Bruce Pearl and his second-ranked Tennessee Volunteers refused to overlook the first of two match-ups this week against a team known as the Tigers.

The Vols handled the visiting Auburn Tigers 89-70 Wednesday night and can now turn their attention to Saturday's game against the top-ranked Memphis Tigers.

The Volunteers (24-2, 11-1 Southeastern Conference) were led offensively by the three Smiths as Ramar, Tyler and JaJuan combined to score 44 points.

Ramar Smith shot six for seven from both the field and free-throws line to score a season-high 19 points. The sophomore point guard became the sixth different player to lead the Vols in scoring this year.

Tyler Smith had his second double-double in as many games with 13 points and a career-high 13 rebounds and senior guard JaJuan Smith added 12 points.

The Tigers (13-11, 3-8) stayed within striking distance early in the opening minutes as they were able to out rebound the Vols as the game began.

However, Auburn was unable to turn their extra opportunities into points as they shot only 22% from the field in the first half allowing Tennessee to pull away.              

Dewayne Reed's jumper midway through the half pulled the Tigers within five at 20-15. However, the Vols finished the half on a 26-5 run to take a 46-20 lead into the locker room and leave little doubt they would go to Memphis with a chance to become the nation's top team.

The Volunteers coasted through the second half relying on tough defense and improved rebounding en route to their eighth consecutive win.

The Tigers were plagued with foul trouble throughout the contest and struggled to score offensively, finishing the game shooting just 32 percent from the field.

"When you hold an opponent in the SEC to 32 percent from the field you're really doing something good," head coach Bruce Pearl said during his post-game radio show.

Frank Tolbert led the Tigers with 24 points and 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season.  The 10 rebounds tied Tolbert's career high. Quan Prowell added 21 points for the Tigers.

The Vols are now 11-1 in the SEC, their best twelve-game start in conference play since 1976-77. The win coupled with Mississippi State's loss to Ole Miss gives Tennessee a two-game lead in the overall standings of the Southeastern Conference.

Tennessee has now played all six opponents from the SEC West and finish with a 6-0 against Western division opponents.

The Volunteers return to action Saturday night in the highly anticipated match-up with the Memphis Tigers at the FedEx Forum in Memphis. The game, matching the nation's top two teams, will be televised nationally on ESPN and is set to tip-off at 9 p.m.

Instant Impact

The win against Auburn marked Bruce Pearl's 70^th career win as Tennessee's head coach. Since taking over in Knoxville no SEC team has won more conference games than the 33 won by Pearl's Volunteers. The Vols are 33-11 in conference play over the past three seasons.

Lofton Continues to Climb

Chris Lofton scored 12 points Wednesday night to pass Bernard King (1,960 points) for sixth-place on the all-time Tennessee career scoring list. Lofton now has 1,972 points putting him 93 behind Dale Ellis for fifth-place on the all-time list.

Lofton also made four 3-point shots to give him 402 in his career and become only the seventh player in NCAA history to surpass the mark of 400 3-point field goals.

He is now fifth in NCAA history and needs 56 more 3-pointers to break the NCAA record held by former Duke Blue Devil J.J. Redick.