Tye & Tommy on the OSU loss, Franks’ senior bowl performance, Pittman’s recruiting tactics and more!
Neighbors not surprised after Hogs start sluggish before dropping Auburn
Arkansas’ slow start against the Tigers on Sunday was completely predictable, Mike Neighbors said, after coming back for win.
Ramirez on Arkansas’ slow start against Auburn before turning it around to win
Amber Ramirez (19 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists) on how Hogs fixed some things on defensive end that opened up offense in 77-67 win.
Williams-Flournoy on Auburn’s difficult task defending Hogs’ offense
Tigers coach Terri Williams-Flournoy talked with the media after the 77-67 loss to Arkansas about the problems they had defensively.
Hogs start slow, but figure out Auburn, 77-67, for second straight win
Auburn’s pressure defense for the full court and zone caused problems for Arkansas early, but they responded to roll to a 77-67 win that wasn’t that close.
The Razorbacks (13-6, 3-5) had smooth sailing after that opening period, dominating the Tigers (5-11, 0-8), 68-49, for the final three periods.
Arkansas guard Amber Ramirez did her thing against the Tigers, tallying a game-high 19 points thanks to five three-pointers in the game.
She also chipped in with four rebounds and three assists.
The Razorbacks’ big three was firing on all cylinders in this one, as Chelsea Dungee and Destiny Slocum also came up big for the Hogs, going for 16 and 14 points, respectively.
Turning point
Auburn’s full-court press defense forced some early turnovers, and the Razorbacks had their lowest-scoring first quarter of the season.
Arkansas worked past the Tiger defense in the second quarter, though, guided by the steady hand of Jailyn Mason, who hit two jumpers from deep in the frame. The Hogs ended the half on a 22-4 tear, erasing a 13-point deficit to secure a 33-28 halftime edge.
The Hogs spread the floor well in the second half, as four Razorbacks went for seven or more points in the final two frames.
The visiting Tigers stayed in the fight in large part due to a dominant performance in the paint by forward Unique Thompson, who notched 18 points and 19 rebounds.
However the monster performance wasn’t enough, as Arkansas was able to make winning plays late.
Despite 20 offensive rebounds by Auburn, Arkansas held the Tigers to 34 percent shooting from the field, including just 14 percent from three-point range.
Hogs highlights
• For the second straight game, Ramirez hit five or more threes. It was her third such performance this season.
• Senior forward Taylah Thomas met the task of working against Auburn’s frontcourt, snatching nine rebounds while also collecting a block in the win.
• Thomas was +17 for the second straight game.
• Dungee continued her double-digit scoring streak, which now stands at 23 games in a row.
• Mason was solid in her return off the bench, going for eight points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Next game
Arkansas hits the road for Columbia against Missouri on Thursday night, starting at 7 p.m.
Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.
Neighbors expects Auburn to give Hogs chance to see zone for first time
After the big win over No. 3 UConn on Thursday, the Hogs will host the Tigers on Sunday and Mike Neighbors is expecting a different look.
Razorbacks come up just short against Oklahoma State on Saturday
STILLWATER, Okla. — Cade Cunningham hit a jumper with 21 seconds left to give Oklahoma State a two-point lead, then sank two free throws with three seconds left to seal an 81-77 victory over Arkansas on Saturday afternoon as part of the annual SEC-Big 12 Challenge.
The second half featured four of the six lead changes 11 of the 13 ties.
Arkansas went up 67-64 on a 3-pointer by Connor Vanover with 6:28 left in the game. Inside the final three minutes, Moses Moody tied the game, 73-73, on a dunk and Davonte Davis knotted the game, 77-77, with 1:18 left.
On the ensuing possession, Oklahoma State missed twice but got the offensive rebound each time, leading to Cunningham’s go-ahead jumper with 21 ticks left.
Arkansas had a good look at 3-pointer with five seconds left, but it came up empty. Cunningham came up the defensive rebound, was fouled and hit the two free throws to end the game.
Cunningham finished with 21 points, 14 in the second half, with seven rebounds and five assists. Kalib Boone added 16 points and 12 rebounds while Avery Anderson III had 13 for the Cowboys.
Justin Smith led Arkansas with 18 points, seven rebounds and tied his career-high with four assists. Moody finished with 17 points, 11 in the second half. JD Notae and Davonte Davis contributed 13 and 12, respectively, off the bench.
Arkansas returns to Bud Walton Arena Tuesday to play the first of back-to-back home games. First up, the Razorbacks host Mississippi State on Tuesday night at 8 p.m. on SEC Network.
