No. 9 Tennessee bounces back on the road in 92-63 win at Arkansas
No. 9 Tennessee needed a response Wednesday night, back on the road after getting pushed around in the 85-69 loss at Texas A&M Saturday night. The Vols found plenty of answers in a 92-63 win at Arkansas.
Jonas Aidoo had a team-high 23 points to go with 12 rebounds, Dalton Knecht scored 22 points and Jordan Gainey added 17 off the bench to lead Tennessee (18-6, 8-3 SEC) in the bounce-back win, the first for the Vols at Bud Walton Arena since 2009, after seven straight losses in Fayetteville.
Josiah-Jordan James scored 12 points and Zakai Zeigler had nine points, six assists and three rebounds.
Arkansas (12-12, 3-8) got a team-high 12 points from Tramon Mark.
Tennessee put its foot on the gas to start the second half. After the Vols led by six at halftime, they doubled the advantage in the first four minutes after the break.
It was 17 after eight straight points from Gainey and Knecht, a run that needed just 52 seconds. Gainey hit a three, Knecht hit two free throws and then Gainey hit another three to put the Vols up 64-47, forcing an Arkansas timeout with just over 14 minutes left.
The lead was 22 after two Knecht free throws with 12:46 left. It was part of a game-changing 15-2 run over three minutes, 26 seconds which included five straight shots made by the Vols.
Tennessee outscored Arkansas by 24 over the first 15, 12 seconds minutes of the second half, building a 30-point lead on an Aidoo dunk — Tennessee’s ninth of the game, a new season high — at the 4:48 mark.
Aidoo, Knecht and Gainey combined for 34 points in first half
Tennessee led by as many as 10 in the first half — the Vols went up 30-20 on an Aidoo bucket with 8:40 left before halftime to cap an 8-0 run — and led 46-40 at halftime.
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Aidoo had 13 points and five rebounds to lead Tennessee in the first half, ahead of 12 from Knecht and nine from Gainey off the bench.
Arkansas, which entered the game averaging just 5.9 made 3-point field goals per game, started 4-for-5 from the 3-point line and made six in the first half.
Tennessee in the first half had 28 points in the paint, 17 points off of nine Arkansas turnovers and 10 second-chance points on five offensive rebounds. The Vols shot 54.3% from the field in the first half but went just 2-for-10 from the 3-point line.
Tennessee also had seven dunks in the first half, with four from Aidoo and three from Knecht.
Up Next: No. 9 Tennessee vs. Vanderbilt, Saturday, 6 p.m. ET, SEC Network
After back-to-back road games at Texas A&M and Arkansas, Tennessee will return home for three of its next four games at Thompson-Boling Arena. The Vols host Vanderbilt on Saturday, go to Missouri on Tuesday and then have home dates with Texas A&M (February 24) and Auburn (February 28).
The tests continue in March with back-to-back road games at Alabama (March 2) and South Carolina (March 6) before closing the regular season at home against Kentucky on Senior Day in Knoxville (March 9).
The SEC Tournament is set for March 13-17 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville and the NCAA Tournament bracket will be revealed on Sunday, March 17.
