The No. 23 Arkansas Razorbacks (11-3, 0-1 SEC) were treated to a dose of reality on offense in their 72-56 SEC-opening loss to No. 1 Tennessee on Saturday at Thompson-Boling Arena.

To be completely fair to the Hogs, the Vols entered the game with the second-best defense in the country (56.2 points allowed per game), but that doesn’t change what was painfully obvious during the loss: Arkansas’ offense – At least this version of it isn’t good enough to compete at the top of the SEC.

“They kind of mistreated us,” head coach John Calipari said after the game. “So we have to do a little searching because in this league… the way they play, that’s how everyone plays. So we missed free throws, we missed threes and we’re out-rebounded by 30. Aren’t you like “How?” were you only beaten by 25?’ Could have been 50.

Here are some facts; Arkansas shot 20 of 53 from the field (37.7%), 6 of 29 from beyond the arc (20.7%) and 6 of 13 from the charity stripe (46.2%). Again, context is needed against a talented defense, but that’s not enough for the rest of the season, especially when many of the missed threes were good, open performances.

“We missed every free throw possible,” Calipari said. “Secondly, we had a lot of good threes that looked good and you miss them. Look, I say this all the time, you don’t have to do them all. You can’t miss them all. And We missed everything that gave us a chance to come back (I mean, some of them a lot).

You know it’s a bad day when your non-shooting center – 6-foot-10 former Tennessee transfer Jonas Aidoo – tries (and misses) a three-pointer with 7:43 left in the second half.

Speaking of previous transfers, Arkansas needs much, much more from winger Johnell Davis. He struggled with a wrist injury early in the season, including missing the last two non-conference games, but it’s well known in the portal what top transfers demand zero, and the Hogs simply don’t see a return on that investment as of now.

Davis finished the game with zero points on 0-of-4 shooting with two rebounds and one turnover in 25 minutes. Compare that to Tennessee’s Chaz Lanier, who transferred from North Florida and scored a game-high 29 points with five triples in 35 minutes.

Not everything can be attributed to Davis, as the usually electric Boogie Fland managed just 12 points on 15 shot attempts and the season’s leading scorer, Adou Thiero, came close with six points.

“We could play with Adou against a bigger team with three, but like I said, he didn’t play well today,” Calipari said. “He probably had one of those this year. So in 14 games he had another dud. He had it here. Couldn’t make a free throw and then shoots an airball three-pointer. That’s not who he is.”

On top of all the offensive dysfunction was the insult that Tennessee outgained Arkansas in the rebounding department, 51-29 to be exact. The Vols impressively gained 24 offensive boards compared to the Razorbacks’ nine.

“First of all, we only had one guy trying to get an offensive rebound,” Calipari said. “They had more offensive rebounds than us. I want you to hear what I just said…All I kept saying in the second half was: Let’s get it to single digits.”

“We do something good, they get an offensive rebound. We make it 13, they get two offensive rebounds, two threes, and when you look around you think, ‘Guys, it has nothing to do with anything other than rebounds.'”

Of course, the legendary Calipari was not innocent after the loss and described this performance as a learning experience for his team. The Razorbacks have a lot to learn to get back on track in the grueling SEC.

“And now there’s some soul searching,” Calipari said. “We have a day off tomorrow and we have a few one-on-one meetings on Monday. I’m not crazy. I went through a lot of that.”

Next up, Arkansas hosts the Ole Miss Rebels at Bud Walton Arena on Wednesday. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. CT and the game will air on ESPN2.