n 1-for-6 shooting. Andre Roberson and Oladipo were larg

After losing in overtime at Texas A&M and in lopsided fashion to Alabama at home, Tennessee needed last weeks break before heading into the stretch run that it hopes will end with an SEC East Division title and a berth in the conference championship game.The 18th-ranked Volunteers hope (5-2, 2-2 SEC) start with a trip to South Carolina (3-4, 1-4). The two teams meet at 7:15 p.m. Saturday (ESPN2) in Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, S.C.I thought it was a very productive open week, work week, Tennessee coach Butch Jones said. Now, what did we do with it? We had a lot of individuals gain physical reps. Some gained mental reps.Again, its very, very important now that we get back to work and we have game-speed repetitions with some time off.The Vols find themselves at a disadvantage in the division race for the first time since handing Florida its only loss back on Sept. 24. So far, that has been the only setback for the Gators, who play Georgia this weekend and have the postponed contest with LSU coming next month in Baton Rouge, La.Tennessee cant afford another loss at this point.They understand the stakes, Jones said, referring to his players. They understand the importance and the magnitude of each game. Its all about being a champion, an individual champion.What happens is to win championships, your team is comprised of individual champions. Its individuals that live their life like a champion. Theyre a champion every day by the way they handle their academics, by the way they handle their nutrition, their rest, their attitude, their practice, their mentality, by their style of play.We dont ever talk about winning championships. Its about being a champion each and every day, and we talk about that.Recent history would seem to indicate that no matter what it may look like on paper, the game against South Carolina could work out to be a much bigger challenge for the Vols than might be expected.The last four meetings have been decided by a total of 11 points, with the Gamecocks winning by 38-35 in Columbia in 2012 and the Vols by 23-21 (2013), 45-42 in overtime (2014) and 27-24 last year.As a coach, you sit and watch their body of work on video and I see a football team continuing to improve and get better and better, Jones said of the Gamecocks, who snapped a three-game losing streak with last weeks 34-28 win over Massachusetts. Im very impressed with them defensively.They make you beat them. They make you beat them through execution. Theyre only giving up 21 points per game. I believe theyre 11th in the country in red zone efficiency, so execution will be at a premium.The Gamecocks played with a new starter at quarterback last week, yanking the redshirt off freshman Jake Bentley, who responded by completing 17 of 26 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns. But this will be his first time against an SEC defense.Regardless of the situation, we have a lot of confidence in Jake and anybody we put on the field regardless of who they are and position concerned, South Carolina coach Will Muschamp said. Tennessee has a good football team. Weve got to give those guys credit.Muschamp singled out one Tennessee defender for particular attention. Defensive end Derek Barnett has 11.5 tackles for loss with six of the teams 10 sacks.I think hes the guy that can change games, Muschamp said, and we need to account for him.So, too, can Bentleys Tennessee counterpart at quarterback. Vols senior Josh Dobbs has rushed for 293 yards, third on the team, and passed for 1,525. Junior running back Jalen Hurd has rushed for 435 yards despite missing one game to injury.Josh Dobbs is a three-year starter in our league, Muschamp said. Hes won a bunch of ball games and does a great job. Jalen Hurd is a guy that runs extremely hard. Hes tough, physical and competitive. Hes going to fight for every yard.Youre going to have to get a bunch of hats around the ball and gang-tackle this guy. Youve got to finish on this guy. Hes a very competitive runner.Wholesale Custom Jerseys . Darren Helm scored on Detroits sixth attempt in the shootout and then Jonas Gustavsson stopped Andrew Shaws shot, lifting the Detroit Red Wings to a 5-4 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night. Wholesale Stitched Jerseys . Defencemen Drew Doughty, Shea Weber and forward Ryan Getzlaf also scored for the Canadians, who started their gold-medal defence 2-0. Goalie Roberto Luongo, getting the call in place of Game 1 starter Carey Price, was solid when needed in making 23 saves for the shutout. https://www.wholesalejerseys2020.com/ . -- Derrick Rose shook off poor shooting early to hit clutch shots late and Carlos Boozer had 20 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 104-95 preseason victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night. Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping . With the first unit struggling of late and Amir Johnson - one of the teams iron men - hobbling on an injured right ankle, Patterson knew he could get the nod in a challenging matchup against one of the leagues up and coming players at his position. Cheap NFL Jerseys China . - Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco is not a fan of his teams use of the wildcat formation, saying "it makes you look like a high school offence.OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Thunder showed no lingering effects from their emotional loss at Golden State.Russell Westbrook scored 28 points to help Oklahoma City beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 112-92 on Saturday night.Enes Kanter had 20 points and 10 rebounds, Steven Adams scored 14 points and Victor Oladipo added 12 for the Thunder in their first game since being blown out by Golden State and former teammate Kevin Durant on Thursday.Well take something from that game to help us learn going forward, Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. And it was all about us tonight. It was all about what we need to do, how we needed to play defensively, how we needed to play offensively.Westbrook also had eight assists and six rebounds. The Thunder improved to 5-1 on the season, matching their best six-game start since moving to Oklahoma City for the 2008-09 season.The Thunder shot 52 percent from the field and held the Timberwolves to 39 percent shooting.You have to make plays, Minnesota coach Tom Thibodeau said. You have to move the ball side to side, and when we did that, we got good looks at the basket.Karl-Anthony Towns scored 33 points for the Timberwolves after scoring 32 Thursday night against Denver. He scored 25 points in the first half, but Westbrook countered with 18 to help the Thunder take a 59-53 lead into the break.Towns, he really played exceptionally well in the first half, and he made a lot of shots, Donovan said. He did it in a lot of different ways. He made 3s, he had post moves, he had face-ups. He had everything. Hes a terrific offensive player.No Minnesota player other than Towns reached double figures until the fourth quarter.The Timberwolves hung close for the early part of the third before the Thunder took over.An 11-0 run, sparked by a 3-pointer by Westbrook, then a steal and dunk by Westbrook, made it 79-61 and led to a Minnesota timeout. Jerami Grants two-handed dunk put Oklahoma City up 83-62, and the Thunder led 90-72 at the end of the third quarter.The Thunder held the Timberwolves to 30 percent shooting in the third quarter.dddddddddddd.We just turned it up a notch, Oladipo said. Now, we have to do that for four quarters. When we play like that defensively, we give ourselves a great chance to win.The long runs by opponents have been a recurring issue for the Timberwolves.Its a problem, Thibodeau said. The only thing we can do is take a look at the film, try to get some work in, try to make the corrections.---TIP-INSTimberwolves: Towns scored 13 points on 6-for-9 shooting in the first quarter, while his teammates shot 5 for 15 and scored 12. ... Rookie point guard Kris Dunn, who started in place of the injured Ricky Rubio, finished with seven points, four rebounds and three assists in 29 minutes. Rubio is out indefinitely with a sprained right elbow.Thunder: Shot 63.6 percent in the first quarter to lead 32-25. ... Westbrook had six assists in the first quarter. ... Westbrook was called for a technical foul early in the third quarter.SHUTDOWN DEFENSEMinnesotas top two scorers got nowhere. Andrew Wiggins, who entered the game averaging 24 points, scored seven points on 3-for-13 shooting. Zach LaVine, who was averaging 21.3 points, finished with just four on 1-for-6 shooting. Andre Roberson and Oladipo were largely responsible for defending them.LONG DISTANCETony Juarez of Oklahoma City won $20,000 from Mid-First Bank when he made a halfcourt shot during a timeout in the third quarter. According to the Thunder, it was the 10th time someone made the shot since the team moved to Oklahoma City in 2008, and the first since Dec. 13, 2015.The 22-year-old Juarez told a Thunder spokesman he would use the money for school. He called his mother in El Paso right after stepping off the court.UP NEXTThe Timberwolves play at the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night.The Thunder host the Miami Heat on Monday night.---Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter (at)CliffBruntAP. ' ' '