Tennessee's Suffocating Defense Throttles Arkansas in SEC Opener

Volunteers flex power on glass to open conference play with statement over Arkansas

Tennessee guard Chaz Lanier (2) steals the ball from Arkansas forward Karter Knox (11) at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center in Knoxville, Tenn. / Angelina Alcantar/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

KNOXVILLLE, Tenn. — Arkansas struggled to deal with No. 1 Tennessee's defense and superior presence on the glass in a 76-52 to open SEC play.

"We've got to do some soul searching," Calipari said. "This league, what they play like [Tennessee], everybody plays like. We missed free throws, we miss threes and we get outrebounded by 30. How did you only get beat by 25? Could have been 50."

Forward Igor Milicic Jr. nearly outrebounded the Razorbacks by himself in the first half with nine to the Razorbacks' 12 as a team. Milicic finished the game with 13 points and a career-high 18 rebounds. The Volunteers finished the night with a 51-29 rebounding advantage, including 24 offensive rebounds.

Tennessee Volunteers forward Igor Milicic Jr. (7) dunks the ball against the Arkansas Razorbacks during the first half at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center. / Randy Sartin-Imagn Images

Hogs' forward Jonas Aidoo returned to his former school and was put on lock down in the first half with no points without a field goal attempt. DJ Wagner led the Hogs with 17 points, with seven in the first few minutes.

Arkansas forward Jonas Aidoo (9) looks back at the Arkansas bench at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center in Knoxville, Tenn. / Angelina Alcantar/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Tennessee came into the game No. 2 in scoring defense at 56.2 points per game, held Arkansas to just 27 first-half points, including a seven minute stretch without a field goal.

The Volunteers turned on the turbo jets from the 14 minute in the first half in a 12-12 game and never led by less than 10 points in the second half.

Chaz Lanier, leading the Volunteers with 19,6 points a game, led the charge with four triples and 29 points. Zakai Ziegler and Felix Okpara chipped in 12 and 10 points, respectively

Arkansas' early season three-point shooting struggles returned as the Hogs missed its first 10 triples of the second half and finished the game 6-for-29 (21%) as the offense sputtered throughout the night.

The Razorbacks top two scorers in Boogie Fland and Adou Thiero, averaging over 30 points a game as a duo, was held to just 18 points on 8-for-22 shooting. Fland's three-pointer with 33 seconds left limped the Hogs over the 50-point threshold.

The Razorbacks now look to regroup for the SEC home opener against No. 24 Ole Miss. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday and will be broadcast on ESPN2.

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