KNOXVILLE — With a windchill in the teens and a flu-bug circulating around the University of Tennessee campus, Thompson-Boling Arena wasn’t going to thaw itself Wednesday night.
JaJuan Smith had to toss it in the microwave.
The senior guard from McMinn County scored a career-high-tying 32 points to lead the fourth-ranked Volunteers to a 93-71 win over had-been-hot Arkansas.
Smith’s shooting was a necessity on a night when UT led by just five points and halftime and got just six points from Chris Lofton.
Tennessee’s oft-forgotten star went 9 for 13 from the floor, 6 for 6 from 3-point range and 8 for 11 from the free-throw line against the Razorbacks, who entered Wednesday with four consecutive Southeastern Conference wins — three by 16 or more points.
Sweet-shooting Sonny Weems led Arkansas (17-6, 6-3 Southeastern Conference) with 20 points, but just five came in a second half dominated by Tennessee (22-2, 9-1).
Tyler Smith and Wayne Chism scored 15 points each for the Vols, and Duke Crews added 11.
A night full of whistle-induced frustration from both coaches and many players reached its seemingly unavoidable moment in the middle of UT’s second half, separating spurt.
Razorbacks coach John Pelfrey was given a technical for arguing an offensive foul call with 12:03 left. JaJuan Smith hit one of his two subsequent free throws, and Lofton added a driving bucket on UT’s next possession to give the Vols a 66-52 lead.
That sequence staggered the Razorbacks, and Smith knocked them in the next few minutes.
Smith hit two deep, contested treys before hitting a free throw for his 30th point with 8:15 left and the Vols leading 77-54.
Reserve sophomore guard Josh Tabb then added a tip-in to cap UT’s 17-2, game-sealing spurt.
Two JaJuan Smith free throws gave the Vols a 35-24 lead with 5:43 left in the first half, but back-to-back 3s from Vincent Hunter and Weems narrowed it to 35-30 and forced a frustrated Pearl into a timeout moments later.
UT improbably made its first 11 free-throw attempts, but the league’s third-worst free-tossing team quickly missed three of its next six to finish the half with a 43-38 lead.
Tennessee needed those free throws in a first half because Arkansas’ Hog-tying perimeter defense. The Vols had just eight looks from behind the arc in the first half — most of them contested — and made just three. Lofton was harassed enough to attempt just three field goals in 15 first-half minutes, and just one from outside.
UT finished 27 for 37 from the free-throw line.
The Vols are back on the road Saturday for a game at Georgia (12-10, 3-6), which pounded South Carolina 82-64 on Wednesday.
Twitter - @wesrucker Facebook - /tfpvolsbeat
