The Arkansas Razorbacks (19-11, 8-9) self-inflicted injuries, missed too many free throws and often struggled to score in a 75-57 loss to Tennessee #12 (22-8, 11-6) Tuesday. evening in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Arkansas turned the ball over 16 times and shot 36.7 percent from the field against the nation’s No. 1 team in defensive efficiency. The Volunteers scored 42 points in the paint to the Hogs’ 18, and their bench outscored Arkansas by 13.
Freshman point guard Anthony Black turned the ball over six times in the contest, which tied his season high. Fellow freshman Nick Smith Jr. scored 12 points on 3-of-13 shooting from the field and a 1-of-6 performance from behind the arc.
All but three of Arkansas’ 57 points came from his guards. Jordan Walsh scored a run on a free throw and Makhi Mitchell hit a pair of free throws to complete the scoring from the Hogs’ front court.
Here’s a recap of Tuesday’s game, which brought the Hogs back under .500 in SEC play.
Just three minutes into the game, the Volunteers saw sophomore star Zakai Zeigler go down with a non-contact left knee injury that ended his night.
After just over seven consecutive minutes, the Hogs trailed by just three despite having five turnovers, six fouls and just four shots on target.
Arkansas cut it to a 17-15 lead in Tennessee on a pair of free throws from Makhi Mitchell with 7:43 left in the first half, but the Volunteers responded with a 9-2 run over the next 2:44 to increase by nine. The Razorbacks were content with jump shots and way too many threes, which led to missed shots and opportunities for Tennessee to gain even more momentum at the other end, which they often did.
Ricky Council IV drew his third foul of the game with 3:11 left in the first half, prompting Eric Musselman to clear the Council’s scoring threat and turn to rookie Derrian Ford, who played the rest of the half.
Despite turning the ball over 10 times, committing 11 fouls and hitting just 37.5% of their shots from the field in the first half, the Razorbacks managed to hold the deficit to nine, as they shot from the back 35-24 at halftime. Tennessee dominated in the paint, scoring 24 points to eight by the Hogs, who needed to do more than the Vols.
Black’s sixth turnover of the game turned into a Tennessee dunk that put it up by 11 and forced Musselman to call a timeout just over a minute into the second period. At that time, the Vols had more steals (10) than the Hogs had managed shots (9).
Arkansas managed to stay despite the Volunteers blowing easily through defenders. A board three cut Tennessee’s lead to 43-34 and the Vols recorded their fourth foul of the half moments later before the first media timeout of the second half.
An 11-4 run by Tennessee gave him a 15-point lead in the Under-12 timeout, and the Vols benefited from a few questionable calls at that time, one of which Musselman pleaded for a good part of the previously mentioned dead time.
Davis knocked down a three, stole a steal and made a transition layup to cut Tennessee’s lead to 58-46 with 7:59 remaining. The Vols led a 5-0 run after the media timeout of less than 8 minutes to extend their lead to 17.
Arkansas didn’t score a field goal over the next 6:22 and Tennessee was able to increase their lead to 72-50 in that span. A jumper from Davis helped the Hogs cut the final score to 75-57, but it really felt like they had lost more than that.
Next, the Razorbacks will wrap up their regular season by hosting the Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday at Bud Walton Arena. Tipoff is set at 1 p.m. CT on CBS.
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