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Road issues resurface for Arkansas in loss at Tennessee

Road issues resurface for Arkansas in loss at Tennessee

To end its seven-year NCAA tournament drought and establish itself as the biggest challenger to Kentucky in the SEC this season, 19th-ranked Arkansas must accomplish the one thing it has thus far been unable to do during Mike Anderson's tenure.

The Razorbacks must find a way to win on the road.

Arkansas took a step in the wrong direction Tuesday when it lost 74-69 at Tennessee, squandering a golden opportunity to improve to 3-0 in the SEC. The rebuilding Vols have exceeded modest expectations because they play so hard for first-year coach Donnie Tyndall, but they still don't have nearly as much talent as the Razorbacks, especially in the frontcourt.

Falling in Knoxville snapped Arkansas' seven-game win streak and dropped the Razorbacks to 13-3 this season with all three losses coming in true road games. Arkansas owns a sparkling 62-7 home mark in four seasons under Mike Anderson but it's now just 7-28 on the road after Tuesday's loss.

What cost Arkansas against Tennessee was shoddy defense and a seven-minute second-half scoring drought. Josh Richardson scored a game-high 20 points on 8-for-11 shooting as the Vols opened a 16-point second-half cushion and still led by 11 with just over four minutes to go.

Poor free throw shooting from Tennessee and a nearly catastrophic late miscue gave Arkansas new life.

The Vols missed 12 of 26 free throws, none bigger than two from Devon Baulkman that allowed Arkansas to cut the lead to one with a 3-pointer with 35 seconds to go. Tyndall then instructed his team to foul after Kevin Punter sank two foul shots to put the Vols up three, but referee Teddy Valentine ruled that Punter fouled Anton Beard in the act of shooting even though he was 30 feet from the rim.

Three free throws from Beard could have tied the score with 5.5 seconds to go. Instead he clanked all three — the last one intentionally — and Tennessee closed out the win at the foul line.

Even with the loss, the Razorbacks are in decent overall position halfway through the season. They're 2-1 in the SEC and they boast several solid non-league wins against Dayton, SMU and Wake Forest.

Nonetheless, because of Arkansas' history of road futility, there will always be doubts about the Razorbacks until they prove they can win away from Bud Walton Arena. Tuesday was a golden opportunity to show this year will be different. Alas, Arkansas wasted it.

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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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