roberts take it one-on-one, you don't have a chance.''

Rose found a soft spot in the scheme, and nailed four jumpers in the baseline area in the second half.

But most importantly, the Tigers failed to penetrate with dribble-drives and get a dunk that would have ignited a fading FedExForum crowd.

"That's what we meant when we talked about building a wall,'' Pearl said. "You just have to really rally to the ball when they try to penetrate.''

UT All-American Chris Lofton said it wasn't the first time the Vols had used the 10.

"We kind of used it against Auburn, with them spreading the floor, and it worked out well for us,'' Lofton said. "There were pretty much three people guarding the ball.''

Late Night With Wayne: West Tennessee products J.P. Prince and Wayne Chism roomed together on the Memphis trip.

"We laid in our beds and sat up talking about the game (Friday night),'' Chism said. "We said we couldn't leave this town with people saying we hadn't done anything.

"Well, me and J.P. were pretty much silent in the first half, so in the second half we knew we had to show up.''

Prince, from Memphis, had all 13 of his points in the second half and five of his eight rebounds.

Chism, from Bolivar, hit two key 3-pointers in the second half and blocked a Joey Dorsey shot.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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