Arkansas entered conference play as one of the SEC’s few remaining undefeated teams. The Hogs defeated a new-look Auburn team 97-85 to begin conference play in the win column. Missouri then handed the Razorbacks a dose of reality in their next game out.
Mizzou defeated the Hogs 81-68 on Saturday to suffer their first loss of the season. They shot 28.6 percent from the field, the lowest percentage they’ve shot since a game against South Carolina in February of 2015. The Hogs were 12-of-43 from 2-point range, including 11-of-38 (28.9%) in the paint and just 3-of-23 (13%) on layups.
Arkansas (9-1, 1-1 SEC) was also dominated on the glass, 51-36. The 51 boards by the Tigers were the third-most by an opponent under second-year coach Eric Musselman. The Hogs’ 19 made field goals and seven assists were the second-fewest under Musselman.
No. 9 Tennessee (7-1, 1-1 SEC) had a poor offensive outing as well in its last game out. In their first loss of the season, a 71-63 loss to Alabama at home, the Vols shot 32% from the field, 4-of-21 from three and missed nine free throws.
Now, both teams link up in Knoxville looking to stifle the other for a second consecutive game.
“The other night we had a lot of wide-open shots with really good players,” Vols head coach Rick Barnes told reporters over Zoom on Tuesday. “When you’re playing a team like Arkansas that has three terrific guards that are averaging in double-figure points, you know they have the ability to put up big numbers. What you hope is that you defend them well enough, so that they don’t get comfortable.
“I go into every game expecting people to shoot well. That’s probably one of the biggest fears you have as a coach is when you go into playing somebody that shoots a lot of threes. One thing we know is that the three is the great equalizer.”
Arkansas, similarly to Alabama, prides itself on getting up a ton of 3-point shots. The Hogs enter the game averaging the third-most three-point attempts (28.5) in the SEC. Their three-point field goal percentage (.337), however, ranks sixth-best in the conference. Musselman’s bunch is making 9.6 three’s per game, the second-most.
“They’re fast and extremely well coached, so it’s going to be a high-paced game and they’ll shoot it quick,” Barnes said. “If they feel like they have a shot that they’ve worked on with their individual work and all that, they’re going to shoot it. So getting matched up early is really important.
“We’re going to have to guard the drive because they’re going to try to get fouled and they’re going to drive the ball hard, they’re going to test us that way. We’re going to have to have good recovery defense and rebound the ball with those long shots. We simply are going to have to be ready to play a high-level defensive game because regardless of what they did last game, they’ve proven they can put up a lot of points. I think Eric (Musselman) does a great job of picking where he wants them and how he wants something done.”
Musselman has a new-look squad in his second season in Fayetteville, but still has four players averaging double digits in freshman guard Moses Moody (16.9), junior guard JD Notae (15.4), junior guard Desi Sills (13.3) and grad transfer Justin Smith (11.6). The Hogs have two more averaging at least nine points in grad transfer guard Jalen Tate (9.9) and redshirt-sophomore forward Connor Vanover (9.0).
Arkansas has had at least three players score double-digits in all nine games this season. In 10 games, the Hogs have had six different players lead the team in scoring. Moody, Smith and Notae are the only players to lead the team in scoring twice.
The Razorbacks will be without Smith against the Vols, who is dealing with an ankle injury that required surgery and will hold him out 3-6 weeks. He started each of the first nine games and was averaging 11.6 points and 7.1 rebounds. Smith ranks second in the SEC in offensive rebounds (3.44).
“You don’t want to see (Smith’s injury) happen to anybody because it’s happened to all of us at some point,” Barnes said. “Eric’s a terrific coach. He’ll make the adjustments that he needs to make with what he’s got. With whatever he’s got, I promise you he’s going to put them in the best position possible he thinks they need to be in to win basketball games.”
Tipoff between the Vols and Razorbacks is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
