The Volunteer basketball team had its annual pat each other on the back postseason awards banquet last night, and the following awards were presented:

• JaJuan Smith and Major Wingate were named the most-improved players.  (Okay, I’ll play along with that one.)
• Dane Bradshaw took home the Team Before Self Award and the John Stucky Lifter of the Year Award.  (Good, good, good.
• The Burchfield-Moss Most Courageous Award went to Jordan Howell.  (Hmmm.  Not sure what this is about.  Any ideas?)

Basketball head coach Bruce Pearl is still trying to fill his assistant coaching vacancy.

Offensive Coordinator David Cutcliffe took quarterbacks Jonathan Crompton and Bo Hardegree with him to a graduation ceremony at the Morgan County Correctional Facility where coach Cut addressed prisoners who were receiving their GED or a vocational trade certificate.  That ought to give EDSBS something to play with.

A vital component of Tennessee Volunteer basketball coach Bruce Pearl’s “controlled chaos” style of play is a solid bench. UT forces its opponent to play the entire length of the floor and utilizes a strong bench to wear the other team out, the effect usually becoming noticeable early in the second half.

Here’s a look at two of the Vols’ key role players off the bench:

• No. 2 JaJuan Smith, a 6’2″ sophomore guard, and 6’7″ senior forward Andre Patterson (No. 22) usually enter the game at the same time.
• Smith, who is usually at his best in big games, is sometimes called “Juice,” and the duo calls themselves the “Bench Mob” or the “222 Duo.”
• Smith is hitting 42.1 percent of his three-point attempts and is averaging 9.1 points per game.  Coach Pearl says that Smith is now “coachable” (an earlier problem) and occasionally has what the coach calls a “huh?” shot, but he likes Smith’s aggressive, street-ball mentality.
• Last season, Patterson started much of the time, but he was agreeable to coach Pearl’s suggestion that he was more productive off the bench.
• The chemistry between Smith and Patterson is one of the main reasons for the Volunteers’ early success.
• Other key contributors off the bench include 6’3″ sophomore guard Jordan Howell and 6’9″ freshman forward Ryan Childress.

The bench play will be key tonight as the Volunteers travel to LSU to take on the Tigers.

University of Tennessee officials and basketball coach Bruce Pearl got the 20,000+ crowd they wanted and were expecting — 21,612, to be exact — and the team gave them a reason to come back by beating the Georgia Bulldogs 89-76 and extending their record to 11-1 overall and 2-0 in the SEC:

“I think it really elevated our play,” Tennessee Coach Bruce Pearl said. “When you’re a team that depends on runs, it makes the runs last longer.”Senior point guard C.J. Watson said there were a few crowds his freshman season that were comparable, but he could feel the energy from the opening tip last night.

“It’s nice to come in here and have a real home-court advantage,” said Watson, a four-year starter. “It makes a big difference. We’ve been on the other end of that the last few years, so we know what it’s like.”

The UT students turned out in force, with 4,866 showing up to see the Vols win their fifth consecutive game and go to 11-1 overall, 2-0 in the Southeastern Conference. The students were there 45 minutes before the game to get a good spot under the basket closest to the Tennessee bench, and several had to sit in the upper deck.

“We can feel the excitement,” sophomore guard JaJuan Smith said. “It’s real nice when you’re around town and people say, ‘Thanks for bringing this back to us.’ We appreciate it, and we appreciate the fans coming out.”