KNOXVILLE -- Four games in one week can tire out any basketball team.

Playing three of those games on the road doesn't help much, either.

But don't blame Tennessee's slow start in an 86-69 victory Friday night over College of Charleston on their trip to the Virgin Islands. Or on too much Thanksgiving turkey.

"I absolutely wore us out," UT coach Bruce Pearl said. "We did not have a lot of energy tonight because of the number of games that we played and how hard we've been practicing. I think it will serve us well in the long run, and I think it was a factor tonight in our play."

Tennessee (5-1) certainly didn't play poorly against College of Charleston (1-3). The Vols shot 56 percent from the field. They connected on 45 percent of their shots from 3-point range. And they out-rebounded Charleston (albeit a smaller Charleston team) 44-24.

But their legs - and their energy - wasn't quite there after playing three games in four days in the Paradise Jam and some intense practice since returning.

"It's been tough," said Brian Williams, who finished with 11 points and seven rebounds in 22 minutes. "We played about four games in six days, including practice. It's been tough. But that's the way to bounce back from a loss is with a win. We did that."

A marathon practice Thursday didn't help matters, either, Pearl said.

"I can't tell you how hard we practiced yesterday," he said. "It's the hardest I've ever practiced the day before a game. If we'd have lost the game tonight, I'd have blamed myself. I'm blaming myself now. It went three hours. Part of the reason why it went three hours, we couldn't and wouldn't do the things we needed to do to get out of practice."

Ironically enough, Pearl was toughest on Scotty Hopson during Thursday's workout.

"Interestingly, Scotty did not practice very hard yesterday," Pearl said. "Interestingly, I was on Scotty yesterday harder than I've been on him in two years. I even talked at halftime about the fact one of the reasons why Scotty had such a great first half was because he didn't practice yesterday. He was fresher than anybody."

The sophomore responded to lead the Vols with 21 points, 17 of which came in the first half. More than that, though, Hopson was active on defense and the glass. He had six rebounds, a block and two steals in one his better all-around outings.

"The thing we started off this season is making plays defensively and offensively," Hopson said. "Making teams turn the ball over, that's the reason why we win most games anyway. I just want to keep doing that and keep getting better at it."

Tatum Starts: Cameron Tatum scored six points and added three rebounds in his first start of the season, taking J.P. Prince's place in the lineup Friday night.

Pearl has said for weeks that Tatum deserved to start for the Vols, and he wanted to ease the pressure on Prince by letting him come off the bench.

"I tried to just get J.P. to relax a little bit and stop pressing," Pearl said. "I've told you I've had six starters from like the first week of practice. Cam deserved to be a starter. I thought J.P. played better tonight."

Warm Welcome: Tennessee fans gave two warm ovations to Knoxville native Tony White, Jr.

The Cougars guard's father is former Vol star Tony White, a member of the UT's All-Century Team. Fans cheered both father and son Friday night, but Tony Jr. wasn't quite sure how fans might respond.

"My mom said they might boo me," White joked afterward. "I'm they applauded me. That was nice. I liked that."

White finished with 12 points and six assists in a team-high 38 minutes.

QUOTES AND NOTES

TENNESSEE HEAD COACH Bruce Pearl: "We have had four games in seven days, and five games in eight or nine days. Yesterday was one of the hardest practices of the year. It did not start out that way, but we are trying to develop a different level of physicality and intensity. And I absolutely wore Scotty Hopson out. We did not have a lot of energy tonight because of the number of games we have played and how hard we have practiced.

"I think this will serve us well in the long run, and I think it was a factor tonight in our play.

"Give College of Charleston credit; they have done a nice job. They are a dangerous team from the 3-point line, and they made nine of them against ETSU. They have been on the road in three of their games; they have had a chance to win at each place.

"I do not know they were close enough to win the game tonight, but they were certainly in the game. A lot of that has to do with your expectations. Can you expect us to blow out every team? No, we are not going to blow out every team. We are just not going to. A team with good guard play and quickness, plus a little bit of ball control, combined with the number of games we played, and how hard we have been practicing, means we are not going to blow out everyone we play."

COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON HEAD COACH BOBBY CREMINS: "It was a great experience coming here to Knoxville.

"I really appreciate Tennessee playing us. Coach Pearl has been great. This is a classy program. It was a pleasure playing these guys. We were competitive tonight. We were right there, and then we ran out of gas. They were too powerful for us. They are a very good team. They played with a lot of poise, and they are tough.

