KNOXVILLE -- Proving that a win last week at Arkansas was no fluke, East Tennessee State University stood toe-to-toe with Tennessee here at Thompson-Boling Arena Wednesday night before falling 78-66 in a match-up of in-state neighbors.

The Bucs used their quickness and good guard play to help off-set the lack of height against the Volunteers and stayed in the game until the closing minutes.

"They were so much stronger than us, and they spread us out some and penetrated and pitched and created some constantly tough matchups," UT Coach Bruce Pearl said. "We played well enough to win, which is what I obviously want to try to do considering Thanksgiving and finals and the practice schedule."

ETSU Coach Murry Bartow was disappointed but not discouraged with his Bucs.

"We were right there," he said. "I thought we fought hard and competed hard. We were just a little short at the end. We were playing one of the top 10 teams in the nation on their home floor."

Tennessee never trailed in the game, but they were never able to completely put away the pesky Bucs. ETSU was within six points at 64-58 with 4:30 left in the game, then the Vols came up with enough big plays down the stretch to keep the Bucs from getting any closer.

The Vols swapped their run-and-gun game for a much slower pace, fearing they could not keep the ETSU guards at bay. Still, Justin Tubbs poured in a game-high 22 points for ETSU, while Tommy Hubbard scored 11 and Sheldon Cooley 10.

Tennessee got offensive help in many areas, but when Scotty Hopson's shooting touch went south for the night (4-of-14 from the field and 2-of-8 from behind the arc), the Vols turned to senior Tyler Smith to help them get over the hump.

"They have really good players, and I mean really good players," Bartow said. "There were a few missed opportunities offensively where we did not probably execute as well as we needed to. But 13 turnovers - ask Austin Peay and East Carolina - which had 29 and 35 against these guys; so 13 turnovers is pretty good."

J.P. Prince scored only five points in the game, but came up with one of the key plays when he stole an inbounds pass with 3:33 left and drove to the hoop and was fouled. The conventional 3-point play put the Vols ahead 69-58. ETSU got it back to an 8-point game, but after Melvin Goins missed two free throws with 1:07 left, he rebounded his own miss and then the Bucs had to foul for possession. Tennessee hit 6-of-6 from the foul stripe -- two each by Goins, Smith and Cameron Tatum -- to ice the win.

Bartow burned three time outs in the first half to settle down his Bucs after the Vols had threatened to stretch the lead. His second time out came with UT up 26-12 mid way of the half, and his troops responded to close the margin.

Pearl was whistled for a technical foul protesting a foul call late in the half, and two free throws by ETSU's Tubbs got the UT lead down to 34-29, and the Vols settled for a five-point margin at 36-31 at intermission.

Just before the first media time out of the second half, Tubbs went whizzing down the lane and scored on a scoop lay-up to cut the UT lead to 42-39. But Tennessee then went on an 11-2 run to improve their lead. Freshman Skylar McBee, who went 3-for-3 on long-range shots in the game, nailed two during the second half run.

Each time UT seemed to be ready to pull even farther ahead, ETSU would make a play to keep the team hanging around, and it stayed that way until the end.

Smith finished with 15 points and Hopson netted 10 for UT. Tatum and McBee each scored nine. Wayne Chism had nine rebounds.

Tennessee improves to 6-1 on the year while the Bucs drop to 4-4.

The Bucs hit the road again Friday when they go to UAB, then are off until Dec. 10 when they host North Georgia. Tennessee has time off for classroom work and will not return to the court until Dec. 11 when they take on MTSU in Nashville.