Vols "Dawged" At Home

Help!, I need somebody, anybody.

Not just lyrics in a song by the Beatles, but exactly what Scotty Hopson and Tobias Harris had to be thinking in a 69-63 loss to Georgia on Saturday.

An obviously emotional and shaken-up Coach Bruce Pearl accredited the unfortunate result to a slow start to the game. "Georgia started the game like they were playing for their NCAA tournament lives and we started like we were already in it," said Pearl.

Georgia jumped out to a 22-7 lead on Tennessee early in the first half and led 33-25 at the break. Center Jeremy Price led the Bulldogs with 20 points, going 8-9 from the field and 4-4 from the stripe.

Hopson enjoyed a career night, scoring 32 points as he sliced and diced his way through the Georgia "D" at will. "I had a great night, but I'd trade that for a "W" anyday," said Hopson.

Early in the second half, Hopson took a pass at the wing, dribbled right and blew by Travis Leslie baseline and thundered down a one-handed slam over Price. The crowd was aroused and back into the game.

But credit Georgia, every time Tennessee made a run, they answered under pressure. One key point was with 11:59 remaining in the game, Vols point guard Melvin Goins stole the ball from Dustin Ware and threw home a one-hander of his own, only to receive a technical foul for excessive hanging on the rim.

A few of Tennessee's "usual suspects" (Williams, Goins and Tatum) only combined for seven points on a horrendous 3-15 from the field.

"It's a team effort and these guys gave all they had I believe but it's my fault. I need to get rid of the nonchalant part of my game and I did that tonight for the most part, but we aren't representing Tennessee basketball too well right now," said Hopson.

"We didn't get to loose balls, didn't play well and made many mistakes. I can deal with mistakes, but I cannot tolerate with not competing and they didn't compete at the beginning of this game," said Pearl.

Tennessee falls to (16-11,6-6) and even more in danger of being "on the bubble" for the NCAA tournament. The Vols take on Vanderbilt Tuesday in the end-zone styled Memorial Gymnasium, which is always a dangerous place for Tennessee.

Tennessee also falls to (2-1) in "Outlive" games which is an annual event where Tennessee basketball fights cancer.

Vols Gash the Gamecocks

KNOXVILLE, Tenn.— The Tennessee men’s basketball team (16-10) tasted victory for the first time in the last four games by defeating the South Carolina Gamecocks 73-67.

The Vols definitely made it interesting by shooting an atrocious 19-33 from the free throw line. Junior forward Scotty Hopson led the way with 23 points, including three rim-rocking dunks that exploded the crowd.

Things became a little chippy in the second half when Steven Pearl mixed it up a bit with Carolina big man Sam Muldrow and both received technical fouls for jaw-jacking.

Fellow junior forward Cam Tatum chipped in with 13 points to aide Hopson. This marks coach Bruce Pearl’s first win since returning from his 8-game suspension.

“We played really great defense in the first half and held South Carolina to 20 percent shooting from the field. Offensively, however, I felt that we left some shots out there and 16 turnovers is way too many,” said Pearl.

For the Gamecocks (13-11, 4-7 SEC) leading the attack was forward Malik Cooke who
scored 22 points and freshman guard Bruce Ellington who poured in 15.

South Carolina coach Darrin Horn falls to 0-7 all-time against Tennessee.