The Fayetteville famine is over for the Tennessee Volunteers.
Jonas Aidoo scored 23 points, Dalton Knecht added 22 and Jordan Gainey had 17 as the No. 8 Vols routed Arkansas 92-63 for their first win inside Bud Walton Arena since Feb. 4, 2009. In halting seven consecutive road losses to the Razorbacks, the Vols improved to 18-6 overall and to 8-3 in Southeastern Conference play this season.
“The real good part is that we had a game plan and stuck to it,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said afterward on the Vol Network. “We were especially consistent defensively throughout the game. They made some 3s early, and we expected them to be a little jacked up, but we stuck with it.
“I’m just really proud of our mental concentration on the defensive end.”
Arkansas, which has made two Elite Eight appearances and another Sweet 16 trip in the past three NCAA tournaments, fell to 12-12 and 3-8.
Aidoo was 11-of-14 from the floor and also hauled in 12 rebounds. The Vols shot 33-of-58 (56.9%) from the floor and outrebounded the Razorbacks 36-25.
Tennessee took a 46-40 halftime lead and then blew the game open with an 18-7 run, as a pair of Gainey 3-pointers helped stake the Vols to a 64-47 advantage. A Zakai Zeigler layup with 12:56 remaining gave Tennessee its first 20-point lead at 69-49.
“I thought Jonas Aidoo was really responding extremely well,” Barnes said. “Jordan Gainey came in and gave us a big spark, too. Everyone who played made a big contribution.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.