Dec. 18, 2003

KNOXVILLE, TN - Citadel basketball coach Pat Dennis went small with his lineup against Tennessee on Wednesday night. But it was the size and strength of the Volunteers that made the Bulldogs look really small.

"We just couldn't score over those monsters," Dennis said after the Vols handed the Bulldogs a 99-49 drubbing before 10,453 fans at Thompson-Boling Arena and a regional television audience.

Tennessee (4-1) blocked nine shots and held The Citadel to 26 percent shooting, out-rebounding the Bulldogs, 57-26. It was the most points allowed and the biggest margin of defeat for a Citadel team since a 112-61 loss to South Carolina in 1996.

"It was a heck of a whipping," said Dennis, whose 2-6 team has lost six straight games. "I thought we'd play better than we did, but I knew it'd be tough. Tennessee is a very good team, and they are so huge. We went to a smaller lineup for more speed and quickness, and they just dominated us inside." That likely would have been the result no matter what lineup Dennis started. The Bulldogs led by 2-0 early, but the Vols went on a 12-0 run and led by 51-17 at halftime, with a 29-7 edge on the boards.

Guard C.J. Watson led Tennessee with 16 points, and 6-5 junior Scooter McFagdon added 15. Swingman Stanley Asumnu scored 12 points, and 6-8 sophomore Jemere Hendrix, a transfer from Clemson, had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Freshman guard Anthony Miller, who made his first start and rounded out a three-guard starting lineup, led the Bulldogs with 11 points. Reserve guard Erick Wilson added nine. Starters Max Mombollet, Kevin Hammack and Dante Terry were able to do little against the Vols, combining to score 12 points on 6 of 27 shooting.

"I thought Anthony played really well, and Erick gave us some good minutes off the bench," Dennis said. "We are practicing very well, but we're having a lot of slippage when we get to the games. Usually, your game slippage is about 30 percent, and we're at about 80 percent right now. We're not doing things that we do every day in practice, that's our biggest problem right now."

The Bulldogs will have little time to get that solved. They were due to arrive back in Charleston at about 4:30 a.m. Thursday, and face Division III Chowan at 7 p.m. Friday before Georgetown of the Big East comes to town on Monday.

"This loss really makes that game Friday a must-win for us," Dennis said. "And it won't be easy. We've got to regroup and get ready to compete in a day."

Tennessee was coming off its first loss of the season, a 77-62 defeat at Nebraska in which the Vols shot just 11 percent in the first half and had five turnovers in the first five minutes. They cured those ills quickly against The Citadel, shooting 61 percent in the first half and 58 percent for the game.

"We needed this game for a confidence builder after what happened to us up at Nebraska," Vols coach Buzz Peterson said. "In our practice sessions, our players probably came out the last couple of days feeling that Coach Peterson was not their best friend. I told them in the locker room I loved them all, but I'm going to push them."

Up by 17 at the half, Tennessee started the second half with an 8-0 run to lead by 59-19, and the Bulldogs never got closer than 38 the rest of the way. It was Tennessee's biggest margin of victory in 17 years, topping a 93-47 win over Appalachian State in 1986.

-- The Vols' margin of victory gave Dennis the chance to go deep into his bench. Little-used sophomore Matt Gochnauer scored seven points in 14 minutes, and freshman guard Pat Quinn had five points in 11 minutes.

-- Friday's opponent, Chowan College, is a Division III team from Murfreesboro, N.C. Chowan is 4-3 this season with a 72-66 win over Washington and Lee, a team The Citadel beat by 62-44 on Nov. 25. Game time is 7 p.m. Friday.