KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- If Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl has been

looking another scoring option to complement stars Chris Lofton and

JaJuan Smith, he may have found a couple in Tyler Smith and Jordan

Howell.

Tyler Smith tied season highs with 22 points and eight assists,

and Howell scored a career-high 17 to help the Vols (No. 12 ESPN/USA Today, No. 11 AP) beat

Louisiana-Lafayette 98-70 Friday night for their 22nd straight home

victory.

"It's carrying over from the last three games," said Smith,

who is averaging better than 15 points over that span. "We're

learning from our mistakes and getting better going forward."

Smith transferred to Tennessee from Iowa to be near his ailing

father, receiving an NCAA exemption that prevented him from having

to sit out a season.

"It is good to see Tyler playing so well," Pearl said. "This

is three games in a row where he has shot well, passed well,

rebounded and been to the free-throw line. He makes a difference."

Howell hit five 3-pointers for the Vols (7-1), finishing 6-of-10

from the floor.

"You've got to be ready if the other team decides it has to

stop Chris Lofton or JaJuan Smith," Howell said. "Now hopefully

they'll say they've got to stop me. The last two nights I've been

at our practice facility at 9 o'clock to get extra shots and it

paid off tonight."

JaJuan Smith added 15 points, moving him within 17 points of

1,000 for his career, Ramar Smith had 14 and Duke Crews 10.

Chris Gradnino led Louisiana-Lafayette (1-4) with 15 points,

scoring 13 of them in the first half. David Dees added 14 points

and Elijah Millsap 12.

Millsap, the Ragin' Cajuns' leading scorer and Sun Belt

Conference freshman of the year, was coming off a career-high 26

points in his last game against Alabama-Birmingham.

Louisiana-Lafayette was in trouble from the start, making just

seven of its first 23 attempts and committing 14 turnovers that led

to 17 Tennessee points. The Vols moved the ball efficiently,

compiling 16 assists on 20 first-half baskets while turning it over

just six times.

"We did not do a good enough job on the interior and we allowed

too much dribble penetration," said Louisiana-Lafayette coach

Robert Lee. "We gave up way too many open looks in our transition

defense, especially from the 3-point line."

Lee was particularly critical of his defense, which allowed

Tennessee to shoot 53 percent from the floor and send the Ragin'

Cajuns to their fourth straight loss.

"For us to win this ballgame we needed to be almost perfect in

every phase of the game and we did not do that," Lee said.

Lofton, who broke out of a shooting slump with eight 3-pointers

against North Carolina A&T on Tuesday, scored just seven points on

2-of-5 shooting. But he still passed Carl Widseth for ninth on the

Tennessee scoring list, and is 10 3-pointers shy of Allan Houston's

record of 346 career triples.

The Vols and Ragin' Cajuns also met last year, when

Louisiana-Lafayette put a scare into Tennessee before succumbing

77-67.

This one wasn't nearly as close. Tennessee improved to 36-2 at

Thompson-Boling Arena since the start of the 2005-06 season, and is

21-0 in non-conference games under Pearl.

The Volunteers, averaging almost 90 points per game this season,

are 35-4 when scoring more than 80 points under the third-year

coach.