If you’re a Tennessee basketball fan, you’ve gotta like it.
So says UT coach Bruce Pearl, whose 14th-ranked team shot out of the gate with a surprisingly easy season-opening 114-75 victory over Chattanooga on Saturday night at Thompson-Boling Arena.
“You have to like the balance. You have to like the chemistry,” said Pearl, whose young Vols set a school record with 32 assists. “Our pressure was disruptive, and we obviously shared the ball tremendously with 32 assists on 43 baskets.”
Tennessee’s “Controlled Chaos’’ press and trap forced the Mocs into 24 turnovers and countless layups and dunks, much to the delight of the sellout crowd of 21,864.
It was the Vols’ 33rd-consecutive win at home, the third-longest active win streak nationally. It also tied the UT record for consecutive home wins that was set in 1968.
“When everybody does their job, it looks that pretty,’’ said junior wing J.P. Prince, who had 14 points and five assists in the 17 minutes he played.
Tyler Smith led the Vols in scoring with 21 points. Cameron Tatum added 19 and Scotty Hopson had 17. Wayne Chism and Bobby Maze each recorded double-doubles; Chism with 14 points and 13 rebounds and Maze with 12 points and 10 assists.
But it was Prince, the SEC’s Sixth Man of the Year last year, who ignited the Vols’ 2008-09 season after entering the game 1½ minutes into play.
The score was 1-1. UT had missed its first three shots and turned the ball over twice before Prince came into the game and provided a spark, dunking 23 seconds after entering.
Prince went on to score six of the Vols’ next eight points as UT went on a 17-2 run to take a 24-10 lead at the 12:10 mark.
Scotty Hopson capped the offensive burst with a 3-pointer, his first official points as a Vol.
“Making that big shot calmed me down,’’ said Hopson, who finished 7-of-11 shooting, including 3-of-6 beyond the 3-point arc with a high-arcing touch.
By halftime, UT’s lead swelled to 60-37.
But the Vols weren’t done.
Smith, the SEC’s preseason player of the year, still had something to prove after connecting on just 2 of 6 shots in the first half.
Smith started the final 20 minutes on a rampage, scoring seven of UT’s first nine points as the Vols opened the second half on a 12-0 run.
“That was the first game we won the second half,” said Pearl, referring to UT’s two exhibition victories. “We did challenge them (at halftime) to win the second half, and I thought our starters got off to a good start.’’
Chattanooga coach John Shulman was certainly impressed.
“I made a comment that maybe only North Carolina had better talent, and I may have to stick with that comment,’’ said Shulman, whose Mocs are preseason favorites in the North Division of the Southern Conference. “They have length, they play hard, they are talented (and) shoot it.
“They are as talented — I don’t know if I can put them with that Florida team we played when they were defending national champions — but they are a heckuva lot deeper than that team.’’
Still, Pearl — whose team has yet to get junior wing Josh Tabb back from an academic suspension — isn’t ready to accept such accolades.
“We’ll see if I can get them back down to reality,” Pearl said. “We need to understand we’re a team that needs to get better.”
The Vols return to action at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Thompson-Boling arena against UT Martin.
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Comments » 98
tnbigg writes:
Great job guys! Keep it rolling!
smokeysal22 writes:
Great to see the production, Hopson has a sweet stroke from the 3....
mbavol writes:
"Vols will find out 'where we're at' against Chattanooga". How about totally freaking awesome? The defensive intensity was obviously above the two exhibitions, but even looked better than last year. Maze and the athletes totally change this team. I know it's only one game, but...WOW! Going to be fun to watch the season develop.
tenacjim#211887 writes:
Finally...... a TN team meeting or exceeding expectations....how refreshing.
b_neas writes:
Maybe Pearl was sandbagging it with this team. They looked to me like they had great chemistry. One thing thats a first for a UT team is they will be able to match up athleticly with any team they play. They look way ahead of where i expected them to be for a first game.
ULTIMATEVOLUNTEER writes:
luv the swarming D !!! can't wait to harass Calathes. We've got a true point guard too!
b_neas writes:
Where's catscratch?? lol, new saying for losing to a smaller school team at your home court "they just pulled a Kentucky"
VolJunkie writes:
Maze with 10 assists and 1 turnover ... a good start to be sure. Have to do better than 65% from the free throw line, but 6 players in double figures ... very nice! Work to be done but still a great win to start the season.
