Eric Musselman explains how Tennessee overpowered Arkansas

Prior into Tuesday night’s matchup between Arkansas and Tennessee, Razorbacks head coach Eric Musselman said that the Volunteers are probably the best defensive team in the country, and they may have proved him right. Tennessee dominated Arkansas in a 75-57 win at home, and after the game, Musselman spoke on the Vol’s menacing physicality.

“Well they’re just so long and they’re so physical on both sides of the ball, it’s not just the physicality of Tennessee on the defensive end, the screen setting,” Musselman said. “And then when Zeigler got hurt they became longer, bigger, taller, more physical probably.”

Tennessee’s point guard and floor general Zakai Zeigler left the game early after suffering what seemed to be a serious knee injury. Zeigler is the Volunteers’ and the SEC’s assist leader averaging 5.4 per game, but he is by far Tennessee’s shortest player standing at 5-foot-7. As a result, the Razorbacks had to deal more with Vols guards like Jahmai Mashack and Josiah-Jordan James who both stand at 6-foot-4 or taller.

“But yeah they completely out-physicaled us, there’s no doubt about it. The loose ball game, the rebounding game, the screen setting was much more forceful than ours,” Musselman said.

The Razorbacks matched their second-worst scoring outing of the season, held to just 57 points on 36.7% shooting from the field. They lost the turnover and the rebounding battle as Tennessee gave them fits all night.

Tennessee ranks first in the SEC and second in the entire nation in opponent points allowed per game, holding teams to an average of 56.7 points per game this season. Their opponent field goal and three-point percentage is also the best in the SEC, and they’re the conference’s second-best rebounding team. The numbers surely back up Musselman’s statement made before the game, and after the game he stood by his previous sentiments.

“Yeah I would say it’s the best defensive team we’ve played,” Musselman admitted.

The Razorbacks now drop to an 8-9 conference record, placing them in the No. 9 spot in the SEC Standings. They’ve already secured a first-round bye in the SEC Tournament, and will not be one of the conference’s bottom four teams. But their chances of jumping ahead any further in the standings has dropped to 26%, as they face No. 23 ranked Kentucky in their final game of the regular season on Saturday.