East Carolina University
Tennessee
Pirates Fall To No. 10 Tennessee
November 20, 2009 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 20, 2009
Complete Box Score in PDF Format 
From staff and wire reports
ST. THOMAS, V.I. --- Scotty Hopson hit four 3-pointers and scored 25 points Friday, and No. 10 Tennessee (3-0) rolled to a 105-66 victory over East Carolina (1-3) in the opening round of the Paradise Jam at the University of Virgin Islands Sports and Fitness Center.
Hopson, who has made 14-of-18 attempts from beyond the arc this season, connected on 10-15 field attempts, including 4-of-5 3-pointers, prompting praise from Pirate head coach Mack McCarthy.
"At 6-foot-7, it's hard to contest him," McCarthy said. "What is he, 14 of 18 this season? There are guys that aren't shooting that from the free throw line." Tennessee's Bobby Maze scored 15 points, Cameron Tatum had 14, Tyler Smith 13 and Melvin Goins added 10 points and five assists. Seven different Vols hit 3-pointers, with the team collectively making 13-of-24.
Tennessee's defense created many of the scoring opportunities, smothering the Pirates with its self-styled "controlled chaos" press. Tennessee forced 35 turnovers, most in Pearl's five years as the Vols' head coach.
The Volunteers opened an early lead, but the Pirates mounted a spirited charge to take a six-point eight minutes into the game. Sherrod and Turner hit back-to-back 3s to put ECU ahead 15-13. A jumper by Young and a pair of free throws from Morrow gave the Pirates their largest lead of the game at 19-13 with 11:06 left in the half.
Young's jumper proved to be ECU's only field goal over the next 12 minutes as Tennessee turned up its defensive pressure and scored 10 unanswered points to retake the lead, 23-19 with 9:02 to go. The Vols continued to apply the pressure and surged to a 32-20 lead. Young, who led the Pirates with 15 points, made two free throws to interrupt the UT run, but the Vols outscored the Pirates 30-12 in the final 12 minutes to take a 43-29 halftime lead.
"They certainly wore us down," McCarthy said. "They don't lose much when they go to the bench. But 35 turnovers? I don't think I've ever seen that."
When it did penetrate the Volunteer defense and protect the basketball, ECU did get good shots and took advantage of those opportunities. The Pirates shot 52.6 percent (20-38) from the floor. The problem was that Tennessee made more shots than ECU attempted. The Vols connected on 40-69 field goal attempts for 58.0 percent.
ECU will face Northern Iowa on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. EST.
