Nov. 14, 2006

Box Score

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - JaJuan Smith scored a career-high 21 points, and No. 25 Tennessee beat UNC-Wilmington 87-75 Tuesday night in the South Region championship of the NIT Season Tip-off.

Tennessee improved to 3-0 for a second straight season and will play Butler on Nov. 22 in the semifinals at New York.

The Vols, a young team starting two freshmen and playing four more, showed they can play the pressure-packed, stingy defense coach Bruce Pearl wants. They forced UNC Wilmington (1-1) into 32 turnovers, with 13 coming off steals as the Vols pushed the tempo.

They didn't trail in the second half and led by as much as 83-62 on a three-point play by freshman Wayne Chism with 4:11 left.

The Vols played on the same court where they will take on Oklahoma State on Dec. 18.

Chris Lofton, who missed five of his first six shots, finished with 17 points for Tennessee. Reserve Ryan Childress had 14 and Duke Crews had 13.

Ramar Smith, Tennessee's freshman point guard, had been questionable after hurting an ankle in Monday night's win over Fordham. He started and scored eight points.

The Seahawks, playing their second game under new head coach Benny Moss, were missing senior guard T.J. Carter, out after having groin surgery on Nov. 1.

They shot well, hitting 53.1 percent (26-of-49), but that wasn't enough to overcome the turnovers.

Montez Downey and Darryl Felder each scored 15 for the Seahawks, Vladimir Kuljanin added 14, Todd Hendley had 13 and Temi Soyebo 10.

They led early but fell behind by 16 in the first half. They tied the score five times, the last at 44 in the opening minute of the second half. Tennessee scored 25 of the next 32 points to take control of the game.

Tennessee opened the game playing stingy defense and crisp on offense. The Vols led by as much as 36-20 with 6:22 left on a jumper by JaJuan Smith. But UNC Wilmington has been to the NCAA tournament four times in the past seven years, and the Seahawks pulled themselves together.

Instead, they finally started holding onto the ball and forcing Tennessee into mistakes. They outscored the Vols 20-4 down the stretch and trailed 42-40 at halftime despite 18 turnovers that Tennessee turned into 24 points.