As the Game Turned: The game could have turned in Tennessee’s favor when senior point guard Josh Richardson’s highly contested layup gave the Vols their first double-digit lead early in the second half.

Or when streaky shooter Detrick Mostella drained two consecutive triples to give Tennessee a 53-38 lead with 12:16 remaining.

And the game definitely should have been over when junior Armani Moore snatched an offensive rebound and quickly scored a layup to give the Vols a 63-50 lead with only 4:02 left on the game clock.

Yet Tennessee fans remained attached to their seats until the final buzzer sounded. The only moments Tennessee fans remain to hear the final whistle are when they are celebrating a dominant football victory at the TaxSlayer Bowl, or when the outcome of a game is still undecided.

The fans decided to risk the postgame traffic for the latter reason Tuesday night at Thompson-Boling arena as they almost witnessed Tennessee surrender a 16-point second half lead to the Razorbacks.

There were moments when Tennessee looked poised to run away from the Hogs. But as the Vols watched their free throws clink and clank off the rim, the Razorbacks continued to drain triple after triple to transform the double-digit deficit into a 1-point margin with 15 seconds remaining.

Junior college transfer Kevin Punter drained two free throws to give Tennessee a 72-69 advantage, but then a mental mistake allowed the Razorbacks an opportunity to win the game at the line.

Punter was trying to foul Anton Beard before he could attempt a game-tying triple-a tactic used by most teams when leading late by three – but the officials determined Punter fouled Beard while he was attempting a triple. The officials award Beard with three free throws and the chance for him to send the game into overtime.

“The play at the end, that is on me,” Tyndall said. “I should have had them foul before half court.”

Beard missed all three free throws and Moore corralled the rebound with five seconds left. Moore knocked down both free throws to make the final score 74-69.

Only then, did the game permanently turn in Tennessee’s favor.

“There is a distinct difference in playing not to lose and playing to win,” Tyndall said. “I thought for about 35 minutes we played to win and the last five minutes we played not to lose.”

Hot Topic: Arkansas averaged 11 turnovers before the game against Tennessee. The Razorbacks turned the ball over 18 times in their contest against the Vols.

The Razorbacks averaged 83 points per game, the Vols held them to 69.

The Vols also held the high scoring Razorbacks scoreless for more than five minutes in the second half and held them without a field goal for seven minutes.

For 32 minutes of game time, Tennessee held the highest scoring team in the SEC and the seventh highest scoring team in the nation to 41 points.

While Tyndall focused primarily on Tennessee’s effort on the offensive end in his postgame presser, his team’s defense helped propel the Vols to their second SEC win of the season.

Spotlight: In his media luncheon Monday, Tyndall lamented the lack of playmakers for Tennessee.

Hubbs answered the call Tuesday night.

The sophomore guard made the most of his start against Arkansas as the Newbern native scored a career high 16 points in Tennessee’s win over the Razorbacks.

“I know what I am capable of, I know I can get to the rim and make others better,” Hubbs said.

After a frustrating game against Alabama where Hubbs went 2-10 from the field, he began the game against the Razorbacks by nailing a shot from the perimeter.

Hubbs finished the first half with nine points on 4-4 shooting, scoring most of his first half points on transition layups.

But Hubbs didn’t just score for the Vols, he scored at critical times in the second half when the Razorbacks threatened to comeback in the game.

After trailing by 16, Razorbacks’ guard Michael Qualls hit two free throws to bring Arkansas within single digits at 54-45. Tennessee had not made a field goal in nearly six minutes until Hubbs drained a triple to push the lead back to 12 with 6:08 to go.

Hubbs also hit two big free throws with 1:08 remaining to give the Vols a 3-possession lead at 65-58.

While Hubbs had a career night scoring, Tyndall still observed areas in which Hubbs can improve his game.

“He played fantastic. I am still always going to be greedy, and he knows that. I would love for him to have more rebounds in 28 minutes,” Tyndall said. “But as I mentioned early, I don’t think he settled one time.”