Unbeaten Tigers Ready To Tangle With Tennessee

UT playmaker point guard Tony Harris

Auburn won last year's only meeting, a 74-69 decision, in the SEC home debut as head coach for Jerry Green. The Vols finished the 1997-98 season with a 20-9 record that included an 82-81 overtime loss to Illinois State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Overall, the Vols lead the series 59-32, but the Tigers have a 22-19 edge in games played in Auburn. UT has not won at Beard-Eaves Coliseum since taking a 74-69 decision in 1989. This season, 12-0 Auburn is off to its best start since winning 19 straight to open the 1958-59 campaign. Auburn coach Cliff Ellis says he is delighted with the strong start, which he says has drawn national attention to the AU program. "We've handled some name teams on the road," says Ellis, who adds there are bigger challenges ahead in SEC play. "I don't think there is a bad team in the league. We are a good basketball team. We will find out how good we are. There is no question this is the best Auburn team since I have been here."

The Vols, who were ranked as high as ninth nationally in the preseason, have dropped out of the Top 25 polls with their 8-3 preconference records. The Tigers and the Vols have no common opponents. Auburn, which is ranked 15th by AP, is the third Top 25 team Tennessee has faced. UT lost 73-72 to Arizona at Albuquerque, N.M., and defeated Pittsburgh 56-53 in Knoxville. Tennessee has not played since taking a 92-60 victory over UNC-Greensboro on Dec. 22nd. UT's other losses came at Miami of Ohio (68-62) and at St. Joseph's (55-53).

Isiah Victor, a 6-9 redshirt sophomore forward, leads the Vols in both scoring and rebounding. He has hit 61 percent of his field goals for his 12.5 points per game and pulls down 7.6 rebounds. "Isiah is much improved from an year ago," Green says. UT's other scorer in double figures is Tony Harris, a 6-0 sophomore guard. He is making 37.4 percent of his shots and averages 11.2 points per contest. "Tony has learned to run our team effectively from the point guard position," Green says.

In last year's game, Bryant Smith led the Tigers with 16 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists as AU prevailed despite fouling out Mamadou N'diaye, Scott Pohlman, Doc Robinson and Randy Hughes. AU held a 49-37 edge on the boards and shot 48.3 percent to 33.3 for the Vols. Pohlman scored 15 and N'diaye added 13 points for the Tigers, who led by as many as 16 points in the second half.

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