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A two-on-two game and a one-on-one with Tennessee men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl led to senior Jordan Howell's breakout of a shooting slump against Florida.

The previous 10 contests, Howell had hit 6 of 37 shots (.162), including 5 of 31 (.161) beyond the 3-point line. Howell was also 4 of 10 from the free-throw line.

But against the Gators, Howell connected on 2 of 3 shots and played 18 minutes of solid defense in the Vols' SEC title-clinching 89-86 victory Wednesday night.

"It was great for Jordan to bounce back, and it was what we needed as a team,'' Pearl said. "Both he and J.P. (Prince) played awfully well off the bench to keep us in the game at Florida.''

Howell is expected to be back in the rotation when UT plays host to South Carolina at 2 p.m. Sunday (TV: WVLT) in its regular- season finale.

Howell, who was dropped from the 10-man rotation after a 0-for-2, 0 assist performance at Vanderbilt on Feb. 26 and played just five minutes against Kentucky last Saturday, initiated a meeting with Pearl on Monday.

"I went to his office and told him that I knew I was in a slump, but I'd do whatever I could to help this team because I've probably only got one month left in my basketball career,'' Howell said. "Coach Pearl told me it wasn't about taking more shots in practice, it was about my mindset when I was shooting, and that I was putting too much pressure on myself.''

Pearl told Howell it was written all over his body, and that he had to find the courage to break out of his shooting slump, like Chris Lofton had done earlier in the season, because the team needed him.

"He told me at the beginning of the year I was just catching and shooting, and not really thinking about it,'' Howell said. "He was right. Starting with the Alabama game, when I had all those friends and relatives, I started pressing. Then after that bad game, I was pressing even more to shoot my way out of it.''

On Wednesday, Howell had another epiphany.

"Before we left for Florida we were shooting around, and this guy came up to me with his two little kids,'' Howell said. "They had a poster they wanted me to sign, and they told me I was their favorite player. I was thinking to myself, 'Why am I their favorite? They must not have seen me play lately.' ''

Howell later learned that the children's mother had died, and the father was raising them alone.

"I'm pushing so hard to make a basket, and these little kids are growing up without their mom,'' Howell said. "It was a reminder that there are a lot bigger things in life. It put things in perspective.''

Lofton and Howell, with his newfound perspective, proceeded to play a 2-on-2 game with the children.

"I had also talked to Chris about my slump,'' Howell said. "But he played the friend card. I'd talk to him about the slump, and he'd say, 'I'm in a worse slump. I'm playing horrible,'

"He said that after he scored 20 points, and here I hadn't hit a shot in four games.''

Howell said Lofton found another way to help.

"One night I was shooting, and he came down and rebounded and passed the ball out to me for 45 minutes,'' Howell said. "I told him he could go shoot, but he wouldn't leave.''

Lofton and Howell were the last two players to leave the Pratt Practice Pavilion following Friday's practice.

This time, both of them were shooting.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.