Tennessee will welcome high-scoring Arkansas to Thompson-Boling Arena on Wednesday night for its third SEC game this season.
The Vols were dismantled by Alabama on Saturday. The Crimson Tide exploded from the three-point line and made Tennessee’s defense look average for the first time this year.
The Razorbacks are 9-1 on the season with some of their best wins being over Auburn, North Texas and Lipscomb.
Arkansas is coming off of a loss of its own against No. 13 Missouri on Saturday in which they played without senior Justin Smith who will miss multiple weeks with an injury.
The Razorbacks will pose a similar threat to Tennessee that Alabama did. Arkansas wants to play at a quick pace and get off a lot of shots while spacing the floor.
Arkansas averages 88 points per game and shoots 45% from the field while also shooting 33% from the three-point line with an average of nine made three-pointers per game.
“When you’re playing against a team like Arkansas who has three terrific guards who average in double-figure points you know they can put up big numbers, ” Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said. “What you hope is that you defend them well enough that they don’t get comfortable.”
The guards that are leading the way for the Razorbacks are Moses Moody, JD Notae and Desi Sills.
Moody leads the way, averaging 16.9 points on the year while shooting 46% from the field and 42% from the three-point line. He also averages six rebounds and can be a force on the defensive end of the court against whoever he guards.
Notae is not far behind Moody, averaging 15 points while shooting 41% from the field. He also averages three rebounds and has 25 assists in his 10 games played.
Sills, while only averaging 13 points, brings a dynamic scoring ability to the table that can take over a game at any time. Sills shoots 48% from the field while also adding four rebounds and two assists per game. He also leads the team in steals with 20 on the season.
Defensively, Arkansas is holding its opponents to an average of 65 points per game and 38% shooting from the field.
The Razorbacks force an average of 15 turnovers per game which means Tennessee will need to find a solid balance of using its size and athleticism to turn defense into transition offense while also making sure to take care of the ball in those high-tempo situations.
One of the X-factors in the game on Wednesday night will be 7-foot-3 Connor Vanover. Vanover averages nine points and seven rebounds in 20 minutes of play. He will pose a massive problem to John Fulkerson.
For Tennessee, Fulkerson is one of the players that will need to have a solid bounce-back game if they want to prevent a losing streak.
Fulkerson had just seven points and five rebounds against Alabama while also struggling somewhat on the defensive end of the court.
“He’s got a big target on his back, ” Barnes said. “He’s gonna get game planned for, first and foremost I would say. That means gonna have to deal with not only the opponent that’s guarding him but also he’s gonna have a lot of eyes on him when he gets the ball.”
Against the Crimson Tide, the Vols also lost Jaden Springer to an ankle injury which threw the offense out of its typical game. The good news for Tennessee is that Barnes said Springer practiced Tuesday and will be ready to go against the Razorbacks.
Tipoff from Thompson-Boling Arena is set for 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
