[UT Vols News]

JaJuan Smith has gone from the bench to backcourt playmaker for Tennessee.
In his first season as a starter, Smith looks to build on the highest-scoring game of his career as the 25th-ranked Volunteers (3-0) face Coppin State (0-2) on Sunday at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Smith, the Vols' sixth man last season, scored a career-high 21 points as Tennessee beat UNC-Wilmington 87-75 on Tuesday night in the South Region championship of the NIT Season Tip-off.

Smith is averaging 14.3 points per game after posting 9.5 last season, when he averaged only three fewer minutes.

"I'm actually going to ... work a little bit now on getting a few more looks for him and finding some ways for him to get more shots on the other side of the floor because he wants it," said Vols coach Bruce Pearl, whose teams are 16-0 when scoring 80 points or more.

Smith was 7-of-10 from the floor, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range, taking advantage of the Seahawks focusing defensively on Chris Lofton. The junior also came up with four rebounds and five steals in 27 minutes.

VOLS PLAY HOST TO COPPIN STATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON

[rmjvol]

Nice win for the BasketVols over Coppin State.

CHISM'S DOUBLE-DOUBLE LEADS VOLS TO 99-65 WIN OVER COPPIN STATE

Tennessee's young team is getting better, and the No. 25 Volunteers will find out how much this week.

With help from 19 points by Chris Lofton, Tennessee beat Coppin State 99-65 on Sunday and started looking toward a trip to New York for the NIT Season Tip-Off.

The Vols (4-0) built a double-digit lead in the first half and expanded it after halftime in a fast-paced, sometimes frantic, game.

Tennessee overcame turnover problems by taking the ball away from the Eagles (0-3) and forcing them into bad shots. Tennessee hassled the Eagles into 24 turnovers, many off their press and several from five-second violations. The Vols had 22 turnovers but 12 steals and 29 assists.