KNOXVILLE -- Tennessee will play its second game in a three day period when the Lipscomb Bisons visit Thompson-Boling Arena at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 29. CSS will televise the game regionally.
The Lipscomb game is the second game of a three-game home stand for the Vols before opening Southeastern Conference action. UT defeated Alabama A&M 93-68 in Knoxville on Dec. 27 and will conclude the home stand on Jan. 4 when South Alabama visits Thompson-Boling Arena. The Vols begin SEC play on Jan. 8 at South Carolina.
Tennessee bounced back from its first loss of the season with a 93-68 victory over Alabama A&M on Tuesday. Chris Lofton led the Vols with 19 points on 5-of-9 3-point shooting. C.J. Watson and JaJuan Smith each added 16 points while Stanley Asumnu had 15 points.
Andre Patterson, who made his first start of the season, added nine points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
The Bulldogs entered the game leading the nation in steals (13.5 spg) and blocked shots (8.5 bpg) but managed just two steals and two blocks. Tennessee had a season-high 28 assists and a season-low nine turnovers.
Lofton, who is averaging 20.3 points in his last three contests, is leading the Vols with 18.4 points per game on the season. A preseason All-SEC selection, Watson is adding 16.3 points and is making 54.5 percent of his 3-pointers.
Watson needs just three assists to reach the 500 career assist mark. He would be just the fourth Vols player and 18th in Southeastern Conference history to reach to 500 career assist milestone.
(E-mail Stan Crawley at wscrawley@earthlink.net)