Top-ranked Tennessee knocked around and beat down Arkansas, 76-52, Saturday afternoon before an enthusiastic gathering of 21,678 at Food City Center in the grand opening of the Southeastern Conference basketball race.

The Vols, 14-0, had a business-like performance on offense, played tough as usual on defense and dominated in rebounding. Igor Milicic seized a career-high 18.

For the 11th time this season, Chaz Lanier led Tennessee in scoring. He hit five of nine from three-point range and totaled 29. Milicic scored 13. Zakai Zeigler had 12 points and seven assists. Felix Okpara scored 10.

The Vols shot only 39.1 per cent, about the same as the Razorbacks, but were much better on threes and free throws. The defensive effort and backboard thrashing (51-29) were decisive.

“I’ve had better days,” said John Calipari, Arkansas coach who transferred from the Kentucky Wildcats.

He said Tennessee is the No. 1 team in the country for a reason.

“My disappointment wasn’t in coming to Tennessee and losing a game. It was they kind of manhandled us. I can’t remember the last time I had a team get beat like that in rebounds”

There was a sideshow. Former Vol Jonas Aidoo also transferred to Arkansas. Tennessee fans were ready for him. He got a chorus of boos when introduced with the starting lineup. He was booed when he touched the ball. He was jeered when he missed two free throws and applauded when he picked up his second foul.

Jonas didn’t play all that poorly. He scored four points, got five rebounds, blocked three shots and picked off two steals. He got a hug from Tennessee coach Rick Barnes after the game, “I told him I love him and I do.”

Tennessee did not get off to an exceptional start. Arkansas was on top 12-9 after five minutes and change. Lanier scored seven consecutive points and the Vols had a 10-0 run.

With 8:12 remaining in the half, D.J. Wagner hit a free throw to end the scoring lull that included nine missed field-goal tries and 6:11 off the clock.

Coach Rick Barnes of Tennessee greets coach John Calipari of the Arkansas Razorbacks during the Jan. 4 matchup in Knoxville. (Photo By Andrew Ferguson/ Tennessee Athletics)

With 3:24 left, Calipari looked at the statistical report and felt the frustration.

Tennessee had a 25-9 advantage in rebounding. At intermission, the Vols were up by 15 points. The visitors never challenged. The Vols won the second half by nine.

As good as Lanier was, Milicic earned a share of the spotlight. He made a couple of three-point shots after going 0-13 in the past four games. He handled the ball better. He had five assists. His rebounding total was tops in the Barnes era.

“Igor was spectacular,” said the coach.

“We knew he was a really good defensive rebounder coming here (from Croatia, Poland and Charlotte). But the fact that he’s done so much on the offensive boards – he did a lot of good things out there.”

Barnes said Igor has “anticipation skills …He’s quick, got good hands. And when it gets to those 50-50s, it’s effort. Coach (Gregg) Polinsky, after the game the other day, showed a football clip of a running back that got hit. He talked about yardage after contact. And that’s what offensive rebounding is. You’re going to get hit.”

Barnes was asked how it feels to win by 24 despite shooting less than 40 per cent.

The coach said it feels like his emphasis on defense was rewarded.

“We’ve had teams that couldn’t shoot 40 per cent when they were open, and so it was built on, we’re going to guard people and find a way to get enough points to win the game.”

Calipari was more colorful.

“They had more offensive rebounds than we had rebounds … We got to do some soul-searching, because this league, what they play like everybody plays like. So, we miss free throws, we miss threes and we get out-rebounded. Aren’t you like ‘How did you only get beat by 25? It could have been 50.”

Calipari was troubled by the three-point display (six of 29).

“You don’t have to make them all. But you can’t miss them all. We missed every one that gave us a chance to get back. And some of them badly … I looked at them and said, ‘Guys, you’re not going to make every shot. Just keep playing. Fight. You got to learn to fight when you are not playing well.’”

Next: Tennessee plays Tuesday at No. 6 Florida, 7 p.m., ESPN.

History class: The Vols’ 14-0 start matches the best start in school history, 1923. You might need to know that UT basketball was then one notch above incidental.

Football coach M.B. Banks was the basketball coach. The season started on January 8 and ended on February 27. The Vols had a 15-2 record. They had one very successful road trip, four games, four victories in four days in Kentucky, at Centre, Transylvania, Georgetown and the University of Kentucky.

The 1923 team was the first to have a campus home, Jefferson Hall, at the corner of Cumberland Avenue and Fifteenth Street. It started out as a large wooden pavilion but was boxed in with windows. Bleachers were borrowed from Shields-Watkins Field to seat 1,500. There were no sellouts.

The heating system was six enormous stoves, four at the corners of the basketball court and two in the center of the structure next to the outer walls. Construction cost for the building ran over budget to $9,095.11.

Marvin West welcomes comments or questions from readers. His address is marvinwest75@gmail.com