The Lady Vols swept the Southeastern Conference's weekly women's basketball awards Monday with senior Shekinna Stricklen earning SEC Player of the Week honors and freshman Cierra Burdick capturing the Freshman of the Week honor.

Stricklen averaged 17.3 ppg and 7.0 rpg in three key SEC wins last week. In a must win over No. 7-ranked Kentucky on Monday, she scored 18 points and grabbed six rebounds while connecting on 66.7 percent of her shots. In that game the Morrilton, Ark., product eclipsed the 1,700 career points and 800 career rebounds. She led the Lady Vols with 22 points and 12 rebounds in a key road victory at Mississippi State on Thursday night, marking her fourth double-double of the season. On Sunday at Ole Miss, Stricklen tossed in 12 points, including two of three three-pointers, and grabbed three rebounds. For the week, Stricklen shot 53.8 percent from the field (21-39), 50.0 percent (3-6) from three-point land and 87.5 percent (7-8) on her charity tosses, averaging 30.0 mpg.

The honor is Stricklen's fifth career SEC Player of the Week award. She captured the accolade three times in 2009-10 and once in 2010-11. On the season, the 6-2 guard/forward leads UT in scoring with 15.2 ppg and 6.5 rpg - second on the team. In SEC play, she has upped her scoring average to a team-best 15.8 ppg. Stricklen joins classmate Glory Johnson (two times) as Lady Vols that have won the SEC POW this season.

Burdick was named the SEC Freshman of the Week for the first time during her rookie campaign after scoring 7.3 ppg and grabbing 6.0 rpg for the week. Averaging 18.0 mpg, she connected on 66.7 percent of her shots (10-15) while contributing 2.7 apg.

In limited duty versus Kentucky (10 minutes), she grabbed five rebounds, dished three assists and added a bucket. At Mississippi State, she logged 26 minutes while scoring 10 points, grabbing seven rebounds, with three assists two blocks. Against Ole Miss, she dropped in 10 points on 4 of 5 shooting (.800), collecting six rebounds and two assists in 18 minutes. The Lady Vols take the floor Thursday when they play host to Arkansas before wrapping up regular season SEC play when Florida comes to town Sunday.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Vols head coach Derek Dooley met with the media to discuss the 2012 Tennessee Signing Day class. Check out what he had to say.

» PHOTOS

TENNESSEE HEAD COACH Derek Dooley
(Opening Statement)
"It's like coach's Christmas on signing day every year. I want to start by emphasizing how important the team effort it takes to have a good signing day is, mobilizing all the resources, starting with your coaching staff. I have to give a special kudos to Jim Chaney, Terry Joseph and Darin Hinshaw who are our three remaining coaches from the prior staff and just did an incredible job of rolling up their sleeves with the four of us and trying to keep it all together when we hit a tough December.

"So kudos to them and of course to the support staff and administration that it takes from the video, the training room, equipment, academic center, VFL. All the things that when a kid comes on campus we sell, and the faculty and students for the time that they spent, the energy that they had when all these recruits were on campus. We couldn't have gotten this kind of class today without a great team, so I appreciate all of that.

"I will say it was probably as tough a recruiting climate over the last 12 months as I've been through. I will always be honest with you guys. Starting with the spring, all the things that were going on departmentally and with the NCAA. I think we hit July with one commitment which is not what we want, but is what we had. And of course the season didn't end the way we wanted it to end and every week was a change in coaching. We gave a lot of ammunition to our competitors and in this league, it is hard enough when you don't give them ammunition and we gave them plenty. Certainly on the social media landscape, which I call the national barber shop, it was non-stop, a lot of haircuts being given.

"What was so important when all of this was happening, and this is what I told the staff, was to keep the main thing, the main thing. Keep your focus on what is real, keep your focus on the facts and not get lost in emotion, not get lost in fear and not get lost in negativity. When I say keeping the main thing the main thing, I'm talking about first the foundation that we had laid in the last 24 months. Our roster of young people that we brought in for two classes and have now are going to be more mature, they are going to be more seasoned, they have experience and we have more depth.

"Secondly, all of the support structures that we put around these guys to succeed. How we develop them as players, how we develop them as students, how we develop them as people. And then the third thing is just the state of the Tennessee brand. I don't care what anybody says, this is a special place and still sells all over the country because of the great tradition, the fan base, the gameday experience, the atmosphere they feel when they come on campus. Those three things to me are the main things that we focus on. Our team, our support structures and Tennessee. All the guys kept their focus on that, all the recruiters kept their focus on that and that allowed us to get to where we are.

"Looking at our class. A little more spread out this year. Last year we signed 21 guys from Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. This year, that number is 12. I think we had nine other guys from six different states. Like every year, you say we could have done a little better in these states, we could have been good in these things and every year is a new year. Next year will probably be a lot different than this this year. What I do know is that the Tennessee brand carries all over. Everywhere we go we get a good reception. We are going to continue to try to recruit regionally and nationally. That's not to say that local is not important. It is always the most important. Heavy emphasis on offensive-skill playmakers and defense.

"The first question is why didn't you sign any offensive lineman? It's rare. I don't think this will ever happen again, but what is more rare is that we brought in 11 offensive linemen over the last 24 months, which I don't think anybody has done something like that. If you take that number and divide it by three, you have what you normally have, three or four guys a class. We felt that we were so young and deep on the offensive line, if there is ever a year where we could really focus on the skill positions to try to give us some depth so that when a guy gets hurt here and there we don't just love everything, and that's what we did. On defense, of course shoring up the D-line is always important. If we don't get better up front, we'll never have a chance and we got what I hope will be some good impact players in the back end that will help us from speed, tackling and covering ability.

"All in all, if you look at all that has happened and all that has transpired, it is hard to feel better than I do today. I made the comment to our coaching staff that this is the best that I have felt, as far as the future of our program and where we are headed, in the 24 months that I have been on the job. It is a good day, men. It is a happy day and I'm looking forward to celebrating it tonight with our staff."

