The Tennessee Volunteers crossed the latest speed-bump on their rip-roaring road to the regular-season Southeastern Conference title without even slowing down Wednesday night with a resounding 93-71 home win over SEC West heavyweight Arkansas.
It was the No. 2-ranked Vols’ (10-1 conference, 23-2 overall) 29th consecutive victory in Thompson-Boling Arena and fifth-straight win since suffering their only league loss at Kentucky on Jan. 22. The Vols went on the road Saturday and took care of business in a hard-fought 74-71 win over SEC East rival Georgia.
Tennessee’s 22-3 start is the best 25-game start in school history. The Vols, who play at No. 1 Memphis Saturday night after hosting conference foe Auburn on Wednesday, jumped up to the No. 2 position in both the AP and ESPN top-25 polls. It's UT's highest poll position in program history.
Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl said during Monday's weekly media luncheon that the Vols are going to focus on finishing business and winning the conference outright--something UT hasn't done in 41 years--rather than look ahead to the much-hyped national-showdown with the Memphis Tigers.
"The Auburn Tigers are the most important Tigers we're playing this week," said Pearl. "If we get by Auburn, the Memphis game has its own implications, like recruiting and (NCAA Tournament) seeding, but we're focused on doing something that hasn't been done in 41 years--winning an outright SEC Championship."
Tennessee's two close conference wins last week only further reminds the team how difficult it is to win on the road in the SEC, and the wins further remind the Vols' coach what an honor it would be to win an outright conference title.
Less than a week after saving the day with a late steal and lay-up to help UT defeat a determined LSU team on the road, 47-45, Vols’ senior shooting guard JaJuan Smith was once again the star of the show Wednesday vs. Arkansas.
Smith, who was suffering from a case of the flu against LSU Saturday and almost didn’t even make the trip, was full-tilt-boogie Wednesday night, turning in one of his best performances of his college career in front of an appreciative orange-clad crowd of 20,008.
He tied his career-high of 32 points on a nine-of-13 shooting display from the field, including an all-time school-best 6-of-6 effort from behind the 3-point arc. Smith also sank eight-of-11 free throws and finished with four rebounds and four assists in just 24 minutes of playing time.
Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl, who admitted earlier this week that Smith is “the heart of the team”, was the happiest person in the building Wednesday night to see his senior leader play at such a high level.
“I’m very pleased to report that JaJuan Smith has recovered from the flu in a big way,” a half-joking Pearl exclaimed when he stepped to the microphone at his post-game press conference.
Smith’s hot-hand from the field helped escort the Vols out to a 43-38 lead at the halftime break. When his teammates joined his offensive fireworks show in the second half, Smith and Vols pulled away from the Razorbacks with a 50-33 advantage over the contests’ final 20 minutes to give Tennessee the 22-point win.
The loss was easily Arkansas’ (6-3 league, 17-6 overall) most lopsided defeat of the season.
Pearl said Monday that the Vols would be very challenged against Arkansas’ front-court presence. The UT coach compared the Razorbacks’ collection of big men to an NBA team and called them the deepest front court in the country. Pearl had to be pleased with how his own stable of post players responded to the challenge.
Tennessee’s 6-foot-7 power forward Duke Crews finished with his first double-double of the season, turning in 11 points to go with 11 boards. Tyler Smith, a 6-foot-7 picture of efficiency, had 15 points and four rebounds at the small forward and wing positions. Sophomore center/forward Wayne Chism hit for 15 points and five rebounds, and was an impressive 6-for-7 from the charity stripe.
Forward Ryan Childress was not able to go Wednesday against the Razorbacks after acquiring his own case of the dreaded flu bug sweeping the Knoxville area. Freshman center Brian Williams saw just limited action vs. Arkansas, scoring two points and grabbing zero rebounds in only nine minutes of action. Williams was good for four fouls against the Razorbacks though.
Another encouraging aspect of his team’s recent play for Pearl is the fact the Vols have out-rebounded their last five opponents. UT out-rebounded the bigger, more physical Razorbacks by a final count of 38-36.
Tennessee will attempt to extend its SEC Eastern Division lead Saturday against the Georgia Bulldogs in Athens. The Bulldogs (3-6 league, 12-10 overall) have their backs against the wall and will be in a must-win situation for their dwindling postseason chances. Georgia, which UT defeated 85-69 in Knoxville on Jan. 26, knocked off South Carolina, 82-64, Wednesday in Athens.
Tennessee's Saturday match-up with Memphis in the Bluff City is slated for a primetime, 9 p.m. tipoff. It will be televised nationally by ESPN. The Vols will play their second 9 p.m. tipoff Tuesday when they host Eastern Division rival Vanderbilt in a pivotal contest that will go far in determining UT's chances of winning the overall league title. Tuesday's game against the Commodores will also be televised by ESPN.