Reserve Mcrae powers Vols
UT spreads points around to top Hogs TENNESSEE 77, ARKANSAS 58
KNOXVILLE — The Tennessee Volunteers have had the hang of coach Cuonzo Martin’s tough defensive style for a while. Now they’re starting to get into the swing of his motion offense, too.
Jordan Mcrae came off the bench to score 14 points, and five other Vols logged double - digit scoring as Tennessee beat Arkansas 77-58 on Wednesday night.
“The past three or four games, we’ve done a good job running the motion offense,” Martin said. “That’s a credit to our guys moving and getting open against the zone defense. When you make that pass, good things happen. We penetrated and found the shooter.”
Trae Golden scored 13 points, Jeronne Maymon and Skylar Mcbee each had 12 points, Cameron Tatum added 11 points and Jarnell Stokes had 10 as the Volunteers shot 56 percent (28 of 50) while holding the Razorbacks to 42.9 percent shooting (24 of 56).
Tennessee (14-12, 6-5 SEC) did its damage early in the game, then turned to its defense to overcome some sloppy possessions late in the first half and early in the second. The Vols, who have won 10 of their last 11 at home, hit nine of their first 10 shots, led by as many as 24 points in the first half and held a 47-30 halftime lead.
“We dug a hole,” Arkansas coach Mike Anderson said. “Obviously, Tennessee had some easy opportunities. They shot the ball well, too. They made some shots — got to give them credit.”
BJ Young scored 18 points, and Hunter Mickelson scored 12 for Arkansas (17-9, 5-6), which hasn’t won a road game this season.
Before the game, Tennessee announced that Martin had suspended forward Kenny Hall indefinitely for conduct detrimental to the team. Hall, who averages 6.2 points and 4.5 rebounds, hadn’t missed a game this season and started 16 of them.
Stokes, a former star at Central High, returned to the starting lineup in Hall’s place. Stokes sat out against South Carolina on Feb. 8 and came off the bench against Florida on Saturday after suffering a minor injury to his wrist.