Tennessee basketball bounced back from its weekend loss by dominating Arkansas 92-63 at Bud Walton Arena on Wednesday night.
The Vols withstood a strong first half three-point shooting barrage as Dalton Knecht and Jonas Aidoo turned in big performances.
Here’s three quick takeaways on Tennessee’s first win in Fayetteville since 2009.
Another Uncharacteristically Strong Three-Point Shooting Performance From Vols’ Opponent
Texas A&M is the worst three-point shooting team in the SEC. On Saturday, the Aggies came out red-hot against Tennessee and made over 40% of their triples in their double-digit win. Rick Barnes emphasized afterwards that he didn’t like the way his team responded to Texas A&M’s uncharacteristically strong shooting.
It didn’t take long for the Vols to face another similar test. Arkansas entered Wednesday’s game as the SEC’s second-worst three-point shooting team. And just like the Aggies, Arkansas came out red-hot from deep making four of their first five attempts from deep and six-of-13 attempts in the first half.
Arkansas predictably slowed down in the second half, making just two-of-10 triples in the game’s final 20 minutes.
But Tennessee responded much better against the Razorbacks. They didn’t settle for perimeter shots on the other end and effectively attacked the basket where they totaled a season-high in dunks.
The same thing can be said on the other end. Tennessee did a much better job defending driving guards and outscored the Razorbacks 48-22 in the paint. The Vols stuck to their game plan to make Arkansas beat them with perimeter jump shots. Arkansas was unable to do so.
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Tennessee Takes Control Early In The Second Half
Despite Arkansas shooting extremely well and Tennessee shooting poorly (two-of-10) from the perimeter in the first half, the Vols took a six-point lead into the intermission.
Tennessee had the lead but it was still anyone’s game at halftime. The Vols came out and took control of the game quickly in the second half.
The Vols ran a play that got Knecht an open layup out of halftime and the onslaught was on. Zakai Zeigler hit a triple a possession late and Tennessee pushed its lead to 12 points by the first media timeout. After an Arkansas triple out of the timeout, the Vols went on an onslaught run.
Two Jordan Gainey triples bookended two Dalton Knecht free throws. Arkansas coach Eric Musselman wanted to talk about it but that was of little effect. It was the first half of a 17-2 run that saw Tennessee turn its six-point first half lead into a 24-point advantage eight minutes later.
Arkansas offered no additional fight.
Aidoo And Knecht Lead The Way For Tennessee’s Offense
Early in SEC play when Tennessee’s offense was at its best, super senior Dalton Knecht and junior big man Jonas Aidoo were the Vols’ two best offensive players.
While Knecht hasn’t slowed down his success on that end of the court, Aidoo has struggled as of late with his offensive production. After averaging 16.2 points in the Vols’ first five SEC games, Aidoo entered the Arkansas game averaging just 8.4 points in the last five games.
But Aidoo got back to giving Tennessee the offensive production that he has for most of the season against the Razorbacks. The junior big man totaled 23 points on an incredibly efficient 11-of-14 shooting from the field while adding 12 rebounds. It was a big step back in the right direction for Aidoo.
It came as no surprise but Knecht continued his fantastic season with another strong performance on the road. The senior guard totaled 22 points on seven-of-14 shooting from the field. The Northern Colorado had one of his better games on the defensive end too adding three blocks and two steals.
Knecht and Aidoo were the two main guys on the offensive end for Tennessee as well as Jordan Gainey who was effective on the defensive end.
Final Stats
Up Next
Tennessee basketball returns home on Saturday evening where they’ll look to complete the season sweep of instate rival Vanderbilt.