"It was a competitive game, though, and we're glad about that."

GAME NOTES

•The Vols improved to 3-0 at Thompson-Boling Arena this season.

•Sophomore Cameron Tatum made his first start of the season, the fifth of his career. He finished 3-for-5 shooting with six points and three rebounds in 22 minutes played.

•Scotty Hopson paced the Vols with 21 points. It was the third time this season that he has finished with at least 20 points. He has led the team in scoring in four of the six games UT has played this year.

•Hopson also tied his career high with six rebounds.

•Tyler Smith made all eight shots from the free throw line and finished with 18 points.

•Brian Williams led the Vols with seven rebounds. It was a season high and the first time he has led the Vols in rebounds this year.

•Tennessee's bench outscored Charleston's reserves 26-8.

Official Basketball Box Score
College of Charlesto vs Tennessee
11/27/09 7:00 p.m. at Knoxville, Tenn. (Thompson-Boling Arena)

VISITORS: College of Charlesto 1-3
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
21 Simmons, Jeremy..... f 5-9 0-0 5-8 0 8 8 4 15 2 0 1 0 32
42 Breeden, Casaan..... f 2-7 1-5 2-2 0 4 4 4 7 2 2 1 1 28
01 Monroe, Donavan..... g 5-8 4-5 2-2 0 1 1 5 16 1 3 0 0 22
03 Goudelock, Andrew... g 3-11 3-8 2-3 1 0 1 0 11 2 4 0 4 34
32 White Jr, Tony...... g 4-12 2-4 2-3 1 1 2 3 12 6 3 0 2 38
04 Lawrence, Andrew.... 1-3 1-3 0-0 0 0 0 2 3 1 0 0 0 21
05 Wright, Rashad...... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 4
12 Pugh, Quasim........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4
35 Turok, Jordan....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+
53 Hall, Willis........ 2-4 0-0 1-2 3 3 6 4 5 0 3 0 1 17
TEAM................
Totals.............. 22-55 11-25 14-20 5 19 24 23 69 14 16 2 8 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-26 42.3% 2nd Half: 11-29 37.9% Game: 40.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 7-13 53.8% 2nd Half: 4-12 33.3% Game: 44.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-6 66.7% 2nd Half: 10-14 71.4% Game: 70.0% 3

HOME TEAM: Tennessee 5-1
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
01 Smith, Tyler........ f 5-9 0-1 8-8 0 2 2 1 18 5 0 0 0 33
04 Chism, Wayne........ c 4-7 1-2 2-2 0 3 3 4 11 0 1 1 0 13
03 Maze, Bobby......... g 2-5 0-0 0-1 0 4 4 2 4 4 4 0 1 23
23 Tatum, Cameron...... g 3-5 0-1 0-2 1 2 3 2 6 1 2 0 1 22
32 Hopson, Scotty...... g 7-10 3-3 4-7 3 3 6 1 21 1 4 1 2 29
00 Woolridge, Renaldo.. 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 3
13 McBee, Skylar....... 1-2 1-2 0-0 0 2 2 1 3 0 0 0 0 12
20 Hall, Kenny......... 2-3 0-0 0-1 0 2 2 3 4 0 0 0 0 10
21 Goins, Melvin....... 0-2 0-2 0-0 0 3 3 2 0 2 1 0 1 15
30 Prince, J.P......... 3-6 0-0 2-2 3 3 6 1 8 2 2 0 1 18
33 Williams, Brian..... 4-6 0-0 3-6 3 4 7 1 11 0 1 0 1 22
TEAM................ 3 3 6
Totals.............. 31-55 5-11 19-29 13 31 44 19 86 15 16 2 7 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 16-33 48.5% 2nd Half: 15-22 68.2% Game: 56.4% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-9 44.4% 2nd Half: 1-2 50.0% Game: 45.5% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 5-11 45.5% 2nd Half: 14-18 77.8% Game: 65.5% 2

Officials: Ted Valentine, Mike Nance, Pat Adams
Technical fouls: College of Charlesto-None. Tennessee-None.
Attendance: 18293

Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
College of Charlesto.......... 33 36 - 69
Tennessee..................... 41 45 - 86

(E-mail Stan Crawley at wscrawley@earthlink.net)