GAME STORY: No. 23 Arkansas dominated, humbled at No. 1 Tennessee, 76-52, on Saturday in SEC opener for both teams

By Kevin McPherson

No. 23 Arkansas had not won an SEC opener in four years and had not won on the road in Knoxville, Tenn., in seven years, and now the Razorbacks can add another chapter to that futility after No. 1-ranked and still unbeaten Tennessee dominated and humbled the visitors, 76-52, on Saturday at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Arkansas (11-3, 0-1 SEC, NCAA NET No. 37) had its six-game winning streak snapped, and it lost by a double-digit margin for the second time this season (the first by more than 13 points) while suffering a season-low in scoring.

The Volunteers (14-0, 1-0 SEC, NCAA NET No. 2) came in ranked second nationally in defensive efficiency according to KenPom.com. They have now won four consecutive games against the Hogs in the head-to-head series as Arkansas fell to 22-27 all-time against Tennessee. Arkansas’ last win in Knoxville was in early January 2017 during the ’16-17 season.

Arkansas led 12-9 early before a 10-0 Tennessee run was the launching pad to a dominant Vols first half as they took a commanding 42-27 lead into the break. Tennessee maintained a mid-teens double-digit lead through the first 10 or so minutes of the second half before expanding on it in the late stages of the game.

The Vols dominated rebounding (51-29, including 24-9 on the offensive glass), three-point shooting (10-of-26 for 38.5% compared to the Hogs’ 6-of-29 for 20.7%), and free-throw shooting (12-of-15 for 80.0% compared to the Hogs’ 6-of-13 for 46.2%). Tennessee also won second-chance-points (16-10), turnovers (15-13, including 10-8 in steals), points-off-turnovers (13-6), points-in-the-paint (26-22), bench scoring (9-7), and assists (18-9).

“They kind of manhandled us,” first-year Arkansas coach John Calipari said. “I can’t remember the last time I had a team get beat by 30 rebounds. So we’ve got to do some soul searching, because this league… what they play like, everybody plays like. So we missed free throws, we missed threes and we get out-rebounded by 30. Aren’t you like ‘How did you only get beat by 25?’ Could’ve been 50. But hats off to Tennessee. They’re the No. 1 team for a reason and they did it to us.”

Neither team shot well overall from the field, but the Vols were better in both volume and effiency (27-of-69 for 39.1% compared to the Hogs’ 20-of-53 for 37.7%). Arkansas won blocked shots (10-1) and fastbreak scoring (8-3).

The Razorbacks are now 1-3 in Quad-1 games, 0-0 in Q2, 3-0 in Q3, and 7-0 in Q4.

Next up for the Razorbacks is their SEC home opener against No. 24 Ole Miss on Wednesday, Jan. 8.

Transfer guard and volume-shooter-scorer Chaz Lanier lit the Hogs up for a game-high 29 points (10-of-20 field goals, including 5-of-9 from 3, and 4-of-4 free throws) to lead Tennessee, while big man Igor Milicic recorded a double-double — 13 points and 18 rebounds — with senior guard Zakai Zeigler contributing 12 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals and transfer big man Felix Okpara notching 10 points and 4 rebounds.

Arkansas senior guard Johnell “Nelly” Davis (wrist soreness) returned to the rotation and played off the bench following two consecutive missed games, but Calipari once again started freshman wing Karter Knox along with senior big man Jonas Aidoo, sophomore guard DJ Wagner, freshman guard Boogie Fland, and junior 3/4-combo forward Adou Thiero.

Wagner (17 points) and Fland (12 points) led the Hogs in scoring, but only Wagner was efficient shooting the ball (6-of-12 overall field goals, although he was only 1-of-5 from 3, and 4-of-5 free throws). Wagner also had 3 assists, 2 rebounds, and 4 turnovers in 37 minutes. Fland finished with 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, and only 1 turnover in 35 minutes.

Thiero, Arkansas’ leader in scoring, rebounding, steals, and field goal percentage coming into the game, finished with only 6 points (3-of-7 field goals, including 0-of-2 from 3, and 0-of-4 free throws) to go with 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, and 2 turnovers in 25 minutes.

The Razorbacks’ other frontliners had disappointing performances as well. Aidoo and reserve big men Trevon Brazile and Zvonimir Ivisic combined for only 9 points and 10 rebounds, although the trio collectively did account for 7 of the team’s 10 blocks.

Davis, envisioned to have a role similar to what Lanier has given Tennessee out of the transfer protal in the offseason, failed to score (0-of-4 field goals all from 3) as he had 2 rebounds and 1 turnover in 25 minutes. Knox and fellow freshmen wing Billy Richmond III combined for 8 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 block.