Arkansas coach Mike Neighbors talked with the media following a 104-82 loss to the Gamecocks on an emotion-filled day in Columbia.
Gamecocks get 21st straight SEC win downing over-matched Hogs
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Arkansas had five players score in double figures but came up short against No. 4 South Carolina on Monday night, losing 104-82.
Razorbacks guards Chelsea Dungee and Destiny Slocum both turned in big performances for the Hogs, going for 22 and 15 points, respectively.
The Gamecocks secured their 21st straight SEC win in the effort as they improved their record to 10-1 overall (5-0 SEC). The Hogs fell to 11-5 overall (2-4).
Arkansas shot the ball well Monday night, sticking with South Carolina on the scoreboard through the first three quarters, as the visiting Hogs shot 54 percent from behind the three-point line and 45 percent from the field.
Dungee went 2-2 from beyond the arc and Makayla Daniels added two three-pointers as well. When all was said and done, five Hogs got into double-figures — Dungee, Daniels, Slocum, Amber Ramirez and Erynn Barnum.
Turning point
Arkansas was able to apply pressure early on, as the Hogs managed 11 points off of turnovers before the intermission.
South Carolina held a slim five-point lead at halftime, as Dungee’s 14-point showing before the break kept the Hogs in it.
The Gamecocks turned up the dial in the second half, exploding for 62 points in the final two quarters and pulling away from the Razorbacks.
South Carolina forward Aliyah Boston was a difference-maker in this one, scoring 26 points while grabbing 16 rebounds and blocking six shots in the contest.
Hogs highlights
• Daniels eclipsed the 500-point mark with her first bucket of the night against the Gamecocks.
• With her 22 points, Dungee has now scored 20+ in all six SEC games.
• She also extended her double-digit point streak to 19.
• Barnum had a big night off the bench, notching 13 points on 6-10 shooting.
• Slocum notched five assists, her fifth such performance this season.
Next game
The Razorbacks will have the rest of the week off and will return to the court next Monday, Jan. 25 to take on the Georgia Bulldogs in Athens, Ga.
The SEC Network will broadcast the game, and tip is set for 6 p.m.
Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.
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O’Gara surprised at how fast things turn upside down for Pruitt at Tennessee
Saturday Down South’s Connor O’Gara weighed in on Halftime about the sudden fall for the Vols’ football program with changes Monday.
Tennessee dumps Pruitt for cause, Fulmer steps down as AD
The cleaning of Tennessee’s football house started Monday with coach Jeremy Pruitt being fired and athletics director Phillip Fulmer jumping off the ship.
ESPN’s Chris Lowe and Mark Schlabach reported the moves just before noon Monday. Pruitt is fired for cause and Fulmer announced his plans to retire as athletics director.
All of this is the result of the Vols launching an in-house investigation dating back to November into alleged recruiting improprieties that sources told ESPN centered in part on extra benefits provided to football recruits on unofficial visits.
Pruitt, with his attorneys present, met with investigators for several hours last Thursday. That meeting was monitored by NCAA officials via Zoom, according to ESPN.
At least one other assistant, inside linebackers coach Brian Niedermeyer, had a lengthy meeting with investigators last Wednesday, also with his attorneys present and NCAA officials monitoring virtually.
Last month Tennessee retained the services of attorneys Michael Glazier and Kyle Skillman with the Bond, Schoeneck & King law firm to assist in reviewing what the university said in a statement were “regulatory issues that have been brought to our attention.”
Sources told ESPN that Tennessee’s recruitment of Amarius Mims, the No. 3 offensive tackle and No. 19 player overall in the 2021 ESPN 300 rankings, is part of the inquiry. Mims signed with Georgia.
This comes at an unusual time in the hiring cycle and Pruitt is now the fourth coach in the SEC fired during a season filled with covid-19 and other issues.
Gus Malzahn at Auburn, Derek Mason at Vanderbilt and Will Muschamp at South Carolina were previously fired, but Pruitt is the only one that’s not getting paid to leave town. He was due about $12 million, according to reports.
His contract includes more than 30 fire-for-cause provisions. Among them, he can be fired for cause if he engaged in conduct likely to result in an NCAA finding of a Level I or Level II rules violation, or if someone who reports to Pruitt engaged in conduct that constitutes a Level I or II violation or is likely to result in such a violation and the university determines Pruitt was negligent in his oversight or lacked reasonable preventative compliance measures.
Additionally, he can be fired for cause for a failure to promote and maintain an atmosphere of compliance or a failure to monitor employees who report to him.
