KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Josiah-Jordan James and Victor Bailey scored 17 points apiece and Tennessee hit eight free throws in the final minute as the No. 9 Volunteers pulled out a 79-74 Southeastern Conference victory over Arkansas on Wednesday night.
John Fulkerson scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half and freshman Keon Johnson added 14 for the Vols.
Fulkerson scored seven of Tennessee's first nine points of the second half. About four minutes into the final period the Vols had erased their seven-point halftime deficit and tied the game at 42.
Rather than try to shoot over Arkansas' 7-foot-3 Conner Vanover, the Vols adjusted their strategy to go at him. Not only did Fulkerson come alive, but Vanover picked up three fouls in the first 10 minutes.
Jamie Notae had just five points in the first half, but finished with 19, including a four-point play that momentarily stole the moment from Tennessee midway through the second half.
Jalen Tate had 15 points, Vance Jackson scored 14 and Vanover added 12.
With just over a minute to play, Tennessee led 69-61. However, a couple of quick baskets by Notae and a 3-pointer narrowed the gap.
BIG PICTURE
Arkansas: The Razorbacks are just starting to learn how to play without 6-foot-7 graduate student Justin Smith. While averaging 11.6 points and 7.1 rebounds, he went down with a high ankle sprain a couple of games ago. He will be out anywhere between two to five weeks. Against Tennessee, they went big, with Vanover starting in his place.
Tennessee: Alabama's victory over the Vols gave coach Rick Barnes plenty to think about. The physical, aggressive style of play by the Crimson Tide has challenged Tennessee to be better. After eight games with the same starting lineup, freshman Keon Johnson replaced Victor Bailey as a starter.
UP NEXT
Arkansas: After just its second road trip of the season to play Tennessee, the Razorbacks will return home Saturday to play Georgia.
Tennessee: The Vols' first game away from Thompson-Boling Arena was last week when they knocked off unbeaten Missouri. They have two straight road trips ahead of them, starting with Texas A&M Saturday.
EARLIER
Victory Bailey Jr. and Josiah-Jordan James each scored 17 points for Tennessee and the Vols handed Arkansas its second consecutive loss in SEC play on Wednesday with a 79-74 win at home.
John Fulkerson finished with 16 points on 6 of 11 shooting, and Keon Johnson pitched in 14.
JD Notae led the Razorbacks with 19 points, Jalen Tate added 15 points, six assists and six turnovers, and Vance Jackson scored 14 off the bench.
Moses Moody had six points on 1 of 8 shooting, and Desi Sills went scoreless, missing his only shot attempt.
We will have more from tonight's game later on WholeHogSports.com.
Tennessee 75, Arkansas 74 - 15 seconds left
The Vols inbounded the ball earlier, dribbled up to their bench and called for time. Out of the timeout, Tennessee couldn't get the ball in, so it called another timeout – its final timeout.
Tennessee 75, Arkansas 74 - 24 seconds left
The Vols have added four free throws in the last few moments. JD Notae hit a layup to cut Tennessee's lead to two, then on Arkansas' ensuing possession Jalen Tate knocked down a left-wing 3 to pull the Razorbacks within one.
Tennessee 71, Arkansas 69 - 1:01 left
Jalen Tate came up with a big-time steal. He dove on the floor after poking the ball away from Santiago Vescovi and called for time, giving the Razorbacks possession.
Tennessee 71, Arkansas 69 - 1:19 left
JD Notae has kept the Razorbacks in this game from an offensive standpoint. He has six of Arkansas' last eight points over the last two-plus minutes.
The Vols have possession coming out of a Rick Barnes timeout.
JD Notae has 17 points for the Razorbacks, 12 in the second half.
Tennessee 68, Arkansas 61 - 3:56 left
The Vols are on a 9-2 run to take a seven-point lead into the final media timeout. Josiah-Jordan James has five of Tennessee's last seven points and has 15 for the game on 6 of 11 shooting.
John Fulkerson has 11 points for the Vols since halftime and 15 total.
Arkansas is 8 of 19 from the floor in the second half and 2 of 6 from deep. Razorbacks have turned it over eight more times, bringing their total to 19. Turnover rate is sitting at 29.7%. Not going to win big games on the road that way.
Desi Sills is still scoreless, and Moses Moody has only six points on 1 of 8 shooting.
Tennessee 63, Arkansas 59 - 6:26 left
Josiah-Jordan James just got a layup to go, and that is the only score since the last break.