(On managing the coaching transition and recruiting)
"It was challenging because when we were down to just a few coaches, we had to go and refocus our energy. The most important thing was getting to signing day. That's what I kept telling everybody. We have to get to signing day. Having said that, we had to get some of the key players in, especially at defensive coordinator. I think bringing in Jay (Graham) as quick as we did was a real boost for us. We were able to mobilize him on all of the running backs. And then having a quick transition on the offensive line was a big help just for manpower. Sam (Pittman) didn't really have any ties to our recruits, but it was just manpower. All l I asked our recruits to do was to be patient when it all hit. I'm going to tell you, it says a lot about their character and their commitment level to Tennessee, and the grit level they showed because they were getting barraged by some quality schools. They didn't flinch, they stayed with it. We had a quick loss there at the end, but that didn't have anything to do with coaching staff changes. I was really proud of that and I think it says a lot about the guys we got."

(On signing Deion Bonner)
"When I say bringing in high character, that doesn't mean that I am never going to bring in guys that have made mistakes because I can tell you right now, I have made as many mistakes in my life as anybody. I'll put my past record up against a lot of guys. Deion, we did a lot of diligence on the situation. Deion was incredibly truthful, was incredibly remorseful and I don't know of a high school player that had to pay the piper more for what they did than what he had to go through. He had an absolute public disparagement, (losing) five games of his high school career and everybody stopped recruiting him. It was tough. It was incredible the maturity that he showed and I believe that he can come in and represent Tennessee the right way, learn from his mistakes and be a great example. Certainly it is not the norm, but we felt with the diligence that we did on him and of course, he is a good football player, let's not deny that. At a key position, we felt willing to take the risk."

(On the 25-player signing cap)
"The 25 signing cap is a challenge and I can tell you that I am not alone in saying that. I'll give you a great example. In the past when you hit mid-term and you knew a guy wasn't going to qualify academically, you signed him and you helped him go to a junior college. You helped give him the hope that he could come back to a school like Tennessee. This year, when we hit December we did a real thorough analysis of what these academic risks were on a lot of these players and we had to part ways with a few guys for academic reasons and you get criticized for it. The fact of the matter is you have to make those kinds of decisions and you can't help them. It was also tricky down the stretch because so many of these guys wait until signing day to make a decision. Normally in the past, you can get a few more commitments, oversign some of these guys at the end and it will work out. This year you really had to think twice about stretching too many NLI's out there because it was going to be a three-for-one penalty. I think a lot of schools find themselves a little short than where we normally would be. Is it tricky? Year, but that's the rule. I'm against it and I will continue to be against it because I don't think the rule we had in placed hurt the young people. I think it helped them in a lot of ways. It helped them grayshirt and keep their opportunity, it helped them place in junior colleges and we are not able to do that anymore, but that is the rule."

(On how much the Kentucky game came up in recruiting)
"The game wasn't ever talked about, but what's written on the national barber shop creates a fear and paranoia that other schools love to highlight. What I try to do, of course, is anticipate what other schools are going to say, but it's still out there. The social media has really changed so much in our game and so much in the recruiting process, it just presents a lot of challenges because you find yourself having to defend the absurdity. The best example was the national fact that I hired Randy Shannon as defensive coordinator. It was a fact. Some great, respected media outlets reported it, all from one tweet. I never talked to Randy, still haven't. You end up having to defend things that are not only baseless, but there is absolutely nothing to it. You find yourself in a defensive posture a lot. Now we created a lot of it, so I'm not complaining about it. If we do our shop a little better, at the end of the year we don't have a lot of that. It is just the nature of the beast. Here is what I do believe and this is what I have seen. The players who are diligent in their process, have a nice support structure with a mom, a dad, a coach, whoever it is, and they go through the process intelligently, that negative stuff doesn't impact them. It doesn't impact them and the guys that it does impact, maybe it's best that they don't come. I didn't lose any sleep over it. It was just important to me to stay on the phone a lot and answer a lot of questions and that was fair. It's part of it."

(On signing three junior college players and whether they address a need)
"Just philosophically, and I said this last year, we are not going to build this program on junior college players, and that is not a knock on junior college players. What we will do is every year try to sign a few to try to address a need. You hit it. We had a need on the defensive line. We are going to have it every year on the defensive line. What Darrington (Sentimore) brings is he has played in 12 games in the Southeastern Conference at a high level. He is unlike most junior college players. We actually watched his film at Alabama, so we know we are getting. I hope that is going to help him and him being here mid-year I hope will help him.

"Dan McCullers, of course, brings something that most people don't have which is gargantuan size. He is really big. When you see him, he looks like two people. It's like a circus act. What's going on here? He is a big guy and those guys are hard to block. Now we don't want him to get so big that he can't move. That is going to be the challenge, but he brings size that we didn't have.

"CP (Cordarrelle Patterson), you watch the film and whether you need him or not you are a fool not to recruit him because he has tremendous playmaking ability, size, speed and also brings return ability on kickoffs. We signed a lot of wideouts because we were lacking depth there and, of course, the other guys are getting up in years."

(On losing two linebacker recruits at the end)
"Neither of them surprised us. The drama helps the viewership, I get it. We need that drama so we can drive the readers and turn it into a TV show. From the very beginning, even back in September, we knew those two guys, it was going to be tough to close them out because they were far away and never shut it down. They were always going to listen to other schools and go on trips. When that is happening experience tells you there is a good chance you aren't going to get them at the end. What made it challenging for us was, because of that 25 rule, you couldn't stockpile more at that position knowing you were going to lose them, because there was a chance you wouldn't. It happening so late, that's what makes it challenging. Had the 25 rule not been in place, we might have been able to hedge that bet a little bit better. But there still will be some possibilities to help us on that end."

(On the two linebackers Tennessee did sign)
"Extremely excited about them. I think both of them are going to be really good football players. LaTroy probably wasn't a good a fit in our old scheme and he knew it. LaTroy was getting a little shaky in December and I told him I'm going to fix it. Be patient because you are going to fit in perfectly with what we are about to do. He was patient and he was great. It was good."

