KNOXVILLE — So much for record-setting excitement.

The Tennessee men’s basketball team cruised to a program-record 34th consecutive home victory Tuesday night, but a 91-64 victory over UT-Martin didn’t leave coach Bruce Pearl exceedingly pleased.

If not for several careless possessions, missed shots in the paint and poor lob passes, the 14th-ranked Volunteers (2-0) could have flirted with the 114 points they poured on UT-Chattanooga in Friday’s season opener.

UTM (1-1) may prove to be a tougher opponent than the Mocs, but Pearl didn’t think his team played well enough to know.

“That was a little bit more like I was expecting opening night,” Pearl said. “I thought we played pretty well to start, but we just couldn’t maintain that level of excellence.

“How much of the second half was playing the score? We didn’t against Chattanooga. We took the opportunity in the second half against Chattanooga to get better, and we did not tonight.”

Sophomore center Brian Williams led the Vols with a career-high 21 points and 12 rebounds. Junior forward Tyler Smith had 19 points, while J.P. Prince and Wayne Chism each added 11 and redshirt freshman guard Cameron Tatum added 10.

Chism also had a double, with 10 rebounds in just 20 minutes. The Vols had a 58-41 advantage on the glass.

“Martin had really good guards, but we had an advantage on the inside,” Pearl said. “And I don’t think we took full advantage of it.

“It’s great that Wayne and Brian had double-doubles, but I thought we could have really hurt them on the inside more than we did.”

A Tatum transition slam dunk in the final minute put UT over the 90-point barrier that ensures every ticket holder a free chicken sandwich, much to the delight of a roaring student section.

Dunks were a safer way to score for the Vols, who were 2-for-17 behind the 3-point line.

“We don’t need to be doing that too many more times,” Smith said.

As expected, UT junior Josh Tabb made his season debut after sitting out both exhibitions and the UTC game with undisclosed academic issues. Tabb spelled point guard Bobby Maze, scoring just one point but collecting four assists and four rebounds in 14 minutes.

“He’s played better in practice than he did tonight,” Pearl said of Tabb. “But point guard is a new position for him.”

UT was more solid defensively, limiting Skyhawks star guard Lester Hudson to 20 points on 7-for-22 shooting, with most of his scoring coming late in the second half. He was whistled for three fouls and scored just two points in the first half on 1-for-7 shooting.

“He’s a great player, an NBA-caliber guy,” Maze said of Hudson. “I watched tape of him all last night, and some of the shots he made were incredible.

“He was our main focus. We knew if he got out to a hot start that it could be a long night. But we did a great job as a team defensively, because different guys checked on him.”

Tuesday started much like the UTC game, as a few sloppy possessions in the opening minutes preceded a fastbreak flurry. UT took a 27-6 lead on a sweet Smith layup with 13:41 left in the first half.

Three Marquis Weddle 3s kept the Skyhawks in the game despite 10 turnovers in the first eight minutes.

An M.J. Brown layup pulled UTM within 42-26 with 7:01 left in the first half, but the Vols responded with a 15-4 spurt and eventually led 57-31 at the break.

“It’s hard to top how well we played in the last game,” Maze said. “But we definitely could have been better in this one ... especially in the second half.”

UT will leave Thompson-Boling but stay in state for a Friday night game at Middle Tennessee State.

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