Smith shoulders blame

LAWRENCE, Kan. - Tennessee junior Tyler Smith scored a team-high 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the 92-85 loss to Kansas on Saturday.

But Smith's mind is on what he didn't do for his team - not what he did.

"We got off to a bad start, and that's on me, all of it,'' Smith said. "I feel the weight of the loss. I have to find a way to get us off to better starts.''

Smith missed his first two free throws before scoring inside three minutes into the game.

But Smith didn't score again until the 10:49 mark, and by then, his bucket only drew 14th-ranked UT to 25-11.

Smith finished 6-of-13 shooting from the floor, but he was 0-of-2 beyond the arc and only 9-of-15 at the free-throw line.

"Tyler played well, but he can play better,'' UT coach Bruce Pearl said. "You can't win on the road starting the way we started.''

Smith said the Vols need to get in sync before Wednesday's game with Gonzaga at 9 p.m. in Thompson-Boling Arena. Tennessee's 37-game home-court win streak is the second-longest active streak in the nation after BYU lost to Wake Forest on Saturday.

Only Notre Dame's 43-game home-court streak is longer.

The Vols are confident they can get back to their winning ways in the comfort of TBA.

"We've got the talent,'' Smith said, "but we haven't shown our full potential.''

J.P. Prince tried to take some of the blame for the Kansas loss from Smith, calling himself out for getting into foul trouble.

"I've got to be there and have Wayne (Chism) and Tyler's backs,'' said Prince, who was limited to 21 minutes and fouled out with 5:27 remaining and the Vols down by 11. "I was ready to go; I had my energy back and my legs back.

"We have to learn from this as a team.''

Pearl said that even though Prince's numbers against Kansas weren't impressive (2-of-8 shooting, six rebounds, five points, three assists and two turnovers), it was the best Prince has looked.

Freshman Scotty Hopson looked good on a few occasions, too, scoring five of his 11 points in the final 1 1/2 minutes of the first half.

"My first time playing on a stage like that was crazy,'' said Hopson, who had 11 points and made two of his three 3-point attempts. "We just didn't come out with the intensity we had talked about.

"This is a total learning experience for me as well as the team.''

Big Game, Big Minutes: While Smith was playing 35 minutes, Kansas played center Cole Aldrich 37 minutes.

"That was too many minutes for Cole,'' Kansas coach Bill Self said. "I think we used to play him 30 at the max.''

Nice Record: Chism became the fourth Vol to block six shots in a game, joining Elgrace Wilborn, Doug Roth and Reggie Johnson, who did it twice.

UT's 10 blocked shots were the most against the Jayhawks in nearly three years - Colorado had 11 on Jan. 11, 2006.

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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