No. 1 Tennessee (14-0, 1-0 SEC) defeated Arkansas (11-3, 0-1 SEC), 76-52, on Saturday at Food City Center to open Southeastern Conference play.
Rankings reflect the USA TODAY Sports Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll. The Vols are ranked No. 1 for a fourth consecutive week.
Saturday marked John Calipari’s first game as Arkansas’ head coach against Tennessee. The SEC matchup also featured Tennessee transfer forward Jonas Aidoo’s return to Food City Center with Arkansas.
Aidoo started for the Razorbacks and totaled four points, five rebounds, three blocks and two steals.
Tennessee guard Chaz Lanier led all scorers with 29 points. He converted 10-of-20 field goal attempts, 5-of-9 three-point attempts and 4-of-4 free throw attempts.
Zakai Zeigler led the Vols in assists (7), while Igor Milicic Jr. was Tennessee’s leader for rebounds (18).
The Vols totaled nine bench points, 26 points in the paint, 13 points off turnovers, 16 second chance points and three fast break points.
Tennessee will next play on Jan. 7 at Florida. Tipoff between the Vols and Gators is slated for 7 p.m. EST (ESPN2).
2024-25 Tennessee Vols basketball schedule results
Oct. 27 versus Indiana (L, 66-62 — exhibition)
Nov. 4 versus Gardner-Webb (W, 80-64)
Nov. 9 at Louisville (W, 77-55)
Nov. 13 versus Montana (W, 92-57)
Nov. 17 versus Austin Peay (W, 103-68)
Nov. 21 versus Virginia (W, 64-42 — Naussau, Bahamas)
Nov. 22 versus Baylor (W, 77-62 — Naussau, Bahamas)
Nov. 27 versus UT Martin (W, 78-35)
Dec. 3 versus Syracuse (W, 96-70)
Dec. 10 versus Miami (W, 75-62 — New York, New York)
Dec. 14 at Illinois (W, 66-64)
Dec. 17 versus Western Carolina (W, 84-36)
Dec. 23 versus Middle Tennessee State (W, 82-64)
Dec. 31 versus Norfolk State (W, 67-52)
Jan. 4 versus Arkansas (W, 76-52)