Valentine's Day was in no way sweet to head coach Eric Musselman and the Arkansas Razorbacks (12-12, 3-8 SEC), who suffered their fifth SEC loss by 20 points or more at the hands of No. 8 Tennessee inside Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.
The Volunteers handed the Hogs a 92-63 loss Wednesday, which was the most recent on a growing list of games that it seems like Musselman's squad gave up. Arkansas trailed Tennessee by just six at halftime, but it was then outscored by 23 points over the final 20 minutes of basketball.
"The first and second half we gave up 46 points, so defensively, not much different," Musselman said postgame. "Not good either half defensively. Tennessee was more physical than us, created more turnovers. The points off turnovers was a killer.
"We’ve talked about our inability at times to take care of the basketball. Live-ball turnovers were a huge, huge problem tonight. Tennessee had a better competitive spirit. That was plain to see."
The turnover numbers weren't too far off, as the Hogs gave the ball way 15 times compared to Tennessee's 12 turnovers (all 12 from steals). The big difference was the fact that the Volunteers scored 28 points off turnovers and the Hogs scored just 12.
"I think we need to do a better job in a lot of areas, but certainly, if you have 12 steals, that’s a pretty good number," Musselman said. "That’s more steals than they had, and yeah, we need to convert those for sure."
Led by leading SEC Player of the Year Candidate Dalton Knecht (22 points), the Vols had four players score in double figures, including Jonas Aidoo, who logged 23 points and 12 boards in a double-double effort.
"He’s phenomenal," Musselman said of Aidoo. "He keeps getting better. What you want to see out of players is player improvement and you can tell he gets in the gym. His mid-range shot, from where it was, so much improved. Like, he can make that shot. He’s big, he’s physical, he ducks in. I think he’s, again, like I said, I think he’s one of the most improved players that our league has."
Arkansas went into the game just trying to play spoiler, while Tennessee was coming off a loss at Texas A&M and it was trying to prove that was a fluke.
"That team is really well-coached," Musselman said. "Their competitive spirit is as good as any team that we’ve played. They were coming off a loss. We tried to tell our guys what they would be like when you’re ranked eighth in the country and you come off a loss. They’re really good. I don’t know what else to tell you. They just beat us by 29 points. They’re a pretty damn good basketball team."
Following the loss, Arkansas dropped to 128th nationally on KenPom. The Hogs check in at 130th in defensive efficiency and 141st in offensive efficient. ESPN's Basketball Power Index ranks the Razorbacks 121st in the country.
The Hogs will now turn their attention to a roadtrip to Mississippi State on Saturday. Tipoff between the Razorbacks and Bulldogs is set for 1 p.m. CT and the game will be broadcast on ESPNU.