Strong individual performances lead Hogs to dominant win in Razorback Invitational
Another day of spectacular performances led Arkansas to a dominant victory in the Razorback Invitational this weekend at the Randal Tyson Track Center.
A world-leading effort was generated in the 4×400 relay while collegiate-leading marks were established in the 400m and mile.
Arkansas produced its third team win of the season, totaling 133 points to thwart the challenge from Georgia (93) and Oregon (92). USC (70) placed fourth while the rest of the field included Mississippi State (35), Colorado (27), Ole Miss (27), and Iowa State (10).
“The team win is just kind of extra credit,” noted women’s head coach Lance Harter. “We don’t try to do any of the line-ups that we potential can. What’s really exciting is that we had some great breakthroughs individually.”
Closing out the meet with the 4×400 relay, the Razorbacks foursome of Morgan Burks-Magee (53.31), Paris Peoples (53.40), Shafiqua Maloney (51.70), and Rosey Effiong (52.39) generated a winning time of 3:30.80, the No. 10 time on the Arkansas all-time list.
Entering the day with a world-leading 3:32.18 from last week, the Razorbacks also topped a 3:31.09 performance set in Lubbock earlier on Saturday by Texas A&M. Arkansas just missed the meet record of 3:30.66 set in 2017 by USC.
“Probably the most exciting of the events, basically by ourselves, was to run 3:30 for the national lead in the mile relay,” stated Harter. “Our B team even ran 3:37, which shows the depth coach Chris Johnson has established and the front running we’re capable of.”
A second crew of Hogs hit a time of 3:37.01 as runner-up from a quartet of Tiana Wilson (53.36), Jada Baylark (54.63), Kethlin Campbell (55.48) and Jayla Hollis (53.54).
After rolling in the 5,000m on Friday evening, the Razorbacks locked into racing the mile on Saturday. The result was a victory for Lauren Gregory in 4:35.69, the collegiate leader and third fastest time in world for the 2021 indoor season. Gregory splits included 1:10.03, 2:20.98, and 3:29.03 as she closed in 66.67 over the final two laps and 32.72 on the final circuit.
Izzo, the 5k winner the previous night, placed second in 4:37.07 while Logan Morris finished third in 4:41.25 as Isabel Van Camp followed in fifth place at 4:54.04. Josie Carson set a career best of 5:00.72 in ninth place while McKenzie Wilks clocked 5:01.58 in 10th.
“Today, we started out with the mile where our top three 5,000m runners came back to do a little bit of speed work,” said Harter. “The pace was not what we had hoped for early on, but what was really exciting, and a vote of confidence, is Lauren, Katie and Logan all were able to close really, really well. They established themselves on the national list in the mile.”
Peoples claimed her section of the 400m in a career best of 52.48, moving to No. 6 on the Razorback all-time list, and established the collegiate leading time for this season. In bettering her previous best of 53.03, Peoples moved to No. 5 on the 2021 world list.
USC’s Nicole Yeargin finished second to Peoples in the section, and overall, with a 52.51. The final 400m section had USC’s tandem of Jan’Taijah Ford and Bailey Lear clocking times of 52.89 and 52.95 to finish third and fourth overall.
A trio of Razorbacks followed in places 4-5-6 as Shafiqua Maloney posted a career best of 53.09 while Tiana Wilson ran 53.20 and Kethlin Campbell produced a 55.64 in her first race since the 2019 NCAA Outdoor meet.
Runner-up finishes for Arkansas on the day included Krissy Gear in the 3,000m, Kennedy Thomson in the 800m and Bailee McCorkle in the pole vault.
Gear moved to No. 8 on the Razorback all-time list with a 9:08.55 career best, finishing behind a 9:03.29 from Georgia’s Jessica Drop, who bettered the 2015 meet record of 9:04.93 set by Stanford’s Jessica Tonn.
Thomson also moved to No. 8 on the Arkansas all-time list in the 800m with her 2:05.62 while teammate Quinn Owen followed in third place at 2:06.40, the No. 11 performance in Razorback history. Colorado’s Sage Hurta won the race with PR of 2:02.54, just off the meet record of 2:02.30 set by Jazmine Fray of Texas A&M in 2018.
McCorkle cleared 14-1.25 (4.30) as runner-up in the vault while Nastassja Campbell tied for fourth at 13-1.5 (4.00). Kaitlyn Banas matched that height in finishing sixth. Georgia’s Kayla Smith topped the field of 16 with a 14-3.25 (4.35) clearance.
