ATLANTA - Bruce Pearl has as much respect for history as the next guy.

That said, the Tennessee men's basketball coach is anxious to change the Vols' trend in the SEC tournament this weekend.

The No. 4 Vols (28-3, 14-2 SEC) will play at 1 p.m. Friday in the Georgia Dome against the winner of today's 1 p.m. game between South Carolina (13-17, 5-11) and LSU (13-17, 6-10).

For UT to break its three-game losing streak in the SEC tournament, the Vols need to shine in at least five specific areas.

Here's what Pearl said are the top five keys for UT to have a successful run this weekend:

"These are the areas we've made the greatest improvement since last year,'' Pearl said. "When we play good defense and rebound, it takes a toll on our opponents.

"We can't afford to take any possessions off.''

The Vols rank fifth in scoring defense (69.4 points per game) in SEC action, despite their penchant for pushing the ball, and are No. 1 in the league in rebounding margin (plus-four).

"Mental toughness is the second key,'' Pearl said. "We need to take a page out of the Lady Vols' book and what they did in their (SEC) tourney run.

"They had six players that played a lot of minutes; at some point it goes beyond physical fatigue and becomes mental,'' he said. "It's all about advancing, three games in three days.''

Fatigue was a likely factor in all three of the games the Vols lost this season; UT had quick turnarounds leading into the action.

In the 97-78 loss to Texas on Nov. 24, UT played a late-night game against West Virginia less than 24 hours before.

The Vols also lost at Kentucky on a Tuesday night just three days after a home win over Ohio State.

UT's most recent loss, on a Tuesday night at Vanderbilt, came after a road win at Memphis the previous Saturday night.

"Free-throw shooting has won us more games than it has lost us this season,'' Pearl said, "but we had a couple of games where it didn't help us.

"It was a huge factor at Vanderbilt in one of our three losses.''

UT hit 22 of 32 (.688) free throws in the 72-69 road loss to the Commodores, but missed the front end of 1-and-1 situations at critical junctures of the second half.

"A couple other games were closer than they should have been because of free throws, like LSU,'' Pearl said, referring to the Vols' 4-of-15 free-throw performance in the 47-45 win over the Tigers. "The percentages say it's still a factor for us.''

UT is shooting .657 from the free-throw line in SEC games this season, seventh in the league.

"We've got to continue to embrace history as our motivation,'' said Pearl, who is 0-2 in SEC tournaments. "I've been to tournaments before, a couple SEC tournaments, Horizon League and Great Lakes Valley Conference tournaments.

"In the years we finished second in the regular season and didn't have anything to show for it, we went to the tournament really hungry,'' Pearl said. "Often times, that kind of hunger and need to win a tournament will get you through it.

"We have to make sure as we try to embrace history and prove we're worthy of our ranking, that we also make sure we're as hungry as anybody.''

UT is 0-3 when playing as the top seed in the SEC East (1999, 2000 and 2006) and is 19-28 since the SEC tournament was renewed in 1979.

"I've felt the last two years that we've done what we were able to do - there was no greater level of basketball for us,'' Pearl said. "It was pretty much what you saw was what you got. Our guys achieved at the highest level capable the first year, and last year's team was young.

"This year, I don't think we've played our best basketball yet. There's still upside for this team and that bodes well for the postseason.''

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.