View from 315A

The Vols' win over Auburn on Wednesday night coupled with a Memphis 97-71 road victory over Tulane sets the stage for an in-state #1 vs. #2 game. The game will be played Saturday night at 9 pm in Memphis. This would have been unfathomable just a few years ago. I am not overly confident, but I am hopeful.

The Auburn game was an onslaught almost from the get go. Tennessee jumped out to a 26-point half-time lead and cruised through the second half. The only lull came when Auburn made a late 15-0 run against UT's s(cr)ubs. After watching a 29-point lead dissipate to 83-69 with 2:06 to play, Bruce Pearl sent the starters back on the floor. Note to Bruce: Never have three of our white guys on the court at the same time (Childress, Howell, Pearl).

Steven Pearl, whom I really like, played very much like me. He played two minutes, missed two shots, and committed three fouls. I love his intensity, but he is probably not going to get the charge called with a 20-point lead and under three minutes to play.

Our scoring was balanced as UT had six players score 8 or more points. Ramar Smith led with 19 points and Tyler Smith had his fifth double-double of the year (13,13). JaJuan Smith had 12. Auburn has a junior guard named Drew Smith who did not play so we totally dominated the battle of the Smiths.

The game marked Tennessee’s 30th straight home win and Chris Lofton became only the seventh player in NCAA history to hit 400 three-point shots.