Jalen Tate picked up his dribble on the perimeter and had nowhere to go with the ball, so he called a timeout. Arkansas has two timeouts left.
Tate, JD Notae and Desi Sills have 11 turnovers between them tonight, and Jaylin Williams has four, too. Razorbacks up to 18 on the night. That equates to a 30.5% turnover rate.
Tennessee 61, Arkansas 59 - 7:48 left
The Vols took their largest lead of the night at five points after four consecutive free throws, but Arkansas responded very well to remain in this one as we hit the home stretch.
JD Notae shot faked a defender off his feet from the right wing, made a 3 and got the whistle. He hit the free throw. Twenty-three seconds later, he beat his man for a layup on a baseline out of bounds play.
Vance Jackson got a tough left-handed scoop shot to go in the lane, giving him a team-high 14 points. Arkansas will have possession out of the under-8 timeout.
Desi Sills is scoreless tonight. He is 0 of 1 from the floor and a minus-4 in his 17 minutes in the lineup.
Victor Bailey has a game-high 17 points and John Fulkerson has 15.
Tennessee 49, Arkansas 48 - 11:43 left
Vance Jackson is having his best game, for sure, since the season opener. He has a team-high 12 points on 4 of 8 shooting and 3 of 5 from deep.
Jackson came into tonight's game 0 of 3 from 3 in the right corner this season. Tonight, he's 3 of 3 in that spot.
Connor Vanover has nine points and will be at the line looking to tie the game after getting a layup to fall through contact prior to the media timeout. He also has five rebounds and one block.
Tennessee is 7 of 13 from the floor since halftime. Eric Musselman deployed a zone defense for a stretch and it had mixed results. He rarely ever runs a zone.
Razorbacks are shooting 54% tonight. They'll need to keep getting good looks down the stretch – and take good care of the basketball. Arkansas has 16 turnovers.
Arkansas 42, Tennessee 42 - 15:26 left
Arkansas has opened the second half going 1 of 4 from the floor, 0 of 1 from deep with four turnovers. These are just made a simple mistake-style turnovers. They're boneheaded, like standing on the sideline when receiving a pass in the corner, or not catching a pass with both hands on the perimeter.
Arkansas has 15 turnovers tonight. Jaylin Williams has four, and Desi Sills and Jalen Tate have three each.
John Fulkerson has had no issue finishing over Connor Vanover tonight. He is up to 11 points, seven since halftime. Tennessee is isolating him on the right side of the floor and letting him work. Razorbacks need a few stops.
Williams has Arkansas' only score of the second half on a nice dribble drive against Fulkerson.
Arkansas 40, Tennessee 33 - Half
The Razorbacks closed the half well, finishing on a 7-2 run behind buckets from Moses Moody, Vance Jackson and JD Notae. Jackson just played his best half since the season opener and it's not really close.
Jackson and Jalen Tate each have eight points to lead Arkansas, Connor Vanover has seven and Moses Moody has six. JD Notae added five points late in the half with a 3-ball and layup to beat the first-half buzzer.
If Arkansas can limit some of these live-ball turnovers, it will have a shot to get out of Tennessee with a big road win.
Jaylin Williams committed two fouls and turned the ball over three times in the first half, but the Razorbacks were plus-4 with him on the floor. He always give great energy. Just has to be better with his decision making offensively.
Josiah-Jordan James has a team-high 10 points for Tennessee on 4 of 8 shooting and 2 of 5 from deep. Victor Bailey Jr. also has nine. Yves Pons and John Fulkerson have eight points of 4 of 7 shooting.
Santiago Vesvovi played only eight minutes in the first half. We'll see how or if the game changes when he returns.
Arkansas 28, Tennessee 24 - 4:17 left first half
Arkansas has been very sloppy tonight, committing 10 turnovers, but the Razorbacks are in this game and have led most of the way because they're making big shots.
Vance Jackson has four rebounds to go with six points after burying his second right-corner 3 of the season. Jalen Tate is up to three assists on five assistable passes. Connor Vanover has seven points and four boards as well.
Rick Barnes called for time to regroup prior to the final media timeout of the half. Lots of jumpers for Tennessee tonight. Figure that might change soon.
Arkansas 20, Tennessee 15 - 7:58 left first half
After the game was tied at 13, the Razorback went on a 7-0 run, capped off by the only bucket in the lane 3-plus minute sequence. Jalen Tate got a midrange jumper to go from around the left elbow. Assisted by Vance Jackson, who is 1 of 4 shooting with three points and two rebounds in eight minutes.
