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On Saturday night, the Tennessee basketball team opened its 100th season with a 114-75 victory over Chattanooga. The game was considered a litmus test for the Vols as the Mocs are projected to win the Southern Conference North division this season. Many speculated that the game would be Bruce Pearl toughest season opener since taking over the program before the 2005-06 season.

The Vols exceeded expectations with a 39-point victory over a veteran Chattanooga team. Tennessee placed six players in double figures and the second half developed into fodder for the highlight reel. The final result was more indicative of the the Vols playing well than UTC playing poorly.

Perhaps the biggest negative of the game was that it inflated expectations to unrealistic territory.

Game Timeline:
First Half

• 19:27: Mocs Senior forward Kevin Goffney slipped near midcourt, traveled and sprained his right ankle. Ty Patterson, Goffney’s backup, entered the game and wound up playing 37 minutes. Goffney tried to walk off the pain and got his ankle rewrapped, but hecould not continue. The first of UTC’s 24 twenty-four turnovers cost the Mocs a possession and player.
  
• 16:22: Chattanooga's only lead came when two free throws by Khalil Hartwell put the Mocs up 8-7. J.P. Prince, who was questionable for the game because of an injured shoulder, came off the bench to help ignite the Vols with a breakaway layup that gave Tennessee a 9-8 lead. It started a 12-0 run, with five points from Bobby Maze.
  
• 12:11: Scotty Hopson connected on a three-pointer, completing a 17-2 (including the 12-0) UT run. This bucket was Hopson’s first official basket as a Vol. Hopson is Pearl’s first McDonald’s All-American.
  
• 10:01: With a Stephen McDowell three-point basket, the Mocs had sliced had a 14-point deficit in half, trailing 29-22 when Pearl called a 30-second timeout. Over the next 57 seconds, 3-pointers from Hopson and Tyler Smith and an old-fashioned three-point play by Maze extended the Vols’ lead to 38-22. UTC was never closer than 14 points the rest of the way. Tennessee outscored the Mocs 31-15 from the timeout to halftime.
  
• 0:00: Tennessee took a 60-37 lead into the intermission.

Second Half

• 20:00: The Vols kept the pressure on in the second half, opening with a 12-0 push to take a commanding 72-37 lead on another Hopson three. Tennessee cruised from there.
  
• 18:28: Scotty Hopson stole a pass in the backcourt, took one dribble and dunked over Keyron Sheard, who could only swipe at the ball as Hopson soared.
  
• 17:49: Tyler Smith converted an alley-oop over Sheard on the next possession.
  
• 11:56: Maze connected on another highlight reel alley oop to Hopson.
  
• 10:49: Tyler Smith’s jump shot gave the Vols 90-points and insured the fans a free chicken sandwich from Chick-fil-A.
  
• 8:09: An uncontested dunk by Cameron Tatum, who flew in from the left wing, gave Tennessee a 100-55 lead and forced John Shulman to call a timeout. The Vols never pulled ahead by more than those 45 points the rest of the way, tying that margin for the final time with 3:47 to go (111-66).

Game Notes:

• Tennesse’s win continued a 33-game home winning streak. It is the Vols' longest win streak in Thompson-Boling Arena history and tied the school record set from January 3, 1966, to February 3, 1968, under head coach Ray Mears. Tennessee's 33-game streak is the third-longest active streak in NCAA Division I. In his fourth season at UT, Bruce Pearl is 46-2 in Thompson-Boling Arena.
  
• Tennessee set a school-record with 32 assists. The previous mark (31) was set on another opening night, November 25, 1988, against Tennessee Tech. The Vols’ 32 assists came on 43 baskets (74.4%). This had been a concern in the previous (exhibition) game as Vols other than Bobby Maze combined for only six assists.
  
• The Vols held Chattanooga to 45 percent shooting, forced 24 turnovers and accumulated 12 steals. Tennessee scored 35 points off the 24 Mocs’ turnovers. In last season’s game, the Mocs committed 34 turnovers.
  
• The Vols outrebounded the Mocs 42-30. In last season's 76-70 win, Tennessee was outrebounded 46-31.
  
• Tennessee outscored the Mocs 62-16 inside. At one point, the Vols held a 54-8 points-in-the-paint edge.
  
• Tennessee shot 58.6% for the game.
  
• The 3-point line's move from 19'9" to 20'9" did not seem to faze the Vols as they made 11 of 29 attempts. Many of their misses came after the game had been decided. The Vols have made at least one 3-pointer in 356 consecutive games. Tennessee ranked 11th (9.3) and 25th (8.7) among Division I teams the last two seasons, respectively, in 3-pointers made per game.
  
• After losing the second half in their two exhibition games, Tennessee handily won the second half against Chattanooga.
  
• The Vols are 24-0 in non-conference home games under Bruce Pearl.
  
• Tennessee is 4-0 in home-openers under Pearl with an average margin of victory in those games of 27.5 points. It was the second time in coach Bruce Pearl's tenure that the Vols have scored 100 or more points to open the season. Tennessee scored 106 against East Tennessee State in 2005 in Pearl's first season.
  
