Uros Plavsic analyzes changes in Arkansas from last season

With two regular season games remaining, Tennessee and Arkansas will square off on the last day of February in a Tuesday night matchup airing on ESPN. The Vols and Razorbacks haven’t squared off all season, and forward Uros Plavsic spoke about the last time they faced off a year ago as he previewed their upcoming matchup.

“It was a really tough game here and we jumped on them early with a big lead and we kind of relaxed a little bit,” Plavsic said. “They got back in the game, but I feel like we stuck together throughout the whole game and we were able to get it done.”

Last season’s matchup was also the second to last game of the regular season, but one where both teams were ranked. The Vols had an outstanding first half, leading by as many as 24 points at one point in the game. Some second half blunders allowed the Razorbacks to crawl back into the game, but not enough to win, as they were still defeated 78-74.

“But I feel like they have a little bit of a different team this year, they have shot blockers instead of they guy who was taking charges last year and I think that he’s going to make a little bit of a difference at the rim,” Plavsic said. “So we have to think about that and prepare differently than we prepared for them last year.”

There’s no question the Razorbacks are different this season, losing top talent like Jaylin Williams to the NBA, but their rim protection has also taken a major leap. The Razorbacks finished eighth in the SEC in blocked shots a season ago, but currently rank second in blocks per game, led by Makhel Mitchell‘s 1.8 blocks per game (which ranks fourth among players in the SEC).

“And I think it’s also a big scouting report game, so we’re gonna have to think about everybody on the court and know where the shooters are, who’s driving the ball, and make sure we follow the scouting report,” Plavsic said.

The Razorbacks definitely have a lot of scouting to do, as they’ll be facing star freshmen like Anthony Black and Nick Smith for the first time on Tuesday. They will also have to be on the lookout for the SEC’s third-leading scorer Ricky Council, who has recently been coming off the bench for Arkansas and providing a new dynamic to their impressive offensive attack.