Outside of the No. 23 Arkansas Razorbacks (11-3, 0-1 SEC) rebounding difficulties in their 76-52 loss to the No. 1 Tennessee Volunteers (14-0, 1-0 SEC) on Saturday, the Hogs' defensive numbers actually show a decent performance.
Let's not sugarcoat it — Arkansas did not play great in any phase of the game, and most of those issues compounded on each other. The inability to connect on anything led to forced shots and turnovers, which the Volunteers took advantage of.
The rebounding numbers are what they are — a 51-29 advantage for Tennessee — which was the difference in the game.
"We make (the deficit) 13, they get two offensive rebounds, two threes and you look around and you’re like, ‘Guys, it has nothing to do with anything but rebounding,’" Arkansas head coach John Calipari said postgame.
That said, when you look at the final stat sheet, the Razorbacks' defense was actually not terrible outside of the battle of the boards. A big part of playing great defense is finishing possessions and rebounding, and the Hogs weren't great at that, but some of the other numbers can be encouraging.
Coming into Saturday's game, the Volunteers were scoring an average of 80.1 points per contest, shooting 48.9% from the field and 35.5% from deep. Their shots were blocked 2.1 times per game and teams only got an average of 5.8 steals from the Vols.
Against Arkansas, Tennessee was held to 76 points and shot just 39.1% from the field. Its three-point numbers were higher at 38.5% with 10 makes from deep, and most of that was from wing Chaz Lanier, who hit five of his nine attempts from distance.
Arkansas' defense was overshadowed by its putrid rebounding, and for good reason. You can't hang your hat on defense if you can't close out possessions. But down low, Arkansas didn't allow the Volunteers many easy trips to the basket, as they only finished 8-of-24 on layups. That number, of course, is overshadowed by 16 second-chance points off of 24 offensive rebounds.
As mentioned above, only 2.1 of Tennessee's shots are blocked per game, but Arkansas had a lopsided number in that regard. The Hogs finished with 10 blocked shots, much higher than the 5.7 (11th nationally) they're averaging this season.
Center Jonas Aidoo — who finished with the second-best defensive rating on the team — blocked three shots. Wing Adou Thiero, who had the highest defensive rating on the team, had two himself, one of which negated a potential thunderous dunk by Lanier.
In the steals category, Arkansas put up a higher number than the Volunteers' allowed on average as well with eight. Freshman point guard Boogie Fland had three while Thiero and Aidoo had two a piece.
Tennessee won the turnover battle and forced 15 on the Hogs, but they also committed more turnovers Saturday than usual; the Vols average 10.8 turnovers per game, but the Hogs forced 13.
It's hard to look at this game and find many positives. Outside of a decent start in the first five minutes or so, Arkansas was dominated pretty easily. But, Tennessee is the No. 1 team in the country for a reason, and it's hard to go on the road against any SEC team, let alone a team like the Volunteers.
"We got work to do," Calipari said. "We know we’re not as good as the No. 1 team in the country. In this league, every game you’re going to play is going to be a hard game, every one."
The Razorbacks' next opportunity to right the ship will be Wednesday when they host the No. 24 Ole Miss Rebels, who dispatched Georgia 63-51 on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. and the game will air on ESPN2.
