Arkansas was blown out 92-63 in Bud Walton Arena on Wednesday at the hands of No. 8 Tennessee. The Razorbacks fell to 12-12 overall and 3-8 in SEC play ahead of a two-game road swing against Mississippi State and Texas A&M.
Here are a handful of numbers that tell the story of yet another dud from Arkansas on Nolan Richardson Court in 2023-24:
• 68.3% — Tennessee’s two-point field goal percentage
The Vols controlled the game in the lane and at the rim and seemingly got anything they wanted, whenever they wanted it.
Tennessee made 28 of 41 shots inside the arc, and 12 of the makes were layups and 9 were dunks. Dominant is an understatement.
The Vols’ shooting percentage on two-point looks is the highest by an Arkansas opponent in the Eric Musselman era. And Tennessee’s 28 two-point buckets are tied for the most allowed in his tenure.
• 28 — Vols points off 15 Razorbacks turnovers
Tennessee entered Wednesday’s game averaging 15.0 points off turnovers per game in SEC play, per CBB Analytics. The Vols had 17 in the first half against Arkansas.
“The points of turnovers was a killer,” Musselman said. “We’ve talked about our inability at times to take care of the basketball. Live-ball turnovers were a huge, huge problem tonight.
“Tennessee had a better competitive spirit. That was plain to see.”
According to StatBroadcast, the Razorbacks had 10 bad-pass turnovers, 3 lost-ball turnovers and 2 shot clock violations. Tramon Mark (4), El Ellis (3) and Keyon Menifield (2) combined for 9 turnovers and 2 assists.
• 15 — Arkansas free throw attempts
KenPom data shows only nine teams in Division I hold a higher free throw rate (FTA/FGA) than the Razorbacks this season.
Arkansas finished 11 of 15 at the free throw line Wednesday. And five of the attempts were taken by Layden Blocker, Baye Fall and Joseph Pinion, who each saw the floor for less than 10 minutes.
Khalif Battle led the team with three attempts.
“We’ve got to draw free throws attempted. That’s our game — getting to the foul line,” Musselman said. “Tennessee is a very physical team. Tennessee’s opponents, I think, in SEC play average over 22 free throws attempted. Tonight, we get 15.
“We had a goal of trying to get to 30. I thought that was a realistic goal. We got half of those. We’ve got to do a better job, I guess, playing through contact or initiating contact, because that was a big part of the game plan and we were unable to get free throws attempted.”
• 5 — Arkansas home losses in 2023-24
This is more of a big-picture number.
The Razorbacks are 9-5 on their home floor in Musselman’s fifth season. The average margin of defeat: a whopping 17.2 points.
The five losses in Bud Walton Arena match the total of Musselman’s previous three teams combined (46-5). Arkansas lost four home games in his first season.
The home crowd was light Wednesday with a top-10 team and projected lottery pick in town. The Razorbacks gave those in attendance no reason to come back for the final three home contests on the schedule.
How do you think JG played? Miss tough shots But I thought he prayed hard on both ends got on the floor. We have to do a better job and throw it in the post at the right time if you look at it , where your nursery post up at and where they gave him the ball at what’s out of the suite spot , which made it harder for him to go to work. What do you think ?