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GAME NOTES: The 10th-ranked Tennessee Volunteers will open up play in the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands this evening, as they take on the East Carolina Pirates in opening round action in St. Thomas.

Bruce Pearl recorded his 100th victory at Tennessee with Tuesday's 124-49 pasting of UNC-Asheville. It has looked very easy for the Vols in the early stages of the season thus far, as the team opened the year with a rout of Austin Peay (83-54).

Mack McCarthy's Pirates haven't exactly gotten off to a fast start, as the team has dropped two of its first three games. ECU opened with a 77-60 victory over UVa-Wise, but has dropped back-to-back games since, with setbacks to Wake Forest (89-58) and most recently, Campbell (74-68).

This game marks just the third all-time meeting between these two teams on the hardwood, with Tennessee winning both prior matchups, with the last meeting taking place in 1991. The winner of this matchup will take on the winner of the DePaul/Northern Iowa matchup on Sunday.

The Pirates have struggled with their offensive game thus far, with the team netting a mere 67.7 ppg, on a rather pedestrian .405 shooting. The poor accuracy has extended beyond the arc as well, as ECU has converted just 21.3 percent from long range in the first three games (10-of-47). Junior guard Brock Young leads three Pirates in double figures with 16.0 ppg. He has not shot the ball all that well from the floor (.419), but has made teams pay the price for sending him to the free-throw line (18-of-20). Sophomore forward Darrius Morrow (12.7 ppg, 7.3 rpg) and junior center Chad Wynn (11.7 ppg, 6.7 rpg) have done a nice job in the frontcourt. Young led all scorers with 19 points in the game against Campbell. Unfortunately, he also led all players in turnovers as well (nine). In fact, the Pirates committed 20 turnovers in the game, a key factor in the loss. Jontae Sherrod and Morrow joined Young in double digits, with 13 and 12 points, respectively.

The Volunteers have looked like an offensive juggernaut in the first two games, and are now averaging an eye-popping 103.5 ppg. The team has gotten scoring from all over the roster, including five double-digit performers. Sophomore guard Scotty Hopson has been on fire, hitting 73.7 percent of his shots thus far (14-of-19), including 76.9 percent from three-point range (10-of-13). Clearly he has the hot hand and is averaging a team-best 20.5 ppg. Cameron Tatum has been equally efficient (.733 from the floor) en route to 14.0 ppg, followed by Tyler Smith (11.5 ppg), Renaldo Woolridge (11.0 ppg) and Wayne Chism (11.0 ppg). In the rout of UNC-Asheville, UT set school records for points (124), three-pointers made (16) and assists (34). Hopson actually outscored the entire UNC-Asheville team at halftime, as the Vols took a 66-14 lead into the break. In all, Tennessee shot .597 from the floor in the game, with six players finishing in double figures. Hopson led all scorers with 25 points. Bobby Maze added 14 and Tatum 13, while Chism, Woolridge and Melvin Goins all chipped in with 11.

Its going to be awfully hard to derail the Volunteers right now. As long as Hopson stays in the zone, not many teams will be able to outscore Tennessee.