FAYETTEVILLE — Another SEC visitor left Bud Walton Arena with a blowout victory Wednesday.
This time it was the eighth-ranked Tennessee basketball team, which pulled away in the second half to win 92-63 at Arkansas in front of a sparse late-night crowd on Valentine’s Day.
The Volunteers (18-6, 8-3 SEC) nearly matched the largest victory by a visitor at the 31-year-old arena. Joseph Pinion’s basket and free throw in the closing seconds kept Tennessee from winning by 32 points, the same margin Auburn won by Jan. 6 to set the record for the most lopsided victory by a visitor.
Arkansas (12-12, 3-8) is off to its worst SEC start since a 2-14 campaign in 2008-09.
Tennessee stayed within one game of first place in the SEC and won its first game in Fayetteville since 2009. The Vols had lost their previous seven games on the Razorbacks’ home court.
Arkansas lost its fifth home game — the most in a single season under fifth-year coach Eric Musselman. The Razorbacks had a combined home record of 46-5 the previous three seasons.
They began this season 7-1 at home, but it has been a different story since SEC play began in early January. Arkansas has lost at home to Auburn, South Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee by an average of 20 points, and the Razorbacks had nail-biting victories over Texas A&M and Georgia in Fayetteville.
Wednesday’s game was close for a while. Arkansas trailed 46-40 at halftime, but Tennessee made 8 of 12 shots, including 3 of 5 three-point attempts, to open the second half and never looked back.
Jonas Aidoo scored 23 points on 11-of-14 shooting and added 12 rebounds to lead the Vols. Dalton Knecht, Tennessee’s star transfer from Northern Colorado who is in the running for SEC player of the year, added 22 points.
The Vols made 14 of 23 shots and 15 of 17 free throws in the second half and outscored the Razorbacks 46-23 after halftime.
Tramon Mark scored 12 points to lead Arkansas. No other Razorback scored in double figures.
Both teams shot lights out to begin the game. Davonte Davis’ layup with 15:01 remaining in the first half gave Arkansas a 15-12 lead, but the Razorbacks could not keep up.
A 12-4 Tennessee run gave the Vols some cushion. Knecht’s dunk that followed a steal by Zakai Zeigler gave Tennessee a 32-22 lead with 6:39 left before halftime.
The Vols had a season-high nine dunks as part of a 48-22 advantage in paint points.
Arkansas is scheduled to play at Mississippi State on Saturday at 1 p.m.