Josiah-Jordan James still leads Tennessee with five points. Santiago Vescovi, the head of the snake for the Vols, is on the bench with two fouls. Tennessee is minus-7 with him in the lineup tonight.
Razorbacks shooting 50% – 9 of 18 – and 2 of 7 from deep. Got to clean up some turnovers. Arkansas has committed six already, and some are just senseless, like not knowing where you are on the floor and bad reads from guards.
Arkansas 18, Tennessee 13 - 11:21 left first half
Another good offensive segment from the Razorbacks. Connor Vanover added five points, including a left-wing 3. Probably a relief for him to see a perimeter shot fall.
Jaylin Williams then added a midrange jumper on the right side of the floor after getting hid defender off his feet with a shot fake, and Vance Jackson knocked down a right-corner 3. Big shot for Jackson, who played only one minute against Missouri.
Arkansas is 8 of 15 from the floor and 2 of 7 from 3 so far. Tennessee is 6 of 15 overall and 1 of 4 beyond the arc. Josiah-Jordan James has five points to lead the Vols.
Vanover has seven points to lead Arkansas, and Williams and Tate have four. Tate also has two assists, which have turned into five points.
Arkansas 8, Tennessee 4 - 15:51 left first half
Pretty good start for the Razorbacks on both ends. Tennessee has missed some good looks, but Jaylin Williams and Connor Vanover have altered a couple looks on the interior.
Jalen Tate has a team-high four points on two nice takes to the rim. He might have gotten away with a walk when he scored on Yves Pons, but you'll take what you can get on the road. Razorbacks have already made more layups in this game (4) than they did vs. Missouri (3).
Tate found Vanover for a layup on Arkansas' opening possession, and later Williams added a layup on a broken floor. He picked up two early fouls, but Eric Musselman stuck with him until the media timeout.
Keon Johnson and Pons have two points apiece for Tennessee.
Pregame
Arkansas' starting lineup: Desi Sills, Jalen Tate, Moses Moody, Jaylin Williams and Connor Vanover.
First career start for Williams, the 6-10 true freshman forward from Fort Smith. He finished with eight points, three rebounds, two blocks and one steal in the Razorbacks' first loss of the season.
So far in conference play, Arkansas has finished just 24 of 56 attempts at the rim, according to my shot chart data. Opponents are 26 of 44 on such shots. The Razorbacks have finished at a 59.8% clip at the rim this season. That has to improve, and soon.
Arkansas, in general, needs to eliminate questionable looks and generate quality offense. Tate has made a team-high 28 assistable passes in two SEC games and the Razorbacks are 5 of 28 on those shots, including 2 of 21 from 3-point range. They have made 1 of their last 22 shots immediately following a Tate pass.
JD Notae is second on the team in potential assists in SEC games with 10, Moody is third with 9 and Sills has 8. Arkansas, if it hopes to hang with Tennessee, has to share the ball and knock down key shots.
Tennessee's starters: Santiago Vescovi (6-3), Victor Bailey (6-4), Josiah-Jordan James (6-6), Yves Pons (6-6) and John Fulkerson (6-9).
The Volunteers, ranked No. 9 in the latest Associated Press top 25 poll, enter tonight’s game 7-1 overall and 1-1 in Southeastern Conference play. Tennessee beat Missouri by 20 last week then lost at home to Alabama on Saturday.
Rick Barnes’ team comes in with the nation’s No. 1 defensive efficiency rating, according to KenPom, allowing 86.6 points per 100 possessions. Tennessee is also second nationally in block rate, swatting 16.9% of 2-point attempts this season, and No. 14 in turnover rate. Opponents have turned the ball over on 25.3% of their possessions to this point.
Pons is the Vols’ star. He is a shot-blocking machine and one of the best defensive players in the country. He has blocked 20% of 2-point attempts when on the floor through two SEC games. Fulkerson has one double-double this season and is coming off a 7-point, 5-rebound performance against the Crimson Tide. He and Bailey are the team’s top offensive rebounders.
Tennessee has been limited from 3-point range in league play. Vescovi, who has hit 6 of 12 from deep, is the only Vols player with multiple makes from 3 in two games. He is averaging 14 points and an uncharacteristic one assist in conference games.
Jaden Springer, a 6-4 freshman guard, will be available tonight, Barnes said, after suffering an ankle injury against Alabama.