(On the signees desire to play at Tennessee despite the coaching turnover)
"I think this is going to be a special group because of that. I just take a guy like Danny O'Brien up there in Michigan. I don't know if anybody got assaulted like he did every week. He is a far away guy, but I'm going to tell you, incredible character. I also believe that it is how you recruit these guys because we don't sell a recruiting coach. It's not about a recruiting coach. It's not just about me. We sell Tennessee, we sell the program, we sell the team, we sell the university, we sell our structures and when you recruit it that way I believe you don't have a lot of fall out. Now, when you recruit on hot sauce and emotion and chest bumping and I'm a great position coach, when things get disruptive, naturally it is going to go because it is built on sand. Our recruiting efforts, in my opinion, are built on rock. It is built on relationships and selling the right things that are going to impact their lives. When you do that you have very few (de-commitments). Last year we had zero. Now, what is the converse to that? Why doesn't everybody do that? Well, you're not going to get some guys because a lot of people like the chest bumping and the hot sauce in recruiting."

(On using current team to recruit)
"Keep the main thing the main thing. That was number one with our team because nothing is more important than the guys they're going to be playing with. I tell them, `You can be in Anchorage, Alaska and if you like the guys you're around, you're going to love it. You can be in the nicest house, the nicest stadium and if you don't like the guys you're around, you're going to be miserable.' That's the most important thing to me is getting the recruits around our team. I'm proud of these guys. These guys are locked in. They're locked in, they're great people and they're focused on football. They're not perfect. They're flawed like all of us, but there's a lot of good energy in that locker room right now and I think all of those recruits felt that. That's what counters all of that other stuff. That's why I say, `Keep the main thing the main thing.' That's number one on the main thing is our team. Number two is our structures that are going to help them develop and be successful. Of course, three is Tennessee. If you keep your focus on that, it's hard to say no."

(On the competitiveness recruiting in the SEC)
"It's highly competitive. Probably the most difficult thing is (when) a guy commits, and all that means is everybody knows who to attack. That's the hardest thing in this league. You talk to some of these guys who haven't been in this league and they can't believe it. It's just a different environment. It is. It's just incredibly competitive. I'm not upset at it. That's the way it is. I'm in it. I've been in it most of my coaching career. I wouldn't say it's dirty. I wouldn't say people cheat like a lot of perception is. That's not it. It's competitive and you better work. You can't go to sleep at the wheel because if you do, your guy is gone."

(On how current roster effects recruiting)
"It depends. I think nobody thought we would get CP (Cordarrelle Patterson) because of what we have coming back. You know what I've found? Great players don't care who you have because they have confidence in their abilities. I tell our guys `We're going to have great players every year. If you're scared to come in and compete, you don't need to be here. You need to go to some other school.' I also say, `To be a great team, you need a lot of great players.' I sell that to our team and they do a great job of recruiting because of that. You can be selfish, be an offensive lineman and when another offensive lineman comes in as a recruit, you do a bad job of recruiting him. I used to do that. I'm just kidding. You don't want him to come in and beat you out, but that's not how it is. When you're a good team with a lot of good players, that's what it takes to be a champion."

(On whether the skills of the new WRs indicate the direction of the offense)
"I don't think so because we signed three running backs. We signed another tight end. What we're trying to do is get a lot of playmakers and depth. We can't have an injury and the whole season goes south. We have to have a lot of good football players. It's the same at quarterback. We have three guys who we believe in. We have a lot of receivers. We have a lot of tight ends. Especially at the skill level. It reared its ugly head last year. You lose one guy here, one guy there and your whole season is done. You lose one guy in the backend and you can't cover anybody. You have to have a lot of good football players to win in this league because other teams get injuries too. You can't go blaming every year on an injury. You have to put the next guy in and go win. That's what we were trying to do."

(On the wide receiver class UT signed)
"They all bring different skill sets. Wideouts come in all shapes and sizes. Some can do things others can't. I'm not going to speculate what they're going to look like next fall. You guys know how I am. I don't try to build these guys up because I don't know what they're going to look like in the fall. I have to get them in here, develop them, coach them and see what they can do. We'll see how they play when the lights come on, but we feel like we have a pretty quality class at that position."

(On planning on having flexibility signing 21 players)
"Yes, because I felt like there might be some guys falling out that didn't happen before because of this 25-thing. Last night, everybody in the SEC, there was a lot of jockeying going on out there trying to figure out who is getting who because it's going to impact who you can send an NLI to. It's tricky, but those are the rules."

(On if there are any unsigned players UT is looking at)
"There will be some. Time will tell. You know what? I wasn't going to take a marginal player to fill out everything because I'm not sure we can get to 25 next year. You can always count back next year."

(On whether he was nervous about LaDarrell McNeil's decision)
"I was extremely nervous. You look at indicators because he took a visit to Oklahoma State. Are you nervous? Are you kidding me? I mean, yes. He comes back and he's going to take another visit, but then he cancels it. When that happens, you get a little peace. But are you nervous? Yeah. You're calling them 28 times before signing day. `Are you there? Is everything OK?' `Yeah, coach. What?' You don't hear from them in two hours and you're in a panic. He's just at a movie. That's the challenge of recruiting far away because the worst time of the recruiting period is when it goes dead - Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. You don't know what's going on, on the street."

(On LaDarrell McNeil)
"We liked everything about him. He has great character too. Do I think he has all the skill sets back there? Yeah, I do. He's physical. He's fast. He's rangy. He's big. We'll see."

(On the three running backs Tennessee signed)
"I feel like we signed guys we think will be (dynamic). You watch the film. There are not many more out there that are more dynamic than what a couple of these guys are. Alden (Hill) was our first running back commitment. He brought size that I felt like we didn't have coming back. We signed Q (Quenshaun Watson), who has some explosive qualities that not many guys have. He's incredibly fast. He's a 10.5 100-meter guy, state champion almost in track. He also brings return ability. We only had one returner last year and you all forget that. He (Devrin Young) went through a little period where he was getting hit around. You have to have a lot of guys at a lot of positions. He can do some things in the backfield when you get him the ball in space. Davante (Bourque), to me, is that all-purpose every-down (back). He's big. He's fast. He has great instincts. How all those three guys will help us, only time will tell. They're all going to get a great opportunity to help us, as will the guys on our roster who are going to be more mature and more seasoned. We'll see how it plays out."

