After falling short in last season’s matchup in Knoxville, No. 9 Arizona defeated No. 6 Tennessee 75-70 at McKale Center for the first time ever in front of a sold-out arena Saturday night.

There was clearly bad blood going into the game, after last season’s close 77-73 finish with the crowd booing as soon as the Volunteers walked into the stadium, and it showed on the court with trashing talking from Tennessee’s Uros Plazsic to Oumar Ballo, resulting in a technical foul only 2:42 into the game.

"We were a physical team too," Tommy Lloyd said. "You got to fight force with force, it's really the only way to do it."

After noting in last week’s press conference that he was “lost” in last year’s loss, scoring six points, four fouls and committing two turnovers to the Vols. Forward Azuolas Tubelis found his way this time around in Tucson, scoring 19 and eight rebounds on 7-of-11 shooting.

Ballo also got his redemption game after last season, bullying his way inside for 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting and on the glass collecting eight rebounds.

Arizona found what worked as the game progressed after only making 2 of 9 from the 3-point line in the first 10 minutes of action before working its way inside the painted area with big men Tubelis and Ballo combining for 21 out of the team’s 35 points in the first half.

"Those are two dominant guys," Lloyd said. "you're probably going to go back and wish we would have gotten the ball a little bit more in there."

Facing a team that allows the third-fewest points per game in the NCAA with 51.4 a contest, Arizona had its toughest battle offensively, but stayed physically strong and resilient, trading blow-for-blow.

"I think it just shows our versatility," Pelle Larsson said. "We had 75, it's alright for college, but we want to be in the 90's, thats our goal, so we always want to get up and down and I think a lot of teams are making adjustments and so are we."

With eight lead changes in the first half, Arizona sprung out of the huddle with the screaming Wildcat faithful— pushing momentum in its favor as they got off to a 10-4 run to start the second half, with Lloyd bringing the offense for higher percentage looks inside.

Arizona was able to maintain its success working inside, going 12 of 27 in the second half. This was highlighted by Larsson's and one shot over a defender with 2:30 left to go in regulation.

"In the second half, we were a little more methodical and weren't as panicky," Lloyd said. "We got to play better offensively, I think this is going to be a great teaching tool for us but to teach after a win versus Tennessee, its a pretty good problem."

The question pregame was the status of Arizona floor general junior Kerr Kriisa, who left five minutes into the last game due to a non-covid related illness. Kriisa proved that he would not only be active, but effective scoring eight points and dishing out five assists in 32 minutes of play.

Although allowing five 3-pointers in the first half, the Wildcats played relentless defense inside, not allowing any free throws line and only allowing 10 trips for the game.

"I think the biggest thing is that we cover up for each other like no game is going to be perfect," Courtney Ramey said. "I think we just had the next play mentality and just cover for each other the whole game."

Both teams were physical on the glass all night but it was Arizona that won the battle 38-30 with 10 offensive rebounds.

Coming off of its best scoring defensive game of the season last game, Arizona continued to apply the pressure on its opponent's offense, forcing 12 turnovers to a Vols team that averages 14.1 turnovers per contest.

Moreover, Arizona fulfilled one of its key game-plan matchups in limiting Vols’ leading scorer Julian Phillips to only two points on 1-5 shooting.

Despite averaging 34 points off the bench in the Wildcats’ last two games, Arizona’s second-unit struggled against Tennessee’s tenacious defense, scoring no points.

"It's just one of those days," Lloyd noted. "I don't have a set formula where I'm like I need this many points from my bench or this or that, I just want to score more than the other team and once you get into the heat of the battle... so it's a bit more of an art than a science."

However, there was one bright spot on the Wildcats bench in freshman guard Kylan Boswell, who last game got an expanded role in the replacement of an inactive Kriisa. Boswell earned more minutes from last game’s contribution in his biggest career game and despite the shy stat sheet, provided to be a vital asset off the bench, recording two assists and momentum changing steal in eight minutes. He will be poised to receive more minutes alongside and in relief of Kriisa as the season progresses.

No love was lost between the two schools as there appeared to pushing and shoving after the win, but all in all it was Arizona winning the fight, pushing its record to 10-1 as it gets ready for its next matchup against Montana State.

> DISCUSS the article with other Arizona fans Inside McKale

> WATCH the latest videos from GOAZCATS.com and subscribe to our YouTube channel

> FOLLOW us on Twitter (@goazcatscom, @MattRMoreno, @THutch1995)

> FOLLOW us on Instagram (@goazcats)

> LIKE us on Facebook

> SUBSCRIBE for all the latest Arizona Wildcats team and recruiting news (subscribe now)