And bring on VMI! ;)
Go VOLS!
dopedawg writes:
Great job!!!!!! Keep it up!!!! Go Vols!!!!!!!
King53 writes:
so that's what a true point guard looks like!?!
Irwin_Linker writes:
Hopson is for real, Cameron played great, player of the game has to go to JP he was phenomenal. JPs intensity was unmatched on the court tonight. Can't wait until the season really heats up. BEAT MEMPHIS!
eduardo writes:
What effort on both ends of the court. I am really impressed with Bobby Maze at the point. Tyler Smith played so hard on both ends. Has that look in his eyes he had at Gator alley last year. Cameron Tatum going to be a force this year. Scotty Hopson wow! Man it was really funny listening to guys like catcratch last spring saying they would rather have Darius Miller than Scotty Hopson. Not! Great win to open the season. Pear is amazing as our Coach. The Mocs arent that bad. The Vols are just that much better. I am so glad we didnt play VMI! Hahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ULTIMATEVOLUNTEER writes:
you obviously don't know anything about basketball. when you get as many shots as ut did the other team gets more looks too. when you're up 45 early in the second half i would say the D was great!
King53 writes:
it's hard to stay focused when you are up by 40 most of the second half.
utmdm writes:
Mean ole gators.
gohawks1 writes:
So much for the "fear the Mocs" viewpoint. Good to see Chism crashing the boards.
yeavols#228407 writes:
Tennessee VS North Carolina in March...Ok..well I can dream can't I? It's been a terrible football year.
Urbiewerecomingtogetyou writes:
Locked and RELOADED!!!!!!!
MrBamSeydu writes:
Nick Calathes has my vote as ugliest person alive.
Oh and hey Gatorzzzzzzz..... you guys won by 22 over Toledo. We won by 39 over a probable NCAA tourney team (by way of being favorites to win their conference).
I wouldn't talk smack until AFTER you play us. That'd be the smart thing, seeing as it's been awhile since that's happened on the hardwood....
vtvol#210290 writes:
Great job to spread the scoring around--six players in double digits in scoring. Maze sounds like a slasher on par with Ty Lawson of UNC. Good first game.
Urbiewerecomingtogetyou writes:
zz: In case you didn't notice this is a basketball article. In other words here's a quarter call someone who cares.
mbavol writes:
When you turn off the press middle of the second half, play 10 guys (6 of whom are newcomers) and win by 39, I'd say the "D" did ok. But I guess I'm biased.
mattlock writes:
They had 30 at the half, smart guy.
Your team scored much less and gave up 58.
SFOrange writes:
very impressive start against a team picked #2 in SoCon behind Davidson. thank god we've got something to cheer about. Roll Vols.
TopTenn writes:
UTC was a solid team with seniors. We played a great game against them. Before conference play we should top ten.
UT___a_basketball_school writes:
Go Vols. Dude, it is FINALLY basketball time in Tennessee! The end of this football season CANNOT get here soon enough.
MIKE LEACH. For the good of the school.
xvolx writes:
no.. it was spurrier that said while at fla. when they stop trying to score i will.
tubavol writes:
There were more fans in attendance tonight than there were after halftime of the Wyoming game!
VolJunkie writes:
Agree it was a good game but before conference play begins we have Sienna, Marquette, Gonzaga, Wichita State or Georgetown and Kansas (at Kansas). This is still a young team and it will be tough to run the table against this schedule. That said, this will prepare the team for the SEC schedule, UT should be in great shape come March.
xvolx writes:
fla. has good players and a great coach. so do we. let's just play the games. tenn. fans have to be impressed with this team.
tnbigg writes:
E X A C T L Y...
tnbigg writes:
66cheVOLet...how's about this:
http://www.classicdreamcars.com/66mar...
miatatom writes:
Bruce and his team are amazing. It's great to be a Tennessee Vol!
volball7222 writes:
Not swarming! Ya want to bet on it? I know some of your team would.