(On multi-year scholarships)
"I don't really have an opinion on that other than I'm against those. I think that will be more discussions in our head coaches meetings. I don't know. We forget this is a contract, a two-way street. I think it's humorous that the academic institution can give an academic scholarship and take it away when a student doesn't perform at a certain GPA-level, but it's absolutely the worst thing you can do as a coach - it's so wrong what you do to these young people - when he doesn't do what he's supposed to do. I'm still trying to figure out what I'm missing. You have these contracts. It's called quid quo pro. We give you this. You give us that. But if they don't give us that and we decide not to give them this, then it's the worst thing you can do. I'm still struggling to understand that issue. I'm not smart enough to figure it out. I have to spend more time on it before I give an opinion."

(On how the 25-man limit effects recruits that want to come to Tennessee but don't yet have offer)
"It's hard because you want to be honest with them. You don't want to misrepresent. You have to tell them, `Look, I can't send you an NLI right now, but if another guy doesn't come, I'll send you one.' `Boy, you really want me, don't you coach?' And these other schools are saying, `We want you. You're our guy.' So it's hard."

(On whether recruit has to take scholarship on the table)
"He doesn't have to, but what would you tell your son to do? This is what makes it hard. You could sign guys and when you oversign them, you still give them the opportunity to come to Tennessee. I think that's where a lot of the confusion happens. People think when you oversign, you just kick guys on the street and they can't go to college. That's not what's happening. That's not what's real. What we've done is we've taken one or two rare exceptions, rare circumstances where it wasn't managed properly and we've turned it into a national crisis. It's what happens, you overreact. We had a good rule in place that was in place for one year."

Big Orange. Big Ideas. It’s a perfect way to describe the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and is the focus of a new branding strategy unveiled today.

The debut of a new look for UT is focused on reaching students, faculty, and staff to share more about the branding project which embraces UT’s colors, its energy, achievements, and enthusiasm.

The tagline “Big Orange. Big Ideas.” will be used as the framework for marketing the university and reminding people of UT’s impact on the state and the nation. UT also unveiled the look in its redesigned website at www.utk.edu.

The campaign will become part of UT’s printed and online publications and identity markers on campus. It was unveiled today through flags and banners on campus, ads in campus media, posters, the university website, and from a student-focused T-shirt giveaway featuring a radio remote with WUTK-FM.

“Everyone at the university is an ambassador for UT and plays a role in representing our brand,” noted Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek. “The new look and words are simple, but they provide a much-needed platform for telling our story and strengthening our reputation.”

A large factor in UT’s goal of moving into the ranks of the Top 25 public research universities is based on reputation. The largest portion of the U.S. News & World Report rankings is based on peer reputation surveys.

“As we make progress on our goals, sharing our story is more vital than ever,” said Chancellor Cheek.

The brand celebrates the distinctive and vibrant color of the university: Tennessee orange.

“Orange is central to our visual identity but we aren’t just any orange,” Cheek said. “We are Big Orange. And we inspire Big Ideas. It’s an exclamation of pride, a reminder of who we are, a challenge to what we strive to be, and a promise to ourselves and to the world.”

UT’s Office of Communications and Marketing—with the help of communication representatives across campus—developed the campaign. A variety of audiences including students, faculty, staff, alumni and parents, weighed in on its direction along the way.

Margie Nichols, vice chancellor for communications, said higher education is now a competitive, consumer-driven market that targets students and their parents.

Nichols said UT must clearly and consistently convey its strengths, citing ranking lists, college guide books, advertising, and various online tools about universities.

“People’s first impressions go a long way into building reputation,” she added. “We needed to more clearly define the words and visual identity we want people to associate with UT. This is an opportunity to convey the momentum and the energy of our campus and to showcase our students, faculty, staff, and alumni.”

Opening statement
"We had a solid week. We didn't play as well in Nashville but I thought we bounced back strong and really competed on the defensive side of the ball. We did a good job of executing our offense. We've got to knock some of those shots down from the perimeter and late in games take care of the ball. It's very important. We had four turnovers in the first half of our last game and ended up with 16. Those were careless mistakes in handling the ball.

"Now going on the road and being ready to play, it's more mental than anything. Our preparation is there. It's just a matter of carrying out assignments, being ready to play and having fun - embracing the atmosphere more than anything. That's more mental right now, the mental toughness part of it.

"We're doing a good job of rebounding the basketball, especially offensively. We're doing well from a defensive standpoint as a team - really gotten better in that department, really taken pride in that area. Now we've just got to complete the mission more than anything. We're holding our opponents in league play under 60 points - down seven from during the pre- (conference) season, so the effort is there."

On ways to find more offense
"It's just a matter of guys knocking shots down more than anything. If you go back and watch film, we had some pretty good looks in the Auburn game from the perimeter. It's just having the confidence and knocking them down. I don't think you continue to try to add different plays, because I don't think it's the plays. It's just knocking shots down - especially when they're open. Now if you don't have open looks and the team is playing great defense, that's one thing. But your bigs are getting doubled on the blocks and you have the opportunity to score the ball it's just really, simply, knocking them down."

On Jordan McRae getting more minutes
"If he continues to work hard, yes."

On learning about Kentucky from the first meeting
"Watching them on film, they made plays when they needed - it was one of those games where both team played hard, both teams defended. But when they needed plays to be made on both sides of the ball, they made the plays necessary to win the game.

"(Michael Kidd-) Gilchrist got a big rebound, got a big dunk, made a big three. Anthony Davis made a big jump-hook. And on the other end, we had some opportunities. Got the ball knocked out of our hands in certain areas and got some great looks from the 3-point line and didn't capitalize. It was just a game of players making plays down the stretch.

On if Tennessee has faced a better defender than Kentucky's Anthony Davis
"Not at all. He's the best in the land. You have to give credit where it's due, because he can change the game completely with the way he defends. And the thing that's most impressive about him is he does it without fouling. He does a great job of playing extended minutes without fouling, and he's so even-keeled. And then you're talking about a guy with his frame - kind of a slight frame - but he takes hits, he's very physical, he doesn't back down from challenges.

"But a very impressive defender, one of the best I've seen in a very long time because he does it without fouling. And that's not an easy thing to do when you know teams are constantly coming at you. You scheme for him like he's an offensive player when he's on defense."

On talking to the team about the challenges inside Rupp Arena
"Just go play, have some fun and compete. Once again, as a ballplayer, you embrace that type of atmosphere. Going on the road, you want a hostile environment. It's just going and competing, doing the things necessary to win the game, carrying out the necessary assignments on both ends of the floor. The great ones love that environment."

