KNOXVILLE, Tenn — If Razorback fans were looking for John Calipari's No. 23 ranked Arkansas Razorbacks (11-3, 0-1 SEC) to bounce back from a lackluster, uninspiring and injury-plagued pre-conference schedule, they were disappointed after the No. 1 Tennessee Volunteers (14-0, 1-0 SEC) 'manhandled' the Razorbacks 76-52 in Saturday's SEC opener at Thompson Boling Arena. Not only did the Vols run away with the game on the scoreboard, they also had their way with the Hogs on the backboards as well.
Led by senior forward Igor Milicic's double-double effort with 13 points and a 18 rebounds, the Razorbacks surrendered nearly as many offensive rebounds (19) than they collected as a team on both ends (24). Overall, Tennessee won the battle on the boards 45-24 while holding the Razorbacks to 20.7 percent shooting from three-point range.
"They kind of manhandled us," Razorback head coach John Calipari told the media after the game. "I can't remember the last time I had a team get beat by 30 rebounds. So we've got to do some soul searching."
The Hall of Fame coach — now in his first year at Arkansas after spending the previous 15 seasons at SEC rival Kentucky — added that Tennessee showed why they came into the game undefeated and top ranked. Calipari also added that his team didn't help their cause by shooting 46 percent from the foul line and not coming prepared to play.
"So when we miss free throws and we get out rebounded by 30, we get beat by 25. It could have been 50," Calipari said. "They are the No.1 team in the country for a reason and they did it to us."
"We only had one guy go to try and offensive rebound. They had more offensive rebounds than we had rebounds. All I kept saying in the second half was let's get it to single digits, but we would do something good and they would get an offensive rebound. I kept saying at halftime that we need to get it down to single digits. We got it down to 13 and they'd get an offensive rebound. They'd get two offensive rebound and two threes...It has nothing to do with anything but rebounding.John Calipari
"Now there's some soul searching. We are off (Sunday). We have some individual meetings on Monday, but I'm not cracking. I've been through this — not a lot, but there have been games like this where we just got totally manhandled
"
Thanks to D.J. Wagner's aggressive start, the game was tied at 12 early on. The Volunteers then clamped down with their patented defense and went on a 7-0 run — aided by a pair of three-pointers from transfer sharpshooter Chaz Lanier. Lanier finished with a game high 29 points on 5-of-9 shooting from behind the arc to go with 4-for-4 from the foul line. Volunteer senior point guard Zakai Zeigler (12) and junior forward Felix Okpara (10) also scored in double figures.
Arkansas was led in scoring by Wagner's 17 and freshman point guard Boogie Fland's 12-point effort.
"You've got the one that transferred in (Lanier) and he helps them because he can stretch the floor a little bit, Calipari said. "He's pretty good and he hurt us...Some of it was we went to help and he just went to the glass. That's what we want to do. We want to send three, but if you watch the tape, we had one guy try to offensive rebound instead of a bunch of guys going in there and mixing it up. "
The lone rebounder Calipari kept referring too probably was Tennessee transfer Jonas Aidoo, who kept hearing it from the Volunteer faithful inside Thompson Boling Arena.
"It was a great crowd today," Calipari said. "I thought they wouldn't have any students but they all showed today. I think the students came back early to enjoy that."
Calipari also chalked up some of his team's off shooting and flat footedness on the boards to a lack of proper preparation.
"The one thing I would do different in this game," he said. "I was up all night tossing and turning. We didn't do a shoot around today. I just felt our body timing was (off). It was pretty early. If I had to do it over again, we would have done a shoot around because we had three or four guys kind of no show.
One of those no shows was obviously Arkansas' leading scorer coming into the game, Adou Thiero. The junior transfer forward from Kentucky averages 18 points and nearly six rebounds on the season — both team highs. However he logged only six points and five boards against Tennessee. Thiero also went 0-4 from the charity stripe.
"I look at them and said guys you are not going to make every shot," Calipari said. "Just keep playing. You've got to learn to fight when you are not playing well. So this was a great learning experience for this team.
Another Razorback no show on Saturday Aido, who transferred to Arkansas from Tennessee. Aido, who has battled to come back from injury since the start of the season, tied Thiero for the team lead with five rebounds the Razorbacks. He also scored four points but like Thiero was unable to connect from the foul line. Overall Arkansas shot 47 percent in free throws.
"I love Jonas and after I shook his hand I said, 'Jonas I love you.' Barnes said afterwards of his former All-SEC center. "And I do love him. He found a situation that was hard for him to turn down. He (took it) and I had no problems with it. I think it was hard because he did a lot for us while he was here. I wish him nothing but the best... but all we can do is pray for him and take care of our business here and keep moving. That's what we've done."
As for the Razorbacks, they will have to move forward as well. The 2025 SEC slate is chocked full of ranked opponents. No 24 Ole Miss and No. 6 Florida are scheduled to come to Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Arkansas next week.
"Now there's some soul searching," Calipari said. "We are off tomorrow. We have some individual meetings on Monday, but I'm not cracking. I've been through this — not a lot, but there have been
games like this where we just got totally manhandled.
"When you play (Tennessee) team you better be ready to fight. I don't mean fist fight. I mean battle. You better be ready to block out. You better run and get some free baskets or it's going to be a hard game for you."