Let the infighting begin when No. 18 Arkansas and No. 19 Tennessee open SEC play on Saturday afternoon in Fayetteville, Ark.
“Every game is a war,” Arkansas coach John Calipari said of play in the conference that sent a record 14 teams to the 2025 NCAA Tournament, including national champion Florida.
“There are going to be 18 wars.”
The Razorbacks and Volunteers both bring 10-3 records into the game. They were two of the five SEC teams to reach the Sweet 16 a year ago, although Arkansas had a more difficult climb to the tournament after a 76-52 loss at Tennessee started an 0-5 conference start.
“The league last year was totally outrageous,” Calipari said. “There were four or five teams that were so good. Now we have about eight or nine who are within about three points of each other.”
Six SEC teams are ranked among the top 23 in the most recent AP poll, with No. 11 Vanderbilt highest.
Tennessee and Kentucky ended December with easy victories. The Volunteers beat South Carolina State 105-54 on Tuesday in their highest scoring game of the season. The Razorbacks hit 100 for the fourth time in a 103-74 win over James Madison on Monday.
Tennessee senior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie had 21 points and eight assists against South Carolina State, and freshman forward Nate Ament scored 16 points.
Gillespie (17.8 points) and Ament (15.4 points, 6.9 rebounds) lead Tennessee. The Volunteers complement them with an imposing frontline that includes defense-first center Felix Okpara (7.7 points, 1.8 blocked shots) and reserves J.P. Estrella (10.5 points) and Jaylin Carey (9.3 points, 6.9 rebounds).
“It’s gonna be some boxing matches, some dogfights,” Carey said about SEC play. “It’s gonna be a lot of hitting and we’re going to hit back, for sure. Just being able to weather the storm.”
Tennessee holds a plus-14.9 rebounding margin per game and is limiting opponents to 37.8% from the floor and 28.2% from 3-point range.
Ament and Arkansas guard Darius Acuff Jr. were two of the highest-rated freshmen in the country entering the season, and both have shown why. Ament also has 34 assists and 17 steals in 13 games, although he is shooting just 39.5% from the field.
“He’s like every guy, the slate’s clean for us as a team,” Arkansas coach Rick Barnes said. “Everybody’s numbers are going to get rewound here, and I expect him to be the guy that I know he is.”
Acuff leads the Razorbacks in scoring (18.8) and assists (6.2.) and is shooting 49.4% from the field. He has made 31 shots from 3-point range, one fewer than team leader and fellow freshman Meleek Thomas (15.2 points).
“Our thoughts are, don’t take any steps back,” Thomas said. “We’ve faced the best of the best already. We’ve seen it all. Just attack everything and stick together.”
The Razorbacks’ challenging pre-conference slate included games against Associated Press Top 25 teams in Michigan State, Duke, Houston, Louisville and Texas Tech. They were 2-3, beating the last two.
Tennessee is the only team with a victory over Houston, and both the Razorbacks and Volunteers earned a win over Louisville.
The Volunteers have won four in a row and 8 of 10 the last 10 in the series, although Arkansas won two of the last three at home.
“It’s not going to be easy, but we’re excited,” Arkansas junior guard D.J. Wagner said of SEC play. “In my eyes, we have the potential to win a national championship.”