• The point total for an opener was not a record. That came in that aforementioned game against Tennessee Tech in 1988 when the Vols scored 118.
  
• Tennessee holds a 31-5 all-time advantage in the series dating to 1913 and has won 8 of 9 since the Mocs moved up to Division 1. The previous two games in the series had been decided by an average of 3.5 points. The Vols had won 23 straight meetings against the Mocs until Chattanooga posted a 69-68 win over the Vols in Knoxville on December 5, 2004.
  
• UTC was far more experienced than Tennessee. Chattanooga started five seniors: Nicchaeus Doaks, Kevin Goffney, Khalil Hartwell, Stephen McDowell (who started his career at South Carolina), and Keyron Sheard. The Vols, by comparison did not have a senior dress. The Mocs, who return three starters from last year's 18-13 team, were tabbed by the Southern Conference head coaches as the preseason favorites in the North Division. Tennessee replaces four men in Pearl’s nine-man rotation.
  
• The Mocs also had several serious lapses in concentration. Most notably, Sheard threw the ball into UTC’s bench and Jasper Williams threw a one-handed pass to the Tennessee bench. Point guards Sheard and Williams combined for 11 turnovers.
  
• Chattanooga prayed after game.
  
• The sellout crowd of 21,864 was the fourth largest for a home opener. The arena used to be bigger.
  
• The game was televised on SportsSouth.

Player Notes:

• Tyler Smith, the SEC preseason Player of the Year, scored 21 points with 5 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals. Most of Smith’s production came in the second half after connecting on just 2 of 6 shots in the first half. Smith came out hot, scoring 7 of UT’s first 9 points of the second half. Smith shot 62% for the game (8-of-13). It was the fourth time in Smith’s Tennessee career that he scored more than 20.
  
• Cameron Tatum scored 19 points on 6 of 8 shooting including 3 of 5 from 3-point range. 13 of his points came in the first half.
  
• True freshman Scotty Hopson debuted with a 17-point performance. He was 7 of 11 from the field and 3 of 6 from 3-point range.
  
• J.P. Prince added 14 points and 5 assists on 7 of 10 shooting in 17 minutes. Prince sustained a right shoulder injury in practice on October 28th and had only returned to practice on Monday, (November 10th). Prince ignited the Vols when he checked into the game 1½ minutes into play. With a score of 1-1 and UT having missed its first three shots, Prince provided a spark, dunking 23 seconds after entering. Prince went on to score six of the Vols’ next eight points as UT went on a 17-2 run. Prince’s jump shot showed marked improvement, perhaps indicating the severity of last year's injuries. He even hit a three-pointer that was waived off due to a Emmanuel Negedu foul away from ball.
  
• Wayne Chism posted the fifth double-double of his career with 14 points and 13 rebounds.
  
• Point guard Bobby Maze had 10 assists and 1 turnover in 28 minutes. Mocs’ coach John Shulman acknowledged, “I thought he dominated the game.” He also scored 12 points. No Vol registered ten assists in a game last season. The last Vol to do so was Dane Bradshaw, who had 11 against Long Beach State.
  
• Maze is the Vols only healthy point guard. It was announced on Monday ( November 10th) that freshman Daniel West would not play this season. West had a college entrance exam flagged by the NCAA Testing Agency. On Friday (November 7th), the agency ruled against West. West is still allowed to be a student at Tennessee, but he would have to pay out-of-state tuition. West can stay at UT and try to gain his eligibility back next season, or he can transfer immediately to a junior college.
  
• Even returning walk-on Tanner Wild was (and remains) out with a back injury
  
• Walk-on point guard Michael Hubert entered with 10:56 left in the second half. The former Hendersonville High star had previously been cut by Chattanooga.
  
• Freshman Emmanuel Negedu was energetic and perhaps overzealous, fouling out with 3:10 left in the game. It has yet to be determined how to pronounce his name as the in-house p.a. system still pronounces his surname differently than radio broadcaster Bob Kesling.
  
• Steven Pearl played seventeen minutes, playing from 8:06-1:02 in the first half and the final 9:34 of the second half. With 2:59 remaining in the first half, Pearl made his obligatory attempt at drawing a charge. Like in the last exhibition game, it failed.
  
• Junior wing Josh Tabb remained out due to an undisclosed academic suspension. If he cannot play the point guard position, it does not appear he will play much.
  
• Stephen McDowell led Chattanooga with 20 points. The senior shot 7-for-13 (54%) from the field and 4-for-6 (66%) from beyond the arc.
  
• Junior College transfer Ty Patterson and Nicchaeus Doaks both added 16. Doaks grabbed nine rebounds.
  
• Mocs’ 6-7, 235-pound freshman forward Chris Early did not play as he will not be eligible until the end of the Fall Semester. Early initially signed with Oklahoma before enrolling at UTC. He was a high school teammate of O.J. Mayo (Memphis Grizzlies) and Patrick Patterson (Kentucky).
  
• 7'1" sophomore and Rocky Top league alum Jeremy Saffore was manhandled. He did not score in his eight minutes of play.