Vols keep focus only on LSU

Vols ready for SEC Tournament

NASHVILLE - You can call them resilient, call them overachievers and call them giant killers.

But you can't call the Tennessee men's basketball team champions.

The 15th-ranked Vols (23-7) hope to take a step toward changing that at 3:15 today when they face LSU (11-19) in the first round of the SEC tournament at Bridgestone Arena (TV: WVLT).

The winner of today's game plays Ole Miss (21-9) at 3:15 p.m. Friday (TV: WVLT), and a win there could mean another game against No. 2-ranked Kentucky (29-2) in the semifinals.

Not that coach Bruce Pearl is letting his players get that far ahead in their thinking.

"I don't see Kentucky on the schedule,'' Pearl interjected when one of his players was asked about the Wildcats' anticipated fan following in Nashville. "I think we've got LSU on Thursday.''

Senior Bobby Maze said the Vols are taking it one game at a time, but he admits Tennessee is motivated to win what would be the school's first SEC tournament title since 1979.

"This is a great opportunity for us to prove ourselves; can we win out?'' said Maze, who transferred to UT from Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College two years ago.

"I'm 0-for-3 in championship games,'' he said. "In Orlando last year (Old Spice Classic), we lost to Gonzaga. Last year in the SEC tournament championship game we lost (to Mississippi State), and this year in the Paradise Jam we lost to Purdue.

"I'm playing for a championship.''

Senior J.P. Prince said he, too, would like to add to the senior class' list of accomplishments, which includes beating No. 1 Kansas and No. 2 Kentucky this season.

"It's a motivating factor because you want to win everything, and the SEC tournament has eluded us,'' Prince said. "But I think we still have a (NCAA tournament) seed to play for. A two-seed may be out of reach, but we can get a three.''

LSU, which has won two of its past four games, is playing for the SEC tournament winner's automatic berth in the NCAA tournament.

"Two years ago, Georgia did it,'' said Tigers senior All-SEC forward Tasmin Mitchell, who stands just 21 points shy of 2,000 career points. "This is the start of a new season. Right now, everyone is 0-0.''

Pearl is keenly aware of LSU's improved play of late, and its history against UT in the SEC tournament.

"They've won a couple of games here down the stretch, and they played us to a very tight game at LSU (59-54),'' Pearl said. "They beat us (three) years ago in an East three (seed)-West six (seed) matchup.''

LSU coach Trent Johnson said the Tigers are playing as well as they have all season, but the Vols have improved since the teams' Feb. 4 meeting, too.

"The difference between what we saw in Baton Rouge and what we're seeing now is the addition of Brian Williams,'' Johnson said. "Now they have the luxury of playing slow in the halfcourt and also playing uptempo if they take him out.

"Offensively we have to try and limit transition baskets,'' he said. "We have to match them on the glass in terms of rebounding, and we have to try to take care of the ball.''

Johnson said LSU needs to shoot better than the last time the teams met (.305 from the field, .217 beyond the 3-point arc).

"We've got to have guys step up and make shots,'' Johnson said, "because they are going to play up against our guys on the perimeter.''

Pearl said he doesn't know what to expect from the Tigers defensively.

"LSU has been playing exclusively zone the last several games, and against us they played very little zone,'' Pearl said. "I'm curious to see how much zone they'll play us.''

Meanwhile, fans in the Big Orange nation are curious to see if Pearl can take another step in his long line of accomplishments in Knoxville by winning the SEC tournament.

The last time the Vols were in Nashville for this tournament, Pearl's first since in 2006, they were eliminated in their first game.

Two years ago, UT made the semifinals, and last year the Vols made it to the title game before losing to Mississippi State.

"What you do is you knock on the door, knock on the door,'' Pearl said, "and eventually you knock it down.''

Black Shoes: The Vols will be wearing black adidas for the first time this season.

UT's shoe sponsor has made it an annual tradition to send Tennessee the black shoes exclusively for the SEC tournament each year.

Worth Noting: UT has won six straight games in the building now known as Bridgestone Arena since losing to South Carolina in Pearl's first SEC tournament in 2006 and have opened as a 12<0x0192>-point favorite over LSU according to VegasInsider.com.