Bruce Pearl

KNOXVILLE -- The University of Tennessee's final men's basketball tune-up went as expected Wednesday night in Thompson-Boling Arena.

Not great. Not bad. And plenty good enough, considering the competition.

The 10th-ranked Volunteers crushed Lincoln Memorial, 97-58, before setting their sights on a Nov. 13 season opener against Austin Peay.

LMU kept things a tad more interesting than exhibition-opening opponent North Alabama, but the Railsplitters still struggled to stay within 40 points until the Volunteers' main rotation left the floor.

"There were some areas that we wanted to try to improve on tonight, and I thought we did," UT coach Bruce Pearl said. "I thought we were better defensively, I thought we rebounded better in keeping them off of the boards, and I thought we handled the ball better ourselves.

"I would have liked us to have shot the ball a little bit better ... but this was a little bit better test for us tonight."

Sophomore guard Scotty Hopson, who is at least 15 pounds heavier and shooting the ball with much less loft than last season, again led UT with 20 points in just 18 minutes.

The Vols got 11 points apiece from senior forwards Tyler Smith and Wayne Chism in short appearances -- Smith didn't play in the second half -- and Chism collected eight rebounds.

"I'm starting to demand the ball more," the 6-foot-7 Hopson said. "Slashing and scoring is what I do best, so I know that if I have the ball in my hands, I can make plays for my teammates, and we can put more points on the board."

Hopson finished 7-for-9 from the floor, 2-for-3 from 3-point range and 4-for-6 from the free-throw line. Pearl said his former high school All-American was better defensively, but he'd like Hopson to more closely monitor his assist-to-turnover ratio -- which was 0-to-3 Wednesday.

UT struggled through the opening minutes, as coaches continued tinkering with the rotation, and the Vols started a chilly 1-for-10 from 3-point range. Freshman guard Skylar McBee tossed in two from long range just before the break, though --including one at the buzzer -- to give them a 53-31 lead.

McBee finished 3-for-7 from behind the arc.

"Skylar has continued to be a steady performer, in addition to making 3s," Pearl said of the preferred walk-on from the Knoxville area. "He defends, he rebounds his position, he doesn't turn it over. He's just really solid, and then he's a real threat out there (on the perimeter)."

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