On McRae bouncing back to earn more playing time
"He has done a good job with that. He's a guy who was built to score and shoot a lot of balls. The key for him is understanding that in order for him to be successful and our team to be successful, there are things he has to do on both sides of the ball. And he did a great job of stepping up and taking a charge in the Auburn game. He has good length on the perimeter; he has good athleticism. It's just using all those necessary tools to be successful, because he can help us."

On the impact Terrance Jones brings to Kentucky
"Well, he's talented. He's the one guy they go to most of the time on the blocks. First play of the game is normally him on the post making a play. He's a physical presence around the rim, he can make threes, he can take it off the dribble - he does a lot of things for their team. A talented player."

On the definition of `staying ugly'
"It's just really playing hard and not really consumed or worrying about how you look. It's more about how you play, and really from a toughness standpoint - being physical, being aggressive, being assertive. In college, I had different color shoes. Our uniforms were gold and black and I had red and black shoes on. It didn't bother me. I played in them because I was just playing basketball. One time I had different shoestrings in because the other ones broke. I didn't care about all that stuff. I was just playing basketball.

"When you consume yourself with the effort on the floor, you don't worry about all that stuff on the periphery."

On guys possibly losing offensive production because of increased defensive intensity
"You would have to ask those guys, but you also gauge the offensive performance against the competition and how they played. The good ones perform at a high level - and the game's been played on both ends of the floor since these guys were born. You have to be able to do it at both levels."

On if defensive demands affected Coach Martin's offensive performance when he played
"Good question. For me as a freshman, because I couldn't play on the perimeter it was all defense anyway just to get on the floor. Once my offensive skills developed, I was able to play on both ends of the floor. I do understand that. I became a better 3-point shooter and I was still a really good defender. You're a ballplayer and you play at that level. Defense more than anything is having pride in what you're doing, and offensive is spending time working on your shot.

On Jarnell Stokes' growth since joining the team
"He's grown because he's spent time with it, and it's still going to take him a lot of time. You go from the time we started in the spring with all the returning guys, to workouts in the fall up until, really, SEC play when we became a better defensive team. Now you're talking about a young guy fresh out of high school, with four or five months of knowledge he didn't from this program. He obviously came from a great high school program.

"I played on a high school team and we played a 1-2-1-1 press back to a 2-3 zone. Gene Keady was all man-to-man, so there's an adjustment you have to make just at the different levels and the different programs. For him, he's put so much time and he's trying to gain so much knowledge, he will be good at it faster than probably others because he wants to be so good at it. And he takes pride in what he's doing."

On Kentucky's differences since the first meeting
"It's more tweaks than anything. When you look at the good teams, when you're No. 1 in the country there's not a lot of change. The competition changes more than anything. You watch their offense, they tweak here and there. But when you're the best in the land, I don't know how much change you try to do because they are good at what they do. You see it coming. You have to find ways to defend it and guard it more than anything."

On Tennessee's status since the first meeting
"I definitely think we're better at home, and now you have to go on the road and prove it more than anything. Are we a better team? Yes, we're a better team. But you have to go on the road in a hostile environment and prove it."

On the play of Kentucky's Darius Miller the last few games
"I had a chance with the World University team to coach Darius and I really like him. He probably was the most complete player on that team because you could put him at any position on the floor and he was very effective. He does a lot of things well. He can make shots from the perimeter, play from the two through the five (all positions except point guard), really - they play him at the 2, 3 and 4 (shooting guard, small forward, power forward). A lot of times it depends on the mismatch. He can take a smaller guy on the post; a bigger guy he takes on the perimeter.

"I really like the way he plays and he has such composure to him. He's a guy who as a senior coming was off the bench and accepted that role and embraced it. Now he's starting. It's just a credit to him as a ballplayer to stay ready."

On the reason for Trae Golden's recent shooting struggles
"To be exact, you'd have to ask him. The biggest key is getting in the gym and continuing to work on your shot. Whenever your shot isn't falling, it's just getting the reps up and working on it, getting the confidence back to make a couple. He did a great job of getting to the free-throw line the last game and making his free throws. That's the one thing I talked about with him from Day 1: Try to get to the free-throw line to get baskets.

"When you're the key guy offensively, obviously teams key on you. He's rarely going to get open looks consistently - one or two times in a game. So for him, it's pressuring the ball on defense, bringing the ball up the court in transition and making plays, finding guys. Teams identify him, so he will never have easy looks. The key for him is when that double-team comes (in the post), being able to knock that 3-point shot down. When we're in the bonus, get to the free-throw line and gets some free throws that way to try to get as many easy baskets as possible - which is easier said than done."

On thoughts about Rupp Arena
"I've seen it for years. I had an opportunity to play there in the NCAA tournament back in 1994 and it seemed like a nice place to play. Great rims, great atmosphere. But I've never actually coached in that environment and never coached against Kentucky in that gym. So it will be exciting."

On limiting road turnovers
"Really just take care of the ball. It sounds very simple, but just really take care of the ball and make simple plays, make simple passes. No disrespect to Georgia and Vanderbilt, but I don't think it was, `Were they were pressing and running and jumping all over the floor (as to why) you had 20 and 25 turnovers?' It's just really taking care of the ball and making good decisions and playing to your strengths."

On if lack of concentration is a reason
"I would say definitely it's lack of concentration in your mental approach. Because just sticking to the script, doing the simple things, getting the ball where it needs to go, if a guy's open pass to the first open man, jump-stop and make a simple play in transition - it's very simple. It's just a matter of doing it."

On Kentucky's Marquis Teague making significant strides since the first meeting
"He made strides even before we played them. I've known Marquis since he was a little guy and he's done a great job. He's always going to score. He could really score the ball, but he's done a great job of accepting the fact that he has to run that team on offense for those guys to be successful. Because he's a guy who could score 20 a night. I give him credit; he's done a really good job of making sure those guys get shots, make plays. And then when the shot clock goes down, that's when he plays. He's getting to that rim and he's making plays. He's done a good job."

On being able to identify players who embrace playing on the road
"I don't know that it's necessarily easy to identify, because when you recruit guys out of high school you recruit them based on the talent or what you need and you like to assume they have that. There are a lot of different factors that go into it when you get to college up against different competition. You lose confidence, homesick, not playing as much - so a lot of different things go into it.

