On a night where Tennessee honored its six seniors, it was an injury to sophomore guard Zakai Zeigler that turned an engaged atmosphere at Thompson-Boling Arena into a somber one.
Just minutes into its home finale against Arkansas, Zeigler fell to the floor, grabbing his left knee and in obvious pain as the 20,000-plus fans in attendance fell quiet in a matter of seconds.
Arguably the No. 13 Vols' most valuable player, Zeigler was helped off of the court by team trainers and did not return.
Then his teammates honored him in his absence the best way they could: playing scrappy.
In a style of play that Zeigler embodies, the Vols were determined to be the toughest team in the arena, chasing down loose balls, taking hard drives to the basket and going up to turn tough shots into points on the way to a 75-57 win over the Razorbacks on Tuesday night.
Tennessee controlled the game in every way, holding the edge in rebounding, 35-32, points in paint, 42-18 and points off of the bench, 29-16.
In an appropriate showing on Senior Night, senior forward Olivier Nkamhoua led the Vols in scoring with 16 points with fellow seniors Santiago Vescovi and Josiah-Jordan James totaling 14 and 11 points, respectively.
Tennessee scored seven points before Arkansas got on the board on a Nick Smith Jr. 3-pointer nearly four minutes in, then an Anthony Black dunk pulled the Razorbacks within two.
Arkansas put together a few stretches that threatened Tennessee's lead in the first half, but the Vols had an answer every time.
A 10-5 run, sparked by Tobe Awaka and highlighted by two dunks from Jonas Aidoo and Nkamhoua created enough separation for Tennessee (22-8, 11-6 SEC) to take a nine-point lead into the half.
Tennessee had answers in the second half, too.
Arkansas stayed within nine, but a run significant enough to challenge the Vols' advantage never came.
Davonte Davis hit a 3-pointer to try and ignite a spark, but Vescovi quickly snuffed it out, sinking a three of his own to swell the lead to 12.
Ricky Council IV gave it a shot himself, tallying another 3-pointer before Tennessee responded with a 15-3 run, seven points of which were scored by James that put Tennessee up 20 and all but shut down any chance Arkansas (19-11, 8-9) had of clawing its way back.
Tennessee closes out the regular season at Neville Arena against Auburn on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN before the SEC Tournament in Nashville next week.
The Vols beat the Tigers, 46-43 in their previous meeting on Feb. 4 in Knoxville.
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