Tennessee throttles Arkansas, prepares for Vanderbilt

The No. 8 Tennessee Vols (18-6) traveled to Fayetteville to face Arkansas (12-12) looking to rebound after a nasty loss on the road last week. And rebound they did, dunking on the Razorbacks 92 to 63 in a blowout. 

Tennessee picked up another quality SEC win, and won in Fayetteville for the first time since 2009. The win comes at a good time as Tennessee is trying to maintain its place amongst the elite and compete for an SEC title. Right now, Tennessee is in a four-way race with Alabama, Auburn, and South Carolina for the conference title. 

Tennessee put in a solid team effort as 4 players scored double digits. Jonas Aidoo led the way with 23, Dalton Knecht had 22, and Jordan Gainey had 17 points respectively. 

Arkansas came out hot initially and kept the score close in the first half.  But, it was the second half where the Vols smoked the Razorbacks, hitting a season-high 57% of their field goals. The defense was just as nasty, allowing the Razorbacks to hit just 38% of their shots, and also forced 12 turnovers. The Vols scored 28 points off those turnovers. 

Another huge improvement over last week’s loss to Texas A&M was rebounding. The Vols were getting beat at second-chance points which killed any comeback from manifesting. But last night, the Vols outrebounded their opponent 36 to 25. Last night was an all-around effort that showed how deadly the Vols can be. If the Vols keep playing like this, anything is possible come March.

What’s Next 

Tennessee has a favorable match-up against Vanderbilt this Saturday at home. But, they need to be focused and not sleep on Vanderbilt, who just beat A&M at the buzzer Monday night. After that, Tennessee has a tough remaining schedule with four games against top 20 teams. But, as mentioned earlier, if Tennessee can play the way they did against Arkansas, there’s really no team that should scare the Vols.