Pruitt, 46, compiled a record of 16-19, including a 3-7 mark in 2020 against a conference-only schedule. He was 16-19 overall at Tennessee and 10-16 against SEC opponents. The Vols were 2-11 against AP-ranked opponents under Pruitt, who was in his first stint as a head coach. He was previously the defensive coordinator at Alabama under Nick Saban.
Fulmer had come back as athletics director in 2017
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Catalon first Hogs’ freshman on writers’ freshman All-American team since Greenlaw
Arkansas redshirt freshman defensive back Jalen Catalon has been named to the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) Freshman All-American first team.
He’s the first Razorback FWAA Freshman All-American since Dre Greenlaw in 2015.
Catalon was the only FBS player to total 95+ tackles with three interceptions in the regular season, and the first SEC freshman since Tennessee’s Eric Berry in 2007 to have at least 86 stops and three picks.
The dynamic defensive back tied for the FBS freshman lead with 99 total tackles while also posting 2.0 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. His 9.9 tackles per game also tied for the FBS freshmen lead and ranked fourth among all SEC players.
He made a career-best 16 tackles against LSU, totaling five games of 12 or more tackles, second in the country behind All-American teammate Grant Morgan.
Catalon became the first Hog to intercept passes in back-to-back games since at least 1997 when he did so against LSU and Florida. He has also been named to The Athletic’s Freshman All-America first team and Phil Steele All-American third team.
Catalon earned AP All-SEC first team and coaches’ All-SEC second team honors, and is one of 32 student-athletes named to the 20th annual FWAA Freshman All-American Team.
Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.
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Just hold up on joining Lunatic Fringe ready to dump Musselman now
Wednesday night probably can’t get here fast enough for Eric Musselman, who is now getting to see the Lunatic Fringe of Arkansas’ fan base in his second season.
Back-to-back blowout losses on the road tends to bring that out.
Not being a a basketball expert, even I can see SOMETHING is wrong … but don’t ask me for specifics because it would be a wild guess.
Of course the howling merry band of idiots doesn’t know, either. They think they do, but they don’t.
Musselman probably knows, but he hasn’t figured out how to fix it after a 90-59 loss to an Alabama team that made nearly as many three-pointers (15) as the Razorbacks attempted (17).
“I’m overly concerned,” a downcast Musselman said later.
Don’t look at the stats. As Musselman said Thursday, those are hollow numbers in blowouts like the Hogs have had the last three games (yes, that includes the win over Georgia).
To the casual observer, this team can’t score consistently, defend anything down low or provide any particular disruption when the opponent fires up a three-pointer.
That’s not what the players are being coached to do. I can say that without seeing a single second of a practice this season.
At some point, the players have to be accountable and this Razorback team may have reached that point.
“Leadership on the floor is something that’s very, very concerning,” Musselman said Saturday.
The biggest indicator is when he’s having to start taking timeouts primarily because nobody that’s on the floor either has to the know-how or guts to get teammates back on track.
“You can go back, whether it was prior to me coming to Arkansas or last year, I usually like guys to kind of play through the flow,” Musselman said. “We have some quick-hitters that we like to do when another team goes on a run.”
For whatever reason the last couple of games, nobody can seem to remember them during a game.
It too often looks like nobody on the floor wants to hold anybody else accountable. It often looks like a pouting problem when they can’t manage to get much offense going.
For whatever reason, Desi Sills has disappeared from being much of a factor lately. Against the Crimson Tide he made one more shot than a statue.
“He’s definitely struggling right now,” Musselman said.
This isn’t to pick on Sills. With the exception of freshman Moses Moody, nobody has done a whole lot this week.
“We’re just coming together and trying to make it through these couple tough games,” Moody said Saturday. “We’ve got to get through that, we’re going to learn from that and we’re going to build on it.”
That sounds like a cliché, but is probably about the only thing they can say.
The tricky part for Musselman is getting the players to believe in themselves.
“I don’t think there’s any doubt when you’re losing like we are that we definitely have some players that have lost some confidence and probably the team as a whole,” Musselman said. “The only thing I know is to continue to teach … try to build them up. That’s the only thing that you can do.”
The Lunatic Fringe doesn’t want to hear any of that, though. They’ve already declared this team is done. With a 10-4 record.
Hold off on the panic, though.
Check back after games with Auburn and Ole Miss in Bud Walton alternating with road games against Vanderbilt and Oklahoma State.
The guess is the record gets better with teams not as good as the last two the Hogs have played.
