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GAME NOTES: The 14th-ranked Tennessee Volunteers play three of their next four games on the road, starting with this evening's clash with the LSU Tigers at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge.

Bruce Pearl's Volunteers were clicking on all cylinders with seven straight wins from mid-December to mid-January, but the team hit a bump in the road, falling in back-to-back affairs against Georgia (78-63) and Vanderbilt (85-76). However, UT got back in the win column this past weekend, edging out Florida at home, 61-60. With the win, Tennessee moved to 4-2 in SEC action, good for third place in the SEC East, trailing both Kentucky (6-1) and Vanderbilt (6-1).

Trent Johnson's Tigers are much further down the conference ladder, residing in the basement of the SEC West as the only winless team in league play. The team comes in with an ugly seven game losing streak in tow, moving to 0-7 in the SEC with last weekend's 67-51 loss at Mississippi State.

Tennessee leads the all-time series by a count of 56-43 and has won five of the last seven encounters in Baton Rouge.

Guard Scotty Hopson hit a jumper with 21 seconds left to give Tennessee the one-point lead and the team held on for the win over Florida. The Vols turned up the intensity late, grabbing 36 of the last 50 rebounds in the game and erasing a six-point halftime lead for the Gators. Center Wayne Chism was a big part of that, leading the way with a double-double consisting of 16 points and 11 boards. Guard J.P. Prince added 12 points in the win, while Hopson finished with 10. The Volunteers have had to make some adjustments this season with loss of some key personnel, but that hasn't seemed to hurt the team. Tennessee is averaging a solid 77.8 ppg, getting it done on 46.7 percent shooting. Hopson is the top offensive option on the roster, converting nearly 50 percent of his shots (.495) and posting 13.6 ppg. Chism is the perfect complement down low, netting 11.8 ppg, while leading the way on the glass (7.2 rpg).

A lack of production at the offensive end of the floor has been the main reason that LSU is still in search of its first conference win and sits three games under .500 overall. The team has a good core, with three players averaging double figures. Tasmin Mitchell is one of the SEC's top frontcourt performers, leading LSU in both scoring (17.9 ppg) and rebounding (9.6 rpg). Bo Spencer (14.5 ppg) gives the team a perimeter threat, while Storm Warren (12.8 ppg, 8.0 rpg) helps Mitchell up front. The scoring pool evaporates after these three, with the next closest contributor tallying a mere 4.5 ppg. It was another offensive nightmare for LSU in Starkville last time out, as the team scored just 15 points in the first half and 51 points in all, falling by 16 to the hometown Bulldogs. Mitchell was responsible for just over half of the team's total output, hitting 10-of-24 shots to finish with 26 points. Spencer chipped in with just nine points, while Warren played 14 minutes, going 1-of-6 from the field for a mere two points.

The Tigers will try to rally around Mitchell again, but the fact is that LSU lacks the depth to get over on the Volunteers, who should be able to use their balanced attack to earn a solid road win here.