Crews returns, so does Lofton's shooting touch

Tennessee basketball fans welcomed back two players Saturday night - a healthy Duke Crews, and the old Chris Lofton.

Crews, who missed nine games with a heart ailment, received a standing ovation when he entered the game with 14:13 to play in the first half at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Lofton, who has struggled through a shooting slump for much of the season, received the second-largest ovation of the night when he made his first two 3-pointers in UT's 85-69 victory over Georgia.

Lofton was happy to be upstaged by his teammate's entrance.

"I'm just so glad for Duke," Lofton said. "I was probably happier than he was when he went in there."

Crews was pretty happy himself when coach Bruce Pearl called his number for the first time since Dec. 4.

"I tried to get to the scorer's table as fast as I could," Crews said with a smile. "I tried to take a short-cut, but it's nothing but a straight shot.

"Part of me wanted to go out there and just go crazy, try to guard all five players at once. But that would just be another reason for Coach to yell. So I just went out there and let the game come to me."

Crews missed playing so much, he even welcomed Pearl's criticism from the bench.

"When I was out on the floor, I was a regular guy again," he said. "(Pearl) is saying, 'rebound, defense, get back on defense - all that stuff.' It felt good to have him on me again."

Crew made more than a cameo appearance. He had nine points and eight rebounds in only 14 minutes.

"He gives us some physicality, and we needed that," Pearl said.

Crews also provides a reminder to his teammates, who have his number, 32, written on their shoes.

"They can keep (the number on their shoes) until they get new ones," Crews said. "It makes us all go harder, because you really don't know when this will be taken away from you. That can be a reminder for them as well as me."

Lofton offered another reminder. When he's shooting the way he did in the first half against Georgia, it puts tremendous pressure on a defense and sets up other options for the offense.

"It opens up a lot of things," said Tyler Smith, who made seven of nine field-goal attempts and scored 17 points. "It opens up a lot of drives because Chris' man is not going to leave him at all."

Lofton snapped out of his 3-point shooting slump two games ago when he went 4-for-10 against Ohio State a week ago, then followed that up with 5-for-10 shooting in Tuesday night's loss at Kentucky.

But he was more aggressive and accurate in his shooting against the Bulldogs. He made more than 50 percent of his 3-point tries (7-for-13) for the second time this season and finished with a game-high 27 points.

"He wanted the ball and was hunting the ball," Pearl said. "He was looking to improve his angles."

Lofton credited the fans with their support, saying how confident he felt when he hit his first two 3s and the crowd responded with such a roar each time.

Post-Game Proposal: The excitement didn't end with the game Saturday night. UT junior forward Ryan Childress saw to that.

Childress asked his girlfriend, Lauren Clabough, to marry him. She happily accepted the proposal, which was made in front of the UT bench.

Clabough graduated from UT's nursing school last spring. She now works as a case manager for East Tennessee Personal Care Service.

Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knews.com.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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