Igor Milicic Jr. raced to the corner to intercept a rebound on Saturday.

He got it to Tennessee basketball and then to the ever-ready Chaz Lanier. Lanier scored to end the beautiful, frantic possession with another three-pointer.

The Vols’ SEC opener featured plenty of the same: Milicic rebounded, Lanier scored and Tennessee dominated another opponent. No. 1 Tennessee (14-0, 1-0 SEC) defeated Arkansas (11-3, 0-1), winning 76-52 at Food City Center. Tennessee’s 14-0 start tied the 1922-23 volumes for the best start in program history.

Lanier had a season-high 29 points and was 5 of 9 from 3-point range. Milicic had 13 points and a season-high 18 rebounds.

Coach Rick Barnes is 12-10 at Tennessee against Arkansas coach John Calipari, with 11 of the wins coming during Calipari’s time at Kentucky.

The Vols play at No. 5 Florida (13-1, 0-1) on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2/ESPNU). Florida lost to No. 11 Kentucky 106-100 on Saturday, marking its first loss of the season.

Tennessee beat Arkansas and rebounded the ball

Tennessee entered Saturday as one of the best rebounding teams in the country and once again delivered good results.

UT outrebounded Arkansas 51-29 and grabbed 24 offensive rebounds. Milicic had at least 10 rebounds for the third straight game and the sixth time in the last eight games. He had six offensive rebounds.

The Vols had a 27-12 rebounding advantage at halftime and recorded more offensive rebounds (14) than Arkansas had total rebounds (12). Milicic had nine rebounds with four offensive boards in the first half.

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Chaz Lanier’s scoring drive energized the Vols

Lanier has a knack for creating whirlwind plays, and he had a few on Saturday, including the one that put Tennessee on its way to victory.

The North Florida transfer made a layup, then a jumper and a 3-pointer to turn a 12-12 tie into a 19-12 Tennessee lead. Tennessee routinely held a double-digit lead for the rest of the game.

Lanier hit back-to-back 3-pointers early in the second half to build a 19-point Vols lead.

Jonas Aidoo received a loud welcome upon his return to Tennessee

Jonas Aidoo returned to Tennessee with the Razorbacks on Saturday and Vols fans were ready for the moment.

The 6-foot-2 Aidoo, who played three seasons for the Vols, was greeted with loud boos when he was inserted into the starting lineup. He was booed even louder when he missed two free throws early in the game. He received applause that turned to boos when he committed his second foul at 6:34 of the first half.

Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X @By Mike Wilson or Bluesky @bymikewilson.bsky.social. If you like Mike’s reporting, Consider a digital subscription This gives you access to everything.

This article originally appeared on the Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee beats Arkansas behind Chaz Lanier and Igor Milicic Jr.