NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - The 12th-ranked Tennessee Volunteers may not want to play the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers on a neutral court ever again.<br />
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Freshman Brian Williams scored 16 points and grabbed 14 rebounds as Tennessee held off Western Kentucky 88-82 Saturday night in the second game of the Sun Belt Classic doubleheader.<br />
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It was a big victory for the Volunteers (9-1), who improved to 1,400-904-2 all-time, the fourth-most wins in Southeastern Conference history. They won their fourth straight this season, but it wasn't easy with a cold start by preseason All-American Chris Lofton in a foul-filled game.<br />
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Western Kentucky (7-3) had no reason to be in awe or intimidated by the Volunteers in the second meeting between these teams.<br />
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Even with lots of Tennessee orange, Hilltopper red filled up a good share of the seats, with most of the 18,010 fans who bought tickets for the doubleheader sticking around for the late game.<br />
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JaJuan Smith led Tennessee with 19 points. Tyler Smith added 16, and Lofton finished with 14 after missing his first six shots.<br />
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Courtney Lee scored 23 points for Western Kentucky. Tyrone Brazelton and Ty Rogers each had 16.<br />
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The Hilltoppers had a chance to pull off the upset at the end, using a 10-1 run that pulled them within 79-78 on a bucket by Steffphon Pettigrew with 3:28 left. He had a chance for the three-point play to tie it up but missed, and Williams got the rebound.<br />
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Williams, who did not play the past two games for the Vols, then scored the next six points. The Hilltoppers couldn't get closer than three inside the final 2:23.<br />
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The fans got the better show in this game, even though No. 2 Memphis beat Middle Tennessee 65-41 in the first half of a doubleheader designed to bring Tennessee's top two teams to a somewhat neutral court for the Sun Belt Conference members.<br />
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J.P. Prince's debut with Tennessee was overshadowed by the close finish. The Memphis native transferred to Tennessee from Arizona midway through last season had eight points and seven rebounds.<br />
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Mike Walker's layup with 15:36 gave the Hilltoppers their first lead since 5-4 at 52-51. The teams swapped buckets until JaJuan Smith's layup put Tennessee back up to stay at 55-54, the first of 11 straight points.<br />
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Hilltoppers coach Darrin Horn took a timeout, but it didn't help.<br />
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Orlando Mendez-Valdez turned the ball over, the Hilltoppers missed two shots on their next possession and JaJuan Smith hit a 3 for a 64-54 lead with 12:14 to go.<br />
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The Vols wound up hitting more shots at the line (27-of-42) than they did from the floor (26-of-62). They also made more free throws than Western Kentucky attempted (15-of-22).<br />
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Lofton started very slowly.<br />
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He didn't take his first shot until the first 12 minutes had passed, and he missed his first six five from 3-point range. Then Prince stole the ball, passed upcourt to Tyler Smith who threw it crosscourt to Lofton in the left corner, and the senior finally got his first bucket with 44.6 seconds left in the half.
