On a day when Arkansas’ administration in Fayetteville released a request to finally honor Nolan Richardson, his protogé finally had a game like the good old days in a rollicking 84-48 win over Vanderbilt in Nashville.
Earlier Wednesday, the announcement came that the request has been officially made to the UA’s Board of Trustees and will be voted on later in March. You would think the measure would pass because in that highly-political world there aren’t many resolutions submitted that don’t have to the votes to succeed.
Mike Anderson was more worried about yanking his team out of an uncharacteristic slide in February. Usually his teams have come roaring into March with a full head of steam.
Against the Commodores, the Razorbacks — at least for one night — showed flashes of the days when they were battling at this time of the year for an NCAA seed. That won’t be coming this year unless the Hogs run the table in Nashville next week that will shock the nation.
Arkansas only led Vandy by four at halftime, but out-scored the Commodores 55-23 in the second half to guarantee that Anderson’s record of never having a losing season as a head coach will continue. At 16-14 and one regular season left, the math works out.
The Hogs started the half with a 23-4 run that effectively put the game away as Anderson’s biggest key — defense — forced 23 turnovers which turned into 33 points. Those are numbers he looks at almost every game.
Daniel Gafford (20 points) and Mason Jones (16) keyed the fast start to the second half, but it was Joe, the freshman from Fort Smith Northside, that had the most buzz.
When his long-range bombs start falling, good things tend to happen for the Hogs. Hitting 4-of-6 from behind the arc, Joe broke Scotty Thurman’s record with 103 3-pointers on the year … with a game left Saturday at home against Alabama.