Yoveinny Mota moved to equal the No. 9 position on the Arkansas all-time list with an 8.29 that placed her fourth in the 60m hurdles with Daszay Freeman fifth at 8.31. Georgia’s Imani Carothers posted a collegiate leading 8.06 for the victory.
Hogs place second in strong national field at Razorback Invitational this weekend
A bevy of big marks verified the caliber of teams competing in the Razorback Invitational this weekend inside the Randal Tyson Track Center as Arkansas produced its share of national level performances.
In team scoring Oregon edged out the Razorbacks, who didn’t run the 4×400 or distance medley relays, by a single point, 117-116, while Ole Miss finished third with 73 points.
The rest of the field included Georgia (64), USC (30), Iowa State (24), Mississippi State (22), and Colorado (16).
“It was an outstanding track meet across the board,” stated men’s coach Chris Bucknam. “There were a lot of national leading performances, certainly our guys were part of that. We had some great efforts, which included the heptathlon, hurdles, sprints and 3k.
“We got stung with the covid protocol and lost Amon Kemboi this weekend due to contact tracing. Eventually, he will be ok in a couple of days. Losing him, though, kicked us out of the distance medley relay on Friday night and Amon missed a great race in the 3,000m today.”
Markus Ballengee totaled 5,827 points in winning the heptathlon and remains in the No. 4 position on the Arkansas all-time list. His performance currently ranks him second on the collegiate list and No. 5 on the 2021 world list.
Ballengee’s previous best score was 5,706 points from a silver medal effort in the 2020 SEC Indoor meet.
The second day marks for Ballengee included an 8.02 in the 60m hurdles for 977 points, which moved him into the overall lead. Then a 15-11 vault added 865 points and he closed out the win with a 2:44.40 in the 1,000m for 825 points.
“Last year at this meet, Markus had to drop out,” said Bucknam. “So, this weekend was kind of a bugaboo for him, in the back of his head, I’m sure. He put up a real solid score and there is a lot more in the tank for Markus. Etamar set a national record for Isreal and Spejcher did a great job as well.”
Runner-up to Ballengee’s big score was Oregon’s Max Vollmer with 5,734 points while Karel Tilga of Georgia totaled 5,713 in third place.
Arkansas’ Etamar Bhastekar improved is Isreal national record with a score of 5,680 points, the fifth best score by a Razorback, as he finished fourth overall. He moved from seventh to third place after leading the pole vault a 17-2.75 (5.25) clearance that gathered 988 points.
Daniel Spejcher, a third Razorback in the heptathlon, placed sixth with 5,508 points, which earned him the No. 10 position on the Arkansas all-time list.
Tre’Bien Gilbert clocked 7.84 to claim the 60m hurdles with Shaka Bogan placing fourth in 8.11 after posting a prelim time of 8.06. Jesse Henderson of Mississippi State was runner-up in 7.93 while Kenney Broadnax of Ole Miss ran 8.01 for third.
A runner-up finish in the 800m had Kieran Taylor lowering his career best to 1:48.66 while Jadon Bartholomew clocked a PR of 1:51.56 to place sixth. Ryan Brown hit a mark of 52-1.75 (15.89) for second place in the triple jump with Andrew Gilreath finishing fourth at 48-1.75 (14.67).
Roman Turner clocked 6.66 for third place in the 60m final, bettering his previous career best of 6.69 as he remained in the No. 5 position on the Arkansas all-time list. Oregon frosh Micah Williams won the race in a collegiate leading 6.56 over USC’s Brendon Stewart (6.64).
Razorbacks finished 3-4-7 in the 400m with a trio of Jalen Brown (46.56), James Milholen (46.71), and Rhayko Schwartz (48.24). It was the third consecutive week for Milholen to set a PR time.
Gilbert Boit improved his career best in the 3,000m to 7:53.62 for fifth place in a very competitive field. Boit’s previous PR was 8:01.63.
A career best was also turned in by Jacob McLeod (8:02.21), who won the first section over teammate Matt Young (8:03.83). They placed eighth and ninth overall.
Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.
Musselman recapping Razorbacks’ loss to Oklahoma State on Saturday
Arkansas coach Eric Musselman said after the game Connor Vanover’s look at the end was a good one, but the shot just didn’t fall.
Smith on how Oklahoma State caught Hogs off-guard with early shot blocks
Arkansas’ Justin Smith talked with the media after the Hogs’ 81-77 loss to the Cowboys on Saturday when they surprisingly blocked five shots early.
