The double-digit hole Tennessee's men's basketball team quickly dug was too deep to overcome this time.
There was no incredible comeback at one of the toughest places to play in the Southeastern Conference.
Arkansas jumped out to a 12-2 lead less than five minutes into the game, and the Volunteers barely threatened the rest of the way in an 85-67 loss at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville late Saturday night.
"We just got outplayed in every area," first-year Tennessee coach Rick Barnes told the Vol Network radio broadcast after the game. "It seemed like we were fighting uphill all night."
The performance was especially disappointing for Tennessee (11-12, 4-6) after Tuesday night's rally from 21 down in its stunning win against 20th-ranked Kentucky. The Vols are 1-10 away from Knoxville this season and have won just three times (2009, 2007 and 2003) at Bud Walton Arena, where Arkansas (12-11, 5-5) is 10-3 this season with wins against Vanderbilt and Texas A&M.
"We weren't Tennessee tonight," freshman Shembari Phillips told the Vol Network after scoring 12 points. "We've got to give (Arkansas) credit. They did everything they needed to do to get the win tonight."
Kevin Punter Jr. finished with 24 points and seven assists, but Tennessee's leading scorer had just four points in the first half and the senior guard didn't make his first shot from the field until the 18:28 mark of the second half.
Phillips and Armani Moore (11 points, five rebounds) were the only other Vols who scored in double figures.
"At some point in time, (Punter's) looking around like, 'Hey, somebody else has got to step up here and help me out a little bit,'" Barnes said. "It's hard on him. Everybody's going to game-plan for him. They're coming after him, and the other guys on our team should look at that like, 'Hey, man, this gives me a chance to do something.'
"When we've played our best, that's what's happened. Guys will step up and make some of those plays."
Dusty Hannahs drained two 3-pointers to help the Razorbacks take a 10-point lead, and Jabril Durham's trey with 3:30 to go in the first half made it 30-13. After trailing by 13 at the break, Tennessee got no closer than 12 in the second half.
"I didn't think we worked as hard as we needed to, and really it's defensively," Barnes said. " Hannahs is that wide open early in the game, that's obviously a major breakdown, because those guys shoot the ball over 40 percent (from 3-point range)."
Tennessee's faint hopes of a second-half comeback were dashed by a 10-second stretch in which Arkansas scored twice. Detrick Mostella threw an outlet pass right to a Razorback after coming down with a rebound, and Jimmy Whitt knocked down a jumper. Then Anton Beard got a layup after another turnover.
Instead of having possession while trailing by 13, the Vols were down 17 - and their deficit ballooned to 24 with four minutes left.
Moses Kingsley led Arkansas with 17 points, and four other Razorbacks reached double figures.
"On offense they just kept moving, and it was very difficult for us to find their shooters in transition," Phillips said. "Kingsley was big-time inside tonight. That was the difference."
Tennessee shot 24 percent in the first half and 35 percent for the game, while Arkansas made 53 percent of its shots and nine 3-pointers. The Vols took 10 more 3-pointers (27) than free throws (17).
Mostella was just 2-of-11 from the field, and Devon Baulkman (two points in 13 minutes) and Robert Hubbs III (two points in 16 minutes) were nonfactors.
"At the beginning of the year, you say if we're going to win on the road, Hubbs has got to show up, Baulkman's got to show up," Barnes said. "Detrick has gotten better, but both he and Baulkman had a tough time defensively, and that's why we were moving them in and out. Shembari, I thought, was really good, and I thought Kyle (Alexander) did some good things."
Tennessee's next two games are against Auburn and Missouri, teams with a combined SEC record of 4-16 this season.
"(Arkansas) outplayed us," Barnes said. "I just don't think we were locked in defensively They didn't do anything different. We knew they were going to get down the floor, but we've played against that all year. We've done that.
"We just need more than what we got from other players."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.