Analyzing Arkansas' 79-74 loss at Tennessee

Arkansas guard JD Notae attempts a floater in the lane during a game at Tennessee on Jan. 6, 2021, at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn. (Saul Young/Knoxville News Sentinel via AP, Pool)

Arkansas was far from sharp, but it fought and gave itself a chance Wednesday at No. 9 Tennessee.

The difference in the Volunteers’ 79-74 home victory, Razorbacks coach Eric Musselman said, was their 21 second-half free throw attempts. Tennessee knocked down 17, including eight in the final minute to rebound following its only loss of the season.

In addition to sending the Vols to the foul line far too frequently, Arkansas turned in its worst performance of the season in terms of valuing the basketball. The Razorbacks finished with a season-high 20 turnovers. Their previous single-game high was 16 vs. North Texas on Nov. 28.

According to KenPom analytics, Arkansas recorded an offensive turnover rate of 27.6%. It is only the second time the Razorbacks have posted a figure higher than 18.5% this season.

Jalen Tate, who added 15 points and 6 assists, committed 6 turnovers, which are a season high and matched a career high. True freshman Jaylin Williams, making his first career start, had 4 in 14 minutes, and JD Notae had 4 as well.

Desi Sills finished with three in his 18 minutes.

A number of the Razorbacks’ miscues were forced by Tennessee, which entered the game with the nation’s top defensive efficiency rating, per KenPom. Vols guards Santiago Vescovi and Josiah-Jordan James played with quick hands and tallied three steals apiece, and Jaden Springer came away with two.

But Arkansas didn’t help its cause with a handful of careless and unforced mistakes. At least twice a Razorbacks player caught a pass with a foot on the sideline, and Sills also lost the ball out of bounds in the second half when he failed to catch a teammate’s pass with both hands.

Arkansas averaged 11.3 turnovers in their first 10 games this season. It had 11 in the first half on Wednesday. For the game, Tennessee turned the Razorbacks’ mistakes into 19 points.

James and Victor Bailey Jr. led the Vols with 17 points each on a combined 11 of 21 from the floor. They knocked down four of Tennessee’s five 3-pointers, too.

John Fulkerson scored 16 points, 12 in the second half on 4 of 7 shooting. Connor Vanover's length did not seem to bother him much. Fulkerson also blocked three shots.

Notae, the Razorbacks’ second-leading scorer this season, led Arkansas with 19 points, 14 in the second half. He hit 7 of 11 shots and played one of his more efficient games of the season. Musselman said Wednesday’s performance was a step in the right direction for the guard.

“I told him I wasn’t going to play him the minutes if he didn’t play exactly the way we wanted him to,” he added. “And I thought he did that tonight. I really did. I thought that he was under control and he was composed.”

Vance Jackson, the 6-9 graduate transfer from New Mexico who played only one minute in the loss to Missouri on Saturday, provided the Razorbacks with his best run of the year. In a season-high 33 minutes, he scored 14 points and knocked down 5 of 10 shots, including 3 of 6 attempts from deep.

In the first 10 games of the season, Jackson was 0 of 3 from 3-point range in the right corner. He hit all three of his attempts from that area at Tennessee. He had a chance, too, to give the Razorbacks a one-point lead with 50 seconds to play, but his right-wing 3 rattled out.

“Man, it felt good,” Jackson said of his final shot. “I probably should have stayed in it a little bit. I kind of leaned back because I thought it was good. It just rolled out on me.

“But it's not going to stop me from shooting. I'm going to keep shooting.”

Jackson also gave great effort on the defensive glass. He grabbed a season-high nine rebounds — as many as he totaled in the previous four games combined.

Tate’s 15 points were his most in a game since Arkansas’ win over Central Arkansas, and Vanover bounced back from a 0 of 11 outing vs. Missouri with 12 points, 7 rebounds and 1 blocked shot. Musselman said he thought Vanover made Fulkerson take several tough shots.

Arkansas, though, did not get much production from Sills and Moses Moody. Collectively, they combined for six points on 1 of 9 from the floor and 1 of 5 from 3-point range. For the first time in 17 games, Sills did not score. And he only took one shot.

Since entering the Missouri game on the best scoring streak of his college career, he has contributed six points on 1 of 11 from the floor and 0 of 5 from 3. Sills has clearly not been himself of late. It's been puzzling to watch.

“I just really don’t like to answer for players because I think it’s kind of an individual thing,” Musselman said. “Desi’s had some really hot streaks and some cold streaks in the year and a half I’ve been here. He’s struggled the last two games, for sure.”

In regards to Moody’s first single-digit scoring game of his young career, Musselman said it is a matter of him getting clean looks. He is going to have to adjust to playing against longer, more athletic defenders in the SEC.

Moody is 2 of 16 on 2-point looks in Arkansas’ first three league games.

“We have great confidence in Moses,” Musselman said. “But we as a group, when you struggle, you’ve got to cut hard, you’ve got to really work to get open across the board. And Tennessee does a great job. They make it tough on everybody to score, not just one or two guys on the Razorback team.

“They make everybody struggle to score across the board when they play them.”