UT takes positive home from Virgin Islands

ST. THOMAS, Virgin Islands - The Tennessee Vols are ready to get back to Knoxville and start winning again.

"I made a statement in the locker room after the game,'' UT senior captain Tyler Smith said. "We did the same thing two years ago, losing to Texas in New Jersey, and we came back and won 11 in a row (and 20 of the next 21).

"That's what we plan on doing.''

The Vols, who play at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Thompson-Boling Arena against the College of Charleston, felt they left their best on the floor in a 73-72 loss to Purdue in the championship game of the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam on Monday night.

"I take out of it that we have a very good basketball team,'' UT coach Bruce Pearl said. "We stepped up against an opponent that Dick Vitale picked for the Final Four.''

That said, Pearl was obviously disappointed with the loss.

"This was a championship we sought after,'' Pearl said. "We've been in a few championship games the last few years, and we've lost them all.

"It takes a pretty special team just to get there, though, and I thought we played well enough to win.''

With two seconds remaining, the Vols got an open look by their hottest player in the game, Wayne Chism, albeit from 3-point range. With 40 seconds left, Cameron Tatum had an open 3-point attempt that could have given the Vols a one-point lead.

"I felt like we really put ourselves in position to win that game on a couple of occasions,'' Pearl said.

The game might not have gone down to the final seconds had UT found a defensive answer for Purdue's E'twaun Moore, who scored 22 points and won tournament MVP honors.

Interestingly enough, Pearl recruited Moore.

"We were the first school to offer him a scholarship, and had their not been a couple guys on our team at the time named Chris Lofton and JaJuan Smith, he would have taken a hard look at us,'' Pearl said. "But we'll see as good as that, or better.''

The Vols used Melvin Goins, Scotty Hopson and J.P. Prince on Moore, but Purdue set effective screens and UT couldn't stop him.

"Our guard stopper (position), that job is open,'' Pearl said. "We'll see who wants it. Great guards are going to come at us off the bounce.''

Goins Adjusting: Pearl said Goins will be better equipped to handle defenses like Purdue's as he gets familiar with the system.

"Their defensive pressure bothered Melvin a bit, and there were times he turned the ball over,'' Pearl said. "You have to deliver the pass when the guys get open, not when you're ready to deliver it.

"But Melvin played great (Sunday) night. We don't beat DePaul without Melvin coming in and playing that defense.''

Scotty's Struggles: After hitting 14 of his first 18 attempts from 3-point range, Hopson went 0-for-4 against DePaul and 0-for-2 against Purdue beyond the arc.

Pearl said he's not concerned.

"I think Scotty can score against anybody; and yeah, they are gonna be more physical on him and I think he'll respond to that offensively,'' Pearl said. "But I want to see him respond to it defensively as well.''

Tyler's Treys: After an offseason dedicated to improving his 3-point shot, Smith has yet to attempt a 3-point shot through five games.

"This summer, Tyler was really shooting it beautifully, and I think at some point he'll get that shot going,'' Pearl said. "It's obviously not something he wants to do right now.''

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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