University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
10-5, 2-1SEC
Arkansas
13-3, 2-1SEC
Vols Knock Off #19 Arkansas, 74-69
January 13, 2015 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 13, 2015
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee pulled off its second upset victory over a ranked team this season as the Vols took down #19 Arkansas, 74-69, on Tuesday night. Tennessee withstood a furious charge by the Razorbacks in the final minutes to hold on for the win. The Vols made 11-of-14 from the foul line in the final 1:08 to seal the victory.
The Vols improved to 10-5 and 2-1 in the SEC while Arkansas saw its seven-game winning streak come to an end as the Razorbacks fell to 13-3 and 2-1 in the league. Arkansas has never opened an SEC season with two consecutive road wins, which the Hogs were seeking to do on Tuesday.
Tennessee's pressuring defense flustered Arkansas's fast-paced offense most of the night. Arkansas was held to a 69 points, 14.9 less than their season average of 83.9.
The Vols forced the Razorbacks into a season-high 18 turnovers and converted them into 27 points.
The Vols shot 50.9 from the floor including 56.5 in the second half. Tennessee controlled the paint as well, with a 40-32 advantage.
Josh Richardson led the Vols with a season-high tying 20 points while Robert Hubbs scored a career-high 16 points. Armani Moore netted 14 points and played great defense with four steals.
Tennessee limited the SEC's leading scorer -- and reigning National Player of the Week Bobby Portis (18.1 ppg) much of the night, as he had 17 points. He also grabbed 11 rebounds. Second-leading scorer Michael Qualls (15.4 ppg) had 15 points. .
The Vols were in control for nearly the entire game, and never trailed for the final 38 minutes of action despite the late Hog charge.
Up by a pair at halftime, the Vols opened up a 10-point advantage early in the second half punctuated by a Richardson breakaway slam as UT took a 43-33 lead with 16 minutes left in the game.
Detrick Mostella's back-to-back 3-pointers midway through the second half pushed Tennessee's lead to a 15 at 53-38. The Vols held Arkansas without a point for 4:37 midway through the second half in taking a 16-point lead.
Arkansas continued to threaten, but the Vols withstood their flurry.
The Hogs got within five points (63-58) with 1:31 left in the game, Hubbs followed that with a pair of smooth free throws to push the lead back to three possessions with 1:08 left.
After the Vols began the game making only three of their first 12 free throws, Tennessee converted 11-of-14 in the final 1:08.
Anton Beard's 3-pointer with 13.9 seconds remaining, cut Arkansas' deficit to one, 70-69.
Kevin Punter made two free throws with 8.8 left to make it 72-69 Tennessee. Punter was then whistled for a foul on a 3-point attempt with 5.1 seconds. Beard proceeded to miss all three foul shots, as the Vols maintained the 3-point lead.
Moore's two free throws with 3.7 seconds left sealed the win.
Tennessee held a 33-31 lead at intermission thanks to sensational defense as the Vols scored 16 of those points off nine Arkansas turnovers. Richardson led all scorers with 10 as the Vols shot 47 percent from the floor over the first 20 minutes.
The Vols got off to a strong start, taking a 16-7 lead on a Richardson 3-pointer and a slam dunk by Derek Reese with six minutes elapsed in the game.
Tennessee held Portis without a point and only one field goal attempt for the game's first 12 minutes before he connected on a short jumper to cut the Vols' lead to 22-18.
The Vols defeated then #15 Butler, 67-55, on Dec. 14 in Knoxville for Donnie Tyndall's first win over a ranked team as head coach at Tennessee.
The Vols return to action on Saturday as they travel to Missouri (7-8, 1-1) to face the Tigers. That game tips at 6 p.m. ET and airs on the SEC Network and can be heard on the Vol Network.
