The Tennessee Vols have had their problems over the years at Bud Walton Arena, home of the Arkansas Razorbacks.
There were no such problems on Wednesday night.
Tennessee blew the Hogs off the court in the second half on the way to a 92-63 win. Jonas Aidoo led the Vols with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Dalton Knecht added 22 points with 4 rebounds and 3 blocks. Jordan Gainey had 17 points off the bench on 6 of 8 shooting.
The game was at least competitive for the first half. Arkansas jumped out to an early 13-9 lead before Tennessee moved in front and maintained a slim lead until the end of the first half, when the Vols took a 46-40 lead into the locker room.
The Vols managed to surpass their season high for slam dunks in the first half of Wednesday night alone, racking up 7 slams in the first frame. It was a suitable alternative for a Tennessee team that simply couldn’t hit the long ball for much of the night, finishing 5 of 17 from beyond the arc. Tennessee ended up totaling 48 points in the paint for the game.
However, Tennessee came out of the locker room and gradually put the Hogs away early in the second half. Two Jordan Gainey three pointers within a minute of each other helped turn a nine-point Tennessee lead into a commanding 64-47 advantage.
From there, Tennessee’s defense locked in and kept the Hogs from keeping pace, as the Vols pushed their lead to 79-53 with over 9 minutes remaining. The Hogs splashed home six three pointers in the first half, riding a hot hand much like Texas A&M did on Saturday night.
That changed in the second half, with the Hogs only hitting two as the Vols built their lead to 30 points on multiple occasions. Arkansas scored only 23 points in the half on 26% shooting.
Next up: Tennessee hosts Vanderbilt on 2/17; Arkansas plays at Mississippi State on 2/17.