Fayetteville, Ark – KD Notae and Jaylin Williams both finished with 13 points apiece as No. 23 Arkansas (20-6) defeated No. 16 Tennesee (20-7), 58-49, at Bud Walton Arena on Saturday. The Razorbacks have now won 11 of their last 12 games and seven straight at home. The loss is just Tennessee’s second since January 15.
Although not the prettiest game to watch, it was a matchup between two very good teams that had to fight tooth and nail to try and pick up a huge win in the SEC. In the first half, both teams were feeling one another out as they went to the break with a 24-23 Arkansas lead.
There were plenty of whistles in this game, and that meant foul trouble for both teams. Four of Tennessee’s five starters had at least three fouls.
Arkansas held Tennessee to just two field goals in the final eight minutes of the game and, using an 11-1 second-half run to take complete control.
Neither team shot the ball well; Tennessee made just 27.1% of their shots, while Arkansas shot a bit better as they made 30.5%. Arkansas shot better from the free-throw line, making 17 of their 22 attempts from the charity stripe. A huge difference-maker was turnovers as Arkansas forced 15 Tennessee turnovers compared to 10 forced by the Vols.
Head coach Eric Musselman praised his team’s effort on Saturday.
“We’re not always cosmetically pleasing on offense,” said Mussleman after the game. “But nobody plays harder in the country than this team right now.”
Jaylin Williams finished with a double-double, grabbing 16 rebounds to go along with his 13 points. Williams was all over the court being a menace on both offense and defense.
Vols Come Up Short
Coming into Saturday’s contest in Fayetteville, Tennessee had won five straight games. And while they did all they could to extend that to six, that would not come to fruition.
Zakai Zeigler led the Vols in scoring with 13 points off the bench. Kennedy Chandler was the only other Vol to finish with double-digit points, scoring 11. Santiago Vescovi added seven points and 11 rebounds.
It was a frustrating loss in a game that was rough around the edges.
“There was just no flow whatsoever in that basketball game,” said Tennessee coach Rick Barnes. “None.”
What’s Next?
Tennessee will look to bounce back on Tuesday at Missouri (10-16).
Arkansas will hit the road as well as they will take on Florida (17-10) on Tuesday in Gainesville.
 defeated No. 16 Tennesee (20-7), 58-49, at Bud Walton Arena on Saturday. The Razorbacks have now won 11 of their last 12 games and seven straight at home. The loss is just Tennessee's second since January 15.){kind=link}