ATLANTA - Steven Hill was mobbed by teammates for hitting the game-winning shot, but the Razorbacks wouldn't have beaten No. 4 Tennessee without Charles Thomas' brute strength on the blocks and his career-high 24 points.

With leading scorer Sonny Weems just starting to emerge from a shooting slump in the last few minutes against Tennessee, Thomas turned into the Hogs'go-to option, backing down the Volunteers' big men and cleaning up the offensive boards for key putbacks.

"We've been nagging on Charles the whole season about not playing great," Weems said. "He finally shut us up. He was a great player today."

Thomas took a team-high 13 shots, made a season-high tying 8, made 7 of 7 free throws, grabbed 10 rebounds and even made his first three-pointer in more than two months.

"He played terrific again, for the second time in a row," said forward Darian Townes, who had 16 points. "He was a key factor in this game with his aggression on offense and defense."

Thomas had big scoring games with 15 and 21 points in the first month of the season. Then the senior out of Jackson, Miss., had at least 10 points in eight games in a row through the start of SEC play to boost his scoring average to 10. 7 after scoring 13 at Georgia on Jan. 19.

After that, he was hit with a one-game suspension for an unspecified violation of team rules, bumped from the starting lineup and watched his average dip to 8. 5 points per game after failing to score at least 10 points in 10 consecutive games.

But he scored 10 in the season finale at Auburn, dropped 13 points on Vanderbilt on Thursday, then had his big game against the Volunteers at Alexander Memorial Coliseum on the Georgia Tech campus.

"It's not about the individual, it was always about my teammates and my coaches having confidence in me all year long," Thomas said. "They wanted me to become the Charles Thomas of the preseason."

Thomas has made 17 of his past 31 shots and is becoming a force again in the paint. His second-chance scoring against Tennessee was invaluable.

"The last two games, when he plays like that, it really helps," Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey said. "I thought he was awesome tonight.

" He was big, big-time, competing, being strong and physical around the basket. At times he's rushed things and looked like he had two or three thoughts going through his head at once. Tonight he had good purpose and composure. What a special night he had."

Thomas and Townes helped the Razorbacks outscore Tennessee 44-34 in the paint. In two SEC Tournament games, Arkansas has eliminated the league's two quality teams from the state of Tennessee by outscoring them 94-54 in the lane.