Arkansas’ men’s basketball team got one back on the road.
The Razorbacks rallied from a 13-point deficit in the first half to beat Tennessee 82-78 Tuesday night before an announced crowd of 13,002 at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn.
It was a critical victory for Arkansas (12-2, 1-1 SEC) after the Razorbacks opened conference play with an 81-72 home loss to Florida on Thursday night.
Tennessee (8-6, 1-1) came into the game off a 73-63 victory at Texas A&M.
"I can't say enough about our guys," Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said on his postgame radio show. "We found a way against a scrappy Tennessee team that had been playing well. They were playing with a lot of confidence, and we were coming off a loss.
"You want to know how your guys are going to come out, and our guys showed me something, and something we can build on. We've got to build on it to get better."
Arkansas held on to beat Tennessee by hitting 11 of 12 free throws in the final 1:31, including 8 of 8 by junior guard Daryl Macon.
Junior guard Anton Beard led Arkansas with 16 points in 25 minutes off the bench and matched his season scoring high. He hit 6 of 8 shots and 4 of 5 free throws.
Macon scored 15 points. He was of 1 of 6 from the field, but he hit 12 of 13 free throws. Dusty Hannahs scored 13 points.
Arkansas guard Jaylen Barford, a junior college transfer from Jackson, Tenn., scored 14 points playing in front of several family members and friends.
"I'm a big-time winner," Barford said on Arkansas' postgame radio show. "I love winning. I like to compete. Losing just kills me, especially that Florida loss. I think this win helped us out a whole lot."
Arkansas senior center Moses Kingsley had 7 points, 10 rebounds, 3 blocked shots and 2 steals. Senior guard Manny Watkins had eight points, and junior forward Dustin Thomas had 6 points, 7 rebounds and 2 steals while coming off the bench for the first time this season. Junior forward Arlando Cook received the start.
"All of our guys played their hearts out," Anderson said. "It was a total team effort."
Arkansas won back-to-back games in Thompson-Boling Arena for the first time and improved to 4-11 all-time at Tennessee.
Arkansas shot 50 percent from the field (27 of 54) and held the Volunteers to 39.1 percent shooting (25 of 64), including 5 of 19 on three-point attempts.
"We just had too many bad shots that led to easy baskets for them," Vols Coach Rick Barnes said.
Senior guard Robert Hubbs led Tennessee with 21 points and hit 9 of 14 shots. Junior guard Detrick Mostella scored 16 points for the Vols, and freshman forward Grant Williams had 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Arkansas outscored Tennessee 11-0 the final 2:57 of the first half, including seven points by Barford, to cut the Vols' halftime lead to 39-37.
The Razorbacks beat the Vols for the fifth consecutive time -- the longest winning streak for either team in their 38 meetings -- and evened the series at 19-19.
Tennessee had a 14-0 run over a 4:06 span -- during which the Razorbacks were 0 of 6 from the field and had 3 turnovers -- to move ahead 39-26 lead.
Beard scored Arkansas' first points in 5:20 when he hit two free throws at the 2:57 mark of the half to start the Razorbacks' rally. Barford hit a three-pointer and scored on a pair of driving baskets before halftime.
Arkansas' run came with Barford, Beard, Hannahs, Kingsley and Thomas playing together after Macon left the game with 3:10 left in the half after injuring an ankle when he slipped on the court.
"When we were down 13, we found a group that really had it going on," Anderson said. "Defensively, offensively, they were connected.
"Jaylen Barford got into a groove. I thought we had some blue-collar guys out there just really getting after it."
Arkansas' surge continued at the start of the second half when the Razorbacks moved ahead 46-41 on Barford's layup with 17:40 left after Hannahs' three-pointer put them ahead to stay at 44-41.
Arkansas led by as many as seven points three times in the second half, including 71-64 on Watkins' layup with 3:10 left.
"At the end of the game, we did some good things, but not enough," Barnes said. "But you have to give them credit. We pushed at them and they made their free throws."
The Vols pulled within 71-70 with 1:50 left on Hubbs' dunk.
Official Tony Greene ruled the ball was out of bounds off Macon at the 1:34 mark, but the call was reversed after a replay review and Arkansas retained possession.
Macon inbounded to Barford, who was fouled by Hubbs and hit two free throws to put the Razorbacks ahead 73-70 with 1:31 left.
Jordan Bone scored on a drive to cut Tennessee's deficit to 73-72. Macon hit two free throws to make it 75-72.
After a Bone turnover, Kingsley hit 1 of 2 free throws to put Arkansas ahead 76-72 with 34.3 seconds left.
Detrick Mostella hit a 10-foot jumper, was fouled by Macon, and hit a free throw for the three-point play to pull the Vols within 76-75. Macon hit two free throws to make it 78-75.
Mostella missed on a driving attempt over Kingsley, who slapped the ball out to Macon, who was fouled and hit two free throws for an 80-75 Arkansas lead with 5.6 seconds left.
After Mostella hit a three-point basket, Macon clinched the victory with his final two free throws with 1.8 seconds left.
It was Tennessee's first home game since Dec. 15 when the Vols beat Lipscomb 92-77.
"They played with a lot of emotion," Anderson said. "They hadn't played at home in a while, so you know they were going to come out ready to play.
"Our guys survived the wave and we just found a way to win."
Game sketch
RECORDS Arkansas 12-2, 1-1 SEC; Tennessee 8-6, 1-1
STARS Arkansas’ Daryl Macon made 12 of 13 free throws and scored 15 points, while Anton Beard scored 16 and Jaylen Barford had 14 for the Hogs. Tennessee’s Robert Hubbs III scored 21 points.
TURNING POINT Trailing 39-26, Arkansas went on an 11-0 run to end the first half, then opened the second half with a 13-4 run to go ahead 50-43.
KEY STATS Arkansas made 11 of 12 free throws in the last 1:31. The Hogs shot 50 percent to the Volunteers’ 39 percent from the floor, and 45.5 percent from three-point range to the Vols’ 26 percent. UP NEXT Arkansas faces No. 6 Kentucky on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Lexington, Ky.
Sports on 01/04/2017