"There are some guys you don't think have it and they're the best at it. That doesn't have anything to do with being the best player on the floor. That's something inside of you as a competitor more than anything."

On talking to the team about those road issues
"I've talked to them about that since I took the job. That was Day 1. That's just who we are. That's a brand. You don't all of a sudden walk into a game and say, `This is what we're trying to do.' It's too late at that point. That's everyday conversation."

On how Coach Martin got himself prepared to play in hostile environments
"That started back 40 years ago, I would imagine. Growing up in the environment I grew up in, you're not fazed by a basketball game. My biggest fear in college more than anything was Coach Keady. It wasn't the competition. I averaged 25-30 points per game in high school. My first year of college, I sat that bench and I ended up averaging 5.3 points because I did the things necessary late in that freshman year to get on the floor and play. But it wasn't necessarily the competition or the environment I was going against. It was more him (Keady), trying to please him and do the things he needed me to do to be successful. But as far as going in the gym to play a game, it's just a game. I look forward to it."

On if Coach Martin hopes his players fear him the way he feared Coach Keady
"Just respect what I'm saying and how we go about our business. How I walk every day, they understand this is how we walk in the gym. It's not a question of who you're playing against; it's how we're playing. That's just a mentality, and that's developed over time and every day.

"Thank you."

Final Stats |  Quotes |  Notes |  Photo Gallery

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FINAL

TENNESSEE
(12-3, 3-0 SEC)

Next: Jan. 12 at Kentucky

69

ARKANSAS
(11-4, 0-3 SEC)

Next: Jan. 12 at Ole Miss

38

Bud Walton Arena   //   Fayetteville, Ark.   //   Att: 5,258

TEAM STATS

Tennessee

Arkansas

FG

27-54 (.500)

10-55 (.182)

3-Pt

4-16 (.250)

3-20 (.150)

FT

11-18 (.611)

15-16 (.938)

Rebounds

16-31-47

12-12-24

Turnovers

20

18

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

Tennessee

Arkansas

Points

Shekinna Stricklen 19

Lyndsay Harris 14

Rebounds

Glory Johnson 15

Quistelle Williams 6

Assists

Ariel Massengale 5

Kelsey Hatcher 2

Steals

Glory Johnson 3

C. Berna 2
L. Harris

Blocks

V. Baugh 2
G. Johnson

Three with 1

» FULL STATS

PLAYER OF THE GAME

» Glory Johnson

Senior // Forward // Knoxville, Tenn.

Glory Johnson netted her fifth consecutive double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds, becoming just the fourth player in UT history to surpass 1,000 in both categories.

NUMBERS OF NOTE

4

Glory Johnson became the fourth Lady Vol to join the 1,000 point, 1,000 rebound club with 14 rebounds against Arkansas.

11

The Lady Vols allowed only 11 points in the first half, tied for the fifth-lowest in Lady Vol opponent history and the fewest since giving up 11 to South Carolina Feb. 1, 2007.

18.2

The Lady Vols held Arkansas to 18.2 percent shooting in the contest (10-of-55), the lowest of a Tennessee opponent this season.

36

The triumph adds to UT's recent successes in the Southeastern Conference; the Lady Vols have won 36 consecutive games in the SEC.

119

Lady Vol senior Shekinna Stricklen has the nation's longest starting streak. Including today, Stricklen has started 119 consecutive games.

» POSTGAME NOTES

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Shekinna Stricklen made sure she went out in style in her last performance in her home state.

Stricklen scored 19 points, and Glory Johnson recorded her fifth straight double-double, as Tennessee (No. 7 ESPN/USA Today, No. 6 AP) routed Arkansas 69-38 on Sunday.

The win was the 36th straight in Southeastern Conference play for the Lady Volunteers (12-3, 3-0), who opened the game with a 25-3 run and never looked back.

Tennessee hasn't lost an SEC game since a 53-50 loss at Georgia on Jan. 21, 2010, and it was in no jeopardy of doing so while holding the Razorbacks to a season-low point total.

"Our defense was just outstanding," Tennessee associate head coach Holly Warlick said. "We were swarming, and that's the type of defense that a Tennessee team should always play."

Arkansas, meanwhile, remained winless in SEC play. The Razorbacks (11-4, 0-3) hit only 3 of 30 shots in the first half, and their 10-of-55 shooting for the game (18.1 percent) was the worst in school history.

"I haven't sat at the podium many times after playing a game where I felt like we were totally outplayed from beginning to end," Arkansas coach Tom Collen said. "I promise you, it wasn't much prettier from the seat that I had on the floor, and I'm sure it wasn't real pretty from the stands."

Stricklen, who starred in high school in Morrilton, Ark., scored what was a career-high 26 points in a win at Arkansas last season, and the Lady Volunteers' leading scorer was equally impressive this time around. The senior scored six points early as Tennessee opened with a 14-0 run, including one of her two 3-pointers for the game.

"Shekinna, I know there's a lot of pressure on her to come home and play," Warlick said. "But she seems to thrive on playing in this gym. If we could take this gym back home for Shekinna, we would."

She finished 8 of 12 from the field and had eight rebounds in front on a sizeable and vocal cheering section behind the Tennessee bench. The strong effort came after Stricklen had shot just 32 percent over her last four games.

"It felt great coming back home and playing in front of my family and friends and people from my community," Stricklen said. "It's just great to come back.

"... It felt good to come home and kind of get out of a slump."

Stricklen's performance was hardly the only dominant one.

Johnson, who entered the game only four rebounds short of 1,000 for her career, didn't need long to reach that mark against the Razorbacks (11-4, 0-3). She grabbed her fourth rebound and scored on a putback late in the first half to put Tennessee up 31-8 -- finishing with 15 points and 14 rebounds.

The game was well out of hand at that point.

Arkansas didn't score until Lyndsey Harris' 3-pointer 6:24 into the game, and it opened 1 of 19 from the field. Harris, who finished with 14 points, hit two first-half 3-pointers, and the Razorbacks' only other basket was a putback by Quistelle Wiliams.

Arkansas' previous worst shooting half was a 3-of-26 performance against Wichita State in 1981. Its previous worst game was 8 of 41 against Louisiana Tech in 1978.

