KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Arkansas erased a 21-point, halftime deficit to trail by two (76-74) but #13 Tennessee held on to win 76-74 Saturday afternoon at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Tennessee was hot from the 3-point range in the first half (making 9-of-12 compared to 3-of-6 in the second) and the Razorbacks took their turn in the second (making 4-of-9 in the first and 6-of-19 in the second).
Arkansas came out strong to start the second half, outscoring the Vols 10-2 to force a Tennessee timeout at 15:45. The Hogs extended the run to 14-4 and trailed by 11 (54-43).
Later, Chris Lykes made a pair of 3-pointers to get the Hogs to within 11 (71-60) with 5:09 to play. Tennessee answered back to push the lead back to 13 with 4:48 to play.
From that point, Arkansas went on a 12-1 run (including a 10-spurt to start). JD Notae and Stanley Umude each hit 3’s and Notae added two free throws to make it a 3-pint game (73-70). After a John Fulkerson free throw, Notae added two more free throws to make it a 2-point game (74-72) with 56 ticks left.
Santiago Vescovi put the Vols back up four with two free throws with 22 seconds left. Notae answered with two more free throws. Zakai Zeigler made 2-of-4 and the Hogs came up empty twice to provide the 78-74 finale.
Notae led all scorers with 20 points, adding four assists and three steals. Stanley Umude and Chris Lykes each scored 15.
Up next it the SEC Tournament in Tampa. The Razorbacks have earned a double-bye as a top-four seed and plays on Friday (Mar. 11).
