Arkansas was almost as good in the second half as was Tennessee in the first.
The Volunteers hit nine of 12 three-point shots, built a 24-point lead and looked like run-away winners in the first 20 minutes at Thompson-Boling Arena Saturday afternoon.
The Razorbacks had a little halftime meeting about intensity, defense and rebounding, took advantage of Tennessee turnovers, chopped the deficit down to two and had the Vols holding on for dear life and a 78-74 victory.
It was a big win. The 14-4 record against Southeastern Conference foes earned the No. 2 seed in the upcoming tournament. It was the 750th triumph for Rick Barnes as a head coach. It was almost what John Fulkerson requested in his pre-tipoff address to the overflow crowd – a game we’ll never forget.
The first half may be unforgettable. Kennedy Chandler went 4-for-4 on long shots. Josiah-Jordan James, Santiago Vescovi and Zakai Zeigler joined the barrage of threes. It was spectacular. Arkansas appeared stunned.
Two weeks ago in Fayetteville, Tennessee scored 48 in the entire game. This time it had 48 two minutes before intermission. Enthusiasm and officiating were better.
The trend toward normalcy started before the rest stop. Tennessee slipped from 75 percent field-goal accuracy to 50. Post players started collecting fouls.
“What we did to them, they turned around and did to us in the second half,” said Barnes.
Danger signs emerged early. The Vols had four turnovers in just over four minutes. Uros Plavsic and Fulkerson had four fouls each with 14 minutes to go.
An Arkansas flurry and pressure defense set off alarms. It was suddenly a 73-70 game. Chandler, Fulkerson and Zeigler missed free throws (the Vols missed 10). JD Notae missed what could have been a tying three.
Barnes saw some things he liked and some he didn’t. He commented on the balanced scoring. Chandler and Vescovi scored 15 each. Zeigler had 13. James scored 12 and had seven rebounds.
“It was a great win against a really good team. I wish we could have bottled the first half and had it for 40 minutes,” said the coach. “We were more aggressive early. Turnovers hurt in the second half. We’ll learn from it. We’ve got to do a better job on defense.”
Barnes shook his head about the 10 missed free throws.
“Not very good.”
In regards to 750 career wins, the coach said “It means I’m old and that I’ve had a lot of great players. I’ve been so blessed.”
In regards to the upcoming conference tournament (starting Friday for the Vols because of the double-bye), he said “It all starts over in Tampa. This is what we play for.”
Barnes said the team has really worked hard. He said young Vols have bought into the system.
“We still have to get better.”
He had bonus words for James.
“Josiah was terrific in huddles. He has become the leader every coach would like to have. He is a very special player. He is a guy who gets it done.”
When told the team is 18-0 when leading at halftime, Barnes said he didn’t feel that confident. He noted that the Vols went six minutes without a field goal.
The coach noted that Fulkerson has been with the team almost as long as he has.
“He is a huge part of the foundation.”
Fulky and Barnes are in perfect agreement about Tennessee fans.
“No better home court in the country,” said the coach.
“Best fans in the country,” said the senior senior Fluky.
Marvin West welcomes reader comments or questions. His address is marvinwest75@gmail.com