Pelphrey gets fifth technical

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Arkansas senior forward Charles Thomas was hopping mad after being called for a charging foul against Wayne Chism in the second half of Wednesday night’s game at Tennessee.

Thomas jumped up and down several times in protest and it appeared official J. B. Caldwell was ready to hit him with a technical foul.

Then Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey pounded his right fist on the scorer’s table so hard that it got Caldwell’s attention even with the crowd of 20, 008 going crazy.

So instead of teeing up Thomas, Caldwell teed up Pelphrey.

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It was Pelphrey’s fifth technical foul this season, but his first since Jan. 5, when the Razorbacks beat Baylor 85-78 in Dallas.

The technical had no impact on Wednesday night’s outcome. Tennessee was leading 63-52 at that point with 12: 03 to play, and JaJuan Smith hit 1 of 2 free throws resulting from the technical.

Pelphrey said his hand felt “OK” after the game even though he slammed the table with a force that might have impressed Bobby Knight.

Tough game Arkansas sophomore guard Patrick Beverley matched his season low with one rebound and scored just five points on 1-of-6 shooting from the field. Beverley picked up two fouls less than seven minutes into the game and played just four minutes in the first half and 23 for the game. “He obviously didn’t have a very good game,” Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey said. “It was foul trouble in first half, then the rest of it you’ve got to credit Tennessee.” Turnovers no issue Arkansas had 16 turnovers against Tennessee. That may be more than the Razorbacks want, but it wasn’t bad considering the Vols came into the game forcing opponents into an average of 20. 2 turnovers. “That number didn’t lose the game for us,” Pelphrey said. Don’t press them

Tennessee scored its first three baskets on quick drives to the basket, which convinced Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey not to press the Vols.

“We couldn’t keep up with them,” Pelphrey said. “When we tried [to press ], they ran right by us.” Hitting the boards

Arkansas came into the game leading the SEC in rebounding with a plus-6. 4 margin, but the Vols outrebounded the Razorbacks 38-36.

It’s the sixth consecutive game in which the Vols outrebounded their opponent. Hitting free throws

Tennessee hit 27 of 37 free throws compared to 18 of 29 for the Razorbacks.

Arkansas was 11 of 20 in the first half.

“We did a good job of getting to the line, but then we didn’t hit our free throws,” said senior guard Gary Ervin, who was 3 of 8 for the game.

The Vols hit just 4 of 15 free throws in their previous game, a 47-45 victory at LSU last Saturday. “We shot a boat load of free throws [in practice ], and I want to give a shout out to all our fans,” Tennessee Coach Bruce Pearl said jokingly. “Thank you for all the advice and text messages on free throws. I know more about free-throw shooting than I ever have.”

A lot of threes Tennessee has joined Arkansas as the only schools in SEC history to have two players in the lineup at the same time with more than 200 career three-point baskets. The Razorbacks did it their first season in the SEC, 1991-1992, with Todd Day (226 ) and Lee Mayberry (218 ). This season Tennessee has done it with senior guards Chris Lofton (an SEC-record 392 ) and JaJuan Smith (225 ).

Different look Thompson-Boling Arena has undergone a $ 19 million renovation since Arkansas’ last visit in 2006. Last season 32 luxury suites were added and chairs in the arena were changed from orange to black. A new overhead scoreboard also was added. Capacity is now listed at 21, 678. Second choice During the first half a Tennessee fan yelled “Sit down second choice !” at Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey, who was hired after Dana Altman accepted the job, then backed out and returned to Creighton. Pelphrey joked before the season he’d heard he actually was Arkansas’ seventh choice, but that it didn’t matter because he’s the one who got the job.