The Razorbacks entered the game shooting just 38 percent as a team for the season. The previous worst performance this season was a 17-of-53 effort against Florida State in November, but they managed to win that game 55-52.

They had no such chance against the suffocating defense of Tennessee, which held Arkansas' leading scorer C'eira Ricketts to two points on 1-of-11 shooting. Harris didn't fare much better at 4 of 14.

"I think eventually we did kind of get down on ourselves as the game went on and the shots weren't falling," Harris said. "I think we put a lot of pressure on each of us individually to kind of score."

Johnson joined an elite group of Lady Vols to reach the 1,000/1,000 club. Also achieving 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in their UT careers were Chamique Holdsclaw, Sheila Frost and Tamika Catchings.

Tennessee's win was never in question after it scored the first 14 points of the game and jumped out to a 25-3 lead.

The Lady Vols return to action Thursday, Jan. 12, at Kentucky for a 7 p.m. tip.

Box Score |  Quotes |  Notes |  Photo Gallery

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FINAL

FLORIDA
(12-4, 0-1 SEC)

Next: Jan. 10 vs. Georgia

56

TENNESSEE
(8-7, 1-0 SEC)

Next: Jan. 12 at Mississippi State

67

Thompson-Boling Arena   //   Knoxville   //   Att: 17,689

TEAM STATS

Tennessee

Florida

FG

25-49 (.510)

20-56 (.357)

3-Pt

5-10 (.500)

7-22 (.318)

FT

12-21 (.571)

9-15 (.600)

Rebounds

7-27-34

14-23-37

Turnovers

13

15

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

Tennessee

Florida

Points

Kenny Hall 13

K.Boynton/E.Murphy 13

Rebounds

Jeronne Maymon 7

Patric Young 7

Assists

Trae Golden 7

Kenny Boynton 3

Steals

Three with 2

Patric Young 2

Blocks

Three with 1

Erik Murphy 4

» FULL STATS

PLAYER OF THE GAME

» Trae Golden

Sophomore // Guard // Powder Springs, Ga.

Tallied 12 points and handed out seven assists to lead Vols to win over #13 Gators. Knocked down two clutch 3-pointers in win.

NUMBERS OF NOTE

9

An unranked Tennessee team knocked off a ranked Florida team for the ninth time in history and first time since Feb. 27, 2007.

13

Kenny Hall tallied a season high with 13 points, in his first game off the bench this season.

+24

The Vols outscored the Gators by 24 in bench points, 25-1.

35.7

The Vols held Florida to a season-low 35.7 field goal percentage. The Gators' previous low was 41.2 vs. Arizona.

56

Tennessee held Florida to a season-low 56 points and lowest mark since the Gators scored 54 against Kentucky in the 2011 SEC Tournament (3/13/11).

» POSTGAME NOTES

BY JOSH PATE
UTSports.com

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee placed four players in double-figures as the Volunteers opened Southeastern Conference play with a 67-56 upset victory over No. 13-ranked Florida on Saturday afternoon at Thompson-Boling Arena.

In head coach Cuonzo Martin's conference debut, his defensive-minded Vols held Florida's three-guard attack in check by winning the edge in the paint and holding the Gators to just 29.6 percent shooting in the second half. Florida (12-4, 0-1 SEC) shot a season-low 35.7 percent in the game to Tennessee's 51 percent.

"I thought it was a great atmosphere," said Martin, whose Vols improved their record to 8-7, 1-0 in the SEC. "It was fun to watch our guys really compete and battle. I don't think there have been too many times like that this year that we've played like that from a passion standpoint, playing for each other and defending the way we did."

It was the Vols' first win over a ranked team this season and first since Feb. 22, 2011, when Tennessee upset No. 18 Vanderbilt 60-51 in Nashville.

"It was really good for us to get our confidence back after the loss at Memphis and I think it was really good for our fans," said Jeronne Maymon, who scored 12 points for the Vols. "It's only one game, but we were just trying to start it off strong. Everybody's record was 0-0 so we were just trying to start over like a new year."

The fresh start was fueled by an emotional team meeting on Friday.

"We had a great team meeting last night with our chaplain Roger Woods and also (former Vol All-American) Tony White," Martin said. "Those guys gave our guys good inspiration with the things they said. It was great. They said some wonderful things."

The pep talk worked.

Tennessee's plan from the outset was to feed the inside. The Vols outscored the Gators 32-20 in the paint and continuously drove the basketball rather than taking the long shot. Tennessee only attempted 10 3-pointers and made five of them.

"We did a great job of scoring in the paint," Martin said. "We shot five 3s in the first half and I thought we played a very effective game, a very efficient game. We were just putting our head down, getting to the lane and making things happen."

It was the first time all season Martin has toyed with the lineup, this time starting Josh Richardson and Renaldo Woolridge instead of Kenny Hall and Jordan McRae. Hall and McRae responded off the bench. Hall led the inside presence for UT by scoring 13 points, and McRae got going midway through the first half and finished with 10 points.

Maymon and Trae Golden both added 12 points.

The high output by Hall and McRae off the bench exemplified Tennessee's advantage in bench points. The Vols outscored the Gators' bench 25-1, with Casey Prather's free throw the only score by a Florida sub.

Kenny Boynton and Erik Murphy led the Gators with 13 each.

Tennessee pulled out of a tight game late in the first half thanks to a jumper by Wes Washpun and then a 3-pointer from Golden to end the half with the Vols up 33-29.

In the second half, it was all Vols. Richardson nailed an early 3, and Cameron Tatum got a steal and a dunk to make it 38-31 Tennessee.

Hall got going midway through the second half when he converted a three-point play and Tatum added a pair of free throws for Tennessee to expand the lead into double figures at 55-43.

Tatum followed that up with a falling-down 3-pointer from the corner to make it 58-43 Vols as they began to pull away.

Florida converted a pair of free throws, but Maymon responded with some defensive pressure. He fought for a rebound on the defensive end, then made it worth the effort offensively when he worked for a bucket in the paint to make it 60-45 Vols.

The Gators attempted to charge back with a pair of free throws from Patric Young. Then Florida's Bradley Beal drove the basket on the following possession but missed from point-blank range. The follow-up by Will Yeguete also missed to sum up the afternoon for Florida.

McRae dropped in a circus shot in the lane to make it 65-49 with 2:32 remaining for Tennessee's biggest lead. Florida chipped away in a hurry with two Murphy free throws and five consecutive points from Erving Walker. But a pair of Trae Golden free throws and two missed 3s from Florida sealed the upset victory in Knoxville.

"I think the only people that thought we were going to get our next win today were us in the locker room," Golden said. "It was very satisfying. It's something we just have to continue to work at. We can't get complacent."

There's no time for complacency, either. Tennessee travels to Mississippi State on Thursday for a 9 p.m. ET tipoff (ESPN2) against the Bulldogs. The Vols then return home after the quick turnaround to host No. 2 Kentucky next Saturday at noon.

University of Tennessee Vice Chancellor/Director of Athletics Dave Hart announced Tuesday that head men's swimming and diving coach John Trembley has been relieved of his duties. Assistant coach Lars Jorgensen will serve as the interim head coach for the program for the remainder of the season.

Trembley was in his 23rd season as the head coach for the men's swimming and diving program and has served in that capacity since 1988. A 1975 graduate of UT who competed in swimming, Trembley served five years as an assistant for the Tennessee program from 1975-79 before assuming head coaching duties at Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania from 1980-88.

Jorgensen, who is a 1994 graduate and a former swimmer at UT, is in his second season with the Tennessee program after arriving at UT in August 2010 as an interim assistant before being promoted to full-time in 2011, assuming the position previously held by the late Joe Hendee. Before arriving in Knoxville, he served for six years as the head coach at Toledo and five years as an assistant coach and associate head coach at LSU.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Despite 22 points by Trae Golden, the Vols suffered a 69-51 loss at Memphis on Wednesday night. Tennessee's four-game winning streak was snapped as the Vols record leveled at 7-7 heading into the SEC opener vs. No. 13 Florida on Saturday at 11 a.m.

The Tigers (9-5) used a strong low-post game, outscoring the Vols 38-22 inside. Antonio Barton led Memphis with 19 points and Tarik Black tallied 18, as he made 7-of-8 from the floor. Will Barton, came off the bench to score 10 points.

It was Golden's third game this season with 20 or more points and came on the heels of a career-high tying 29 vs. Chattanooga on Monday night.

Memphis played great defense, holding the Vols to 36.2 from the floor and just 5-of-21 from the 3-point line. Memphis also outrebounded the Vols by 10, 36-26. Black topped the Memphis board charts. Jeronne Maymon had nine points and nine rebounds in his follow-up to his career performance of 32 points and 20 rebounds in the rematch between the teams.

"They did a really good job of defending us tonight," said Tennessee head coach Cuonzo Martin "I thought that we did a good job in the first half, but when you struggle to get points and score, all of a sudden your offense become stagnant."

The Tigers contnued to pull away as the Vols struggled from the floor all game. Joe Jackson had two key fastbreak lay-ups and Antonio Barton nailed a 3-pointer with 4:44 left for a 56-41 lead for the Tigers.

Memphis took a 10-point lead at 37-27 on a 3-point field goal by Antonio Barton with 15:21 left in the second half. Cameron Tatum answered with a 3-pointer just seconds later.

The Vols trailed 28-20 at halftime as defense was on full display. Tennessee was limited to just 30 percent from the floor (9-of-30). Golden had 10 points including a pair of 3-pointers to lead all scorers in the first 20 minutes. The officials allowed the teams to play as only seven personal fouls were called and the Vols didn't go to the free-throw line. Memphis was forced into eight first-half turnovers, which the Vols converted to half of their points.

Wednesday's game was a rematch of a 99-97 double-overtime win by the Tigers back on Nov. 22 in Maui.

Tennessee returns home to host No. 13/14 Florida on Saturday at 11 a.m. to open SEC play. The game will be televised on ESPN2 and can be heard statewide on the Vol Network.

In his postgame comments on the Vol Network, Cuonzo Martin spoke about the newest member of the Vols Jarnell Stokes and his status:

"Jarnell has been cleared by the NCAA, but he's not eligible (to play games) he has to be cleared by the SEC as well. He wanted to be a part of (the game) and be on our bench with us. So we loved to have him. He's a part of the family. He can come back to Knoxville and start practicing with us, that will be tomorrow. When he gets back with his family, he can get down (to Knoxville), but he won't be able to play games until he's cleared by the SEC. There is some paperwork that he has to fill out, information that he has to send in to the SEC.

"He won't be able to play (games) until school starts. That's the rule. But, the biggest key after that, once he's cleared is when we feel he's healthy enough, and when I say 'healthy,' I mean from the standpoint of conditioning, to be ready to play. Even though he has done a lot working out, he hasn't played an actual game since the end of July — a 5-on-5 competitive game. As it's really a matter of us, when we feel he's physically ready to go and go out there and compete on a high level."

The #6/7 Lady Vols used a 30-0 run in the first half to run away with a 90-47 victory over Chattanooga on Tuesday night at Thompson-Boling Arena. Tennessee moved to 10-3 with the easy win in its final home non-conference game this season. The Lady Vols will play their third game in five nights on Thursday as Georgia comes to Knoxville for a 7 p.m., tip-off on CSS.

Freshman Ariel Massengale (19 points) and Isabelle Harrison (13 points) each scored career-highs in the win as four Lady Vols scored in double-figures. Glory Johnson tallied a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Meighan Simmons also scored 10 points.

For Johnson, it was her third straight double-double and sixth of the season.

The Lady Vols outrebounded the Lady Mocs, 55-28, while shooting 47.2 percent from the floor. Chattanooga was limited to just 30.4 percent for the game including 20.7 (6-of-29) in the first half.

The game marked the return of junior guard Kamiko Williams, who missed the first 12 games recovering from a torn ACL. Williams played 16 minutes and had two points, four assists, two steals and three rebounds.

The Lady Mocs (8-4) were led by former Lady Vol Faith Dupree, who had 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting.

Tennessee led 10-8 with 16:34 left in the first half before that 30-0 run, which made it 40-8 with 5:48 left in the half on a jumper by Cierra Burdick.

Again, UT hosts Georgia in its second SEC game on Thursday at 7 p.m.