FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Tennessee men’s basketball team held a five-point second-half lead Saturday afternoon at No. 18 Arkansas in in first SEC action of the season, but finished on the short end of an 86-75 decision.
Freshman guard Amari Evans led No. 19/20 Tennessee (10-4, 0-1 SEC) with a career-high 16 points at Bud Walton Arena in the conference opener for both sides.
The Volunteers forced misses on the first five Arkansas (11-3, 1-0 SEC) field-goal attempts and claimed a 7-0 lead after just 2:25 of action. After the teams exchanged baskets, the Razorbacks went on a 9-0 run in 1:53 to earn an 11-9 advantage at the 14:44 mark of the first half.
Arkansas extended its edge to seven points, 27-20, with 5:43 left in the frame. Tennessee, though, soon made seven of nine field goals—it also added a free throw—to regain a 34-33 lead with 1:03 to go in the stanza. The Razorbacks, however, went on to take a 37-36 advantage at the break after freshman guard Darius Acuff Jr., finished off his 12-point first half with a buzzer-beating midrange jump-shot.
The Volunteers shot 53.3 percent (16-of-30) from the field in the opening 20 minutes and had a 14-5 cushion in fast-break points, but missed six of their eight free-throw tries.
Tennessee went ahead by four, 45-41, with 15:50 remaining, but Arkansas scored seven points on its next two possessions—sandwiched around a bucket for the visitors—to go back in front, 48-47, just 85 ticks later. The Volunteers countered with six straight points in 90 seconds to go up by five, 53-48, with 12:29 to play. Arkansas responded to tie the score at 53 just 41 ticks later and soon thereafter used an 11-0 run in 3:33 to go up by eight, 66-58, with 6:11 left.
The Volunteers scored eight of the next 10 points to get the margin down to two with 4:16 on the clock, but Acuff hit a 3-pointer 27 seconds later to push the number back to five. Senior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie made two free throws to slice the deficit to one possession, but the Razorbacks scored eight straight points, including hitting back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 79-68 with just 2:09 to play. They extended their cushion to 14 before registering an 11-point final margin.
Evans’ career-best 16 points came on a perfect 7-of-7 clip from the field, marking the first such shooting performance by a Division I freshman in a Power Five road game since Dec. 16, 2022. He became the first SEC freshman to make at least seven field goals without a miss in a road game since Feb. 16, 2019, and just the second to do so in the last 20 seasons (2006-26) against a Division I foe.
The Pittsburgh native added a game-high three steals to tie a career best and played a career-high 23 minutes while leading Tennessee in scoring for the first time.
Gillespie finished with 14 points and a co-game-high four assists, while freshman forward Nate Ament had 13 points. Redshirt sophomore forward J.P. Estrella scored nine points, making all three of his field goals and both his free throws.
Acuff dropped 29 points for the Razorbacks, the top total by a Tennessee foe since Nov. 13, 2024, and the highest mark by an SEC player versus the Volunteers since Feb. 3, 2024. He went 9-of-16 from the floor and 8-of-9 from the stripe, plus matched Gillespie for the game lead with four assists.
Fellow freshman guard Meleek Thomas totaled 18 points and went 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. Senior forward Malique Ewin had 12 points, six rebounds and a perfect 8-of-8 free-throw clip. Sophomore wing Karter Knox added 11 points and a co-game-high seven rebounds.
Tennessee shot a superb 49.2 percent (29-of-59) from the floor, including 38.5 percent (5-of-13) on 3-pointers. However, it notched a 52.2 percent (12-of-23) ledger from the line, compared to the Razorbacks’ 87.9 percent (29-of-33) number.
The Volunteers open their conference home slate Tuesday at 9 p.m. when they host Texas, live on ESPN2 from Food City Center. Coverage on 103.1FM WIKQ begins at 8:30pm.
