Tyler Smith scored 15 points and No. 11 Tennessee held off scrappy East Tennessee State for a 78-66 victory Wednesday night.

A steal and a fastbreak layup by ETSU's Justin Tubbs with 15:52 left cut the Vols' lead to 42-39. Tennessee (6-1) answered with an 11-2 run capped by a layup by Wayne Chism that boosted the lead to 53-41.

Tubbs led the Buccaneers (4-4) with 22 points.

Coach Bruce Pearl warned his players that ETSU could give them as much trouble as they had in a loss to No. 4 Purdue last month. The Buccaneers last week beat Arkansas on the road and gave top-seeded Pittsburgh fits in the opening round of the NCAA tournament last season.

ETSU used its pressure defense to slow down the Vols' fast-paced style, frustrating Pearl, who was charged with a technical while complaining to the referees about a foul on Scotty Hopson and the lack of calls against the Bucs.

Tennessee had held a 26-12 lead midway through the first half, but Tubbs hit two of the four free throw shots rewarded for Pearl and Hopson's fouls. He followed it up with a layup to cut Tennessee's lead to 36-31 at halftime.

The Buccaneers used their chances at the free throw line to their advantage, hitting 11 of 13. Tennessee went 15 of 24 from the free throw line and six of them came in the last minute of the game.

Before slowing the game down, the Vols did take advantage of Pearl's "controlled chaos" style of play, forcing 13 turnovers and scoring 21 points off them.

Hopson scored 10 points for Tennessee.

Tommy Hubbard added 11 points for ETSU, and Sheldon Cooley had 10.

Through Nov. 30, Tennessee ranked third among Division I teams with an average scoring margin of 27.2 points, thanks to lopsided wins against unranked opponents. The Volunteers entered the game having scored more than 90 points in their last three meetings with the Bucs.