The No. 23 Arkansas Razorbacks (11-2, 0-0 SEC) can notch a major upset if they pull off a win over No. 1 Tennessee (13-0, 0-0 SEC) in the conference opener Saturday at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Led by 10th-year head coach Rick Barnes, the Volunteers are off to a white-hot start to the 2024-25 season. Tennessee owns wins over teams such as Louisville, Virginia, Baylor, Syracuse, Miami, Illinois and others with a veteran-filled squad. Tennessee is coming off a 27-9 (14-4 SEC) overall season that saw it win the league and finish in the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight.
"First thing is their physicality," associate head coach Kenny Payne said Thursday. "One of the toughest teams in the country. One of the best offensive teams in the country. They run their stuff hard. They take good shots. They’ve got good scoring. They’ve got great rebounding, great length. And they’ve got a floor general on the floor who controls the game. They’re a very good team. You can see why they’re No. 1 in the country."
A major storyline entering this game is the return of former Tennessee transfer center Jonas Aidoo to Knoxville, as he was named All-SEC for the Volunteers a year ago. After battling an injury, Aidoo has averaged 11.0 points and 6.2 rebounds in his last five games for the Hogs.
"(Jonas has) done a lot of great things at Tennessee and he’s going back home," Payne said. "I’m sure that there are emotions involved. I’m sure that the team is going to want to go at him some. I’m curious to see how he handles it and go from there from it. He’s a vet. He’s been in college four years, three or four years, whatever, and he’s going to come out… That’s why you get veteran guys on your team that handle these type of situations."
If the Razorbacks want to start SEC play off strong, they'll need to avoid a slow start — something that's plagued Arkansas already this season — against Tennessee.
"Well, I think we have addressed (the slow starts)," Payne said. "We’ve been better lately. The things that we’ve seen on tape that led to those slow starts was defensive pressure. We’re a team that gets after you defensively. We have to be the aggressor. Our defense ignites our transition. So, we have to get stops, we have to get steals, we have to get deflections and get out and fly in the open court, where we're at our best.
"And if you stop us there, we have to be really diligent and focused on what we doing offensively in the half court. Because we have a lot of weapons and we have to make sure that we are not just playing passive basketball when we are tentative or passive, we're not quite as good. And that's what led to those slow starts."
Here's a closer comparison of Arkansas' and Tennessee's stats, efficiency ratings, projected lineup for the Volunteers and more ahead of Saturday's game, which is set to tipoff at noon CT on ESPN:
