Men's Basketball
Vols Win 1st Exhibition Game 117-79 (10/30/2009)
Tennessee's sophomore guard Scotty Hopson dropped in 20 points Friday night as the Vols used muscle and athleticism to overpower Division II North Alabama 117-79 to win both teams' first exhibition game of the season in front of 18,362 at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Seven UT players scored in double figures with freshman post player Kenny Hall going 5-for-5 from the floor for 14 points. It was a telling story of how Tennessee shot as a team: 65.7 percent from the floor, 58.8 percent (10-of-17) from 3-point land.
Still, Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl saw ways to improve. "We were trying to have controlled chaos out there, but to me it looked like we had more chaos than we had control," Pearl said in reference to his team's 26 turnovers amid the uptempo style. "We turned ourselves over way too much and the game was way too sloppy. You've got to start someplace and it's a starting point."