Following the 85-69 loss at Texas A&M last Saturday night, Tennessee basketball coach Rick Barnes said, "It only hurts if you don't learn from it."
The No. 8 Volunteers bounced back with a 92-63 trouncing of Arkansas late Wednesday night in Fayetteville that absolutely qualifies as a lesson learned. Tennessee's obliteration of the Razorbacks marked its second-largest road triumph this century, trailing only last season's 85-42 dismantling of South Carolina in Columbia.
"We had a lot of respect for Arkansas coming in, and we knew they were capable of beating anybody in this building," Barnes said afterward in a news conference. "I thought after our game the other night that our guys did a really good job preparing and getting ready to come here. We played a really good all-around basketball game.
"We didn't make as many 3s as we normally take, but we just had a really good all-around performance from everyone."
The Vols improved to 18-6 overall and to 8-3 in Southeastern Conference play by making 33 of 58 shots (56.9%) from the floor. They shot just 5-of-17 (29.6%) from 3-point range but overcame that with an inside display that included a whopping 48-22 advantage in paint points and a 36-25 rebounding edge.
Junior forward Jonas Aidoo was the star of Tennessee's show with 23 points on 11-of-14 shooting and 12 rebounds.
"When he plays like that and when he plays with a force to the rim like he did tonight — I just thought he played much quicker," Barnes said. "They blocked one of his shots when he took too much time, but I thought Jonas looked relaxed shooting his 15-footers.
"His rebounding in the second half was really big. His length affects things around the rim."
Dalton Knecht scored 22 points and Jordan Gainey added 17 for the Vols, who were vastly improved from last Saturday night when it came to handling an opposing onslaught out of the gate. Texas A&M started 4-of-6 from 3-point range to build a quick 16-8 lead and Tennessee never really recovered, falling behind 42-28 at halftime and allowing an 11-3 run to the Aggies to open the second half that put the game away at 53-31.
The Razorbacks (12-12, 3-8) were 4-of-5 from long range to open Wednesday's contest, but the Vols were effective offensively, too, and forced an 18-18 deadlock through the first eight minutes. Tennessee then went on a 12-2 run to take a 30-20 lead, and the Vols completely blew things open early in the second half.
"They started the game making them," Barnes said, "and the last time out against A&M, we got away from our gap defense. Tonight we stayed with it. We showed some discipline there."
The Vols did not have any dunks in College Station but recorded a season-high nine in Fayetteville, including seven in the first 17 minutes. Aidoo finished with six dunks, which matched Tennessee's previous season high as a team.
Next up for Tennessee is a visit from Vanderbilt (7-17, 2-9) on Saturday night (6 on the SEC Network).
Odds and ends
The first victory for Barnes at Arkansas with the Vols was also the 797th of his career. ... Knecht has recorded double-digit point totals during both halves in nine games this season. ... Freshman forward J.P. Estrella was ruled out before Wednesday's game with an injury to his left leg and is listed as day to day.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.