Urbiewerecomingtogetyou writes:
tnbigg: I believe we are officially a basketball school!! Temporarily anyway.
tnbigg writes:
At least it is really exciting! The way I want to see football be again! Bruce Pearl is so incredible...we are Blessed to have him...no doubt...I hadn't followed Tennessee basketball since the Ray Mears days(and the 11 - 6 victory over Temple in basketball!)...now...this is even more exciting than that was! I'll never forget the one year we had two seven footer...Len Kosmalski (http://www.basketball-reference.com/p...) and another seven foot guy on the same team with Kosmalski although I forget his name now...then I remember 7 footer Tom Boerwinkle, Loyd Richardson too...he was awesome (I played racquetball with Lloyd Richardson - very agile). It's hard to believe that Coach Pearl has accomplished all that he has accomplished with a gigantic center...
Urbiewerecomingtogetyou writes:
Yea: those pictures bring back memories! I have a good friend that had one of those. My 66 is actually a pickup.
tnbigg writes:
Gotta' roll...have a great evening!
RockyTopRooks writes:
Awesome! Go Vols!
Urbiewerecomingtogetyou writes:
I've never really been a UT basketball fan until Pearl arrived.I personally wouldn't trade Pearl for any other coach in the country. My wife and I had an opportunity to briefly speak with Coach Pearl and he is definitely a keeper.
jasonn1970 writes:
I know it's early. But it seems the Vols may be a little underrated. There are several future NBA guys wearing the Orange this year. They made a pretty good UTC team look pathetic.
johnlg00 writes:
Strong, quick, skilled, deep, tough, unselfish--man, what a display!!! The worst of it is that most of the rest of the country won't appreciate what a big win this really was until they see how good UTC is over the course of the season. There is still a LONG way to go, but what a start for a team that lost nearly ALL of its backcourt experience and long-range scoring! I confess I thought the game would be a struggle, but the guys really exceeded my expectations for the first game of the season. Two more big ones this week, especially at MTSU Friday. One thing for sure, we can't lose Maze for any length of time. He is the MAN at point! Ten assists and ONE turnover!
mbavol writes:
To put the 32 assists for the team and 10 assists for Maze in perspective, UT has averaged 17.0, 15.6 and 17.7 assists per game for the past three seasons. Tyler Smith led the team last year with a 3.4 per game average. If they can share the ball, shoot well and keep up the pressure defense, this team will be special.
GoVols133 writes:
One word can only describe how well the vols played tonight, WOW. Coming into this season the only only thing we knew for sure was we had only 2 maybe 3 proven guys who could really play but after this showing you gotta beleive this team will only get better with time, and that could be scary for opponets. I am looking forward to another controlled chaos season and hopefully this was not a tease but a strong showing of things to come. GO VOLS
ccjackson40#254643 writes:
It's a joke this team is not in the top 10. I'm sure they will make it though. No disrespect to Lofton and the guys that graduated but just how dangerous can this team get in the years to come as we continue to get top notched talent. Go Vols!!!!!!!!!
samjrr writes:
Great job men. very impressive! Slow walkin and sad music back to the locker room.GO VOLS!!
shoalcreekvol writes:
Hiresanders, where are you? Still licking your wounds after VMI put it to your kitties last night? Burying turds in the sand to avoid the reality that Billy Gilly and his 8th grade recruiting class are as big a joke as your football team? Rooting the UK football team to a big win over Vandy (oooh, sorry)?
Oh well rest easy. You can watch the replay of the best basketball player to come out of KY since Chris Lofton. Tune in to the Scotty Hopson Show to see what you've been missing. Then you can figure out what you're gonna do when the worst UT football team in history rings up your Kitties for the 24th straight time. It must suck to be a UK (any sport) fan.
BigOrangeVol writes:
10 Assists by B-Maze is great for his first game! Billy Hann’s 19 against Bama in ’68 is the high-water mark though. Rodney Woods’ 227 season will be difficult to beat. Swearengen’s two-year total of 263 may be in jeopardy but obviously nobody is going to touch Johnny D’s career 715. DARDEN IS THE MAN!
As a team, UT averaged 17.7 Assists last season which is second-best to the 18.8 of Coach Mears ’76-’77 team of Bernard, Ernie, Johnny, Mike, Reggie, Terry, Chuck & Bert. This years team may have that kind of talent but I don’t see the same drive and gritty determination of the 76-77 squad but I hope I'm wrong.
VOLKING writes:
OK...missed the game on TV. Is there somewhere on the net that I can watch a reply or some good highlights?
trl_x writes:
Very impressive. This group is deep once again and VERY athletic. The best part; we seem to have a quality point guard. A true point guard. They’re uncommon and very important.
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