South Carolina coach Frank Martin talked with the media after the 79-77 win over Arkansas on Wednesday night about getting a fifth road win, team’s play.
???? Halftime Pod — South Carolina comes into town, a special announcement for Halftime and more!
???? Halftime Pod — South Carolina comes into town, a special announcement for Halftime and more!
How to watch, listen to Razorbacks’ game with South Carolina tonight
Who: Arkansas Razorback (15-4. 3-3 SEC) vs. South Carolina Gamecocks (111-8, 3-3 SEC)
What: Razorbacks only have SEC teams left on schedule.
When: Wednesday, Jan. 29, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Nolan Richardson Court at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville
• TV: SEC Network (Mike Morgan and Andy Kennedy)
• CLICK HERE to Watch ESPN/SEC Network Online
• Radio: ESPN Arkansas 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home (Chuck Barrett and Matt Zimmerman)
• Online: Listen at HitThatLine.com by clicking HERE
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas jumps back into conference play after defeating TCU as part of the Big 12-SEC Challenge on Saturday.
The Razorbacks will host South Carolina on Wednesday (Jan. 29). Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. and the game will be telecast on the SEC Network.
You can hear the game at ESPN Arkansas 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home or online at HitThatLine.com by clicking HERE
Against South Carolina
• This will be the 35th meeting between Arkansas and South Carolina, all coming since both programs joined the SEC in 1991-92.
• The Razorbacks own a 20-14 advantage in the series, including an 11-4 cushion in games played in Fayetteville.
• South Carolina won last year’s meeting, but Arkansas has won five-of-the-last-seven.
Last year
• Jalen Harris scored a career-high 17 points and the game was tied, 63-63, before South Carolina pulled away late for a 77-65 victory at Colonial Life Arena.
• The Gamecocks were able to get the win as they made 16 of their last 22 shots and sank 10-of-15 3-pointers for the game. The Razorbacks were 6-of-22 from beyond the arc.
• Two of those six 3-pointers by Arkansas came early in the game. Mason Jones made back-to-back treys, the first of which came at the 18:43 mark. That triple marked the 1,000th straight game the Razorbacks have made at least one 3-pointer.
• A.J. Lawson led South Carolina with 24 points, making 4-of-5 3-point attempts. Keyshawn Bryant added 17 points and Chris Silva had 16. Hassani Gravett was 3-of-4 from 3-point range.
• Harris was able to score a career-high 17 as he was 7-of-10 from the free throw line. Jones had 15 points and four assists while Isaiah Joe scored 11.
Hogs shine after lineup shakeup
• Musselman had planned on shuffling the starting lineup after two losses and the Isaiah Joe injury forced another change.
• Jalen Harris, who started every game last season, got his first start of the year versus TCU. He dished out a season-high six assists. He was inserted into the lineup to speed up the game, pickup up the TCU guards 3/4 court and his skill in transition.
• Desi Sills came off the bench for the first time this season. He scored 18 points —two shy of his career high — on 7-of-8 shooting from the field and making all three 3-pointers.
• Reggie Chaney got his first start of the season — and third of his career. While he did not have a great first half, he scored six straight for the Hogs early in the second half to make it a 3-point game into a 9-point game.
Recapping non-conference
• WarrenNolan.com has Arkansas’ non-conference RPI as #4 and SOS is #13.
• Was 3-0 versus Power 5 Conferences (won at Georgia Tech and Indiana; defeated TCU).
• Arkansas’ 12-1 record was second-best in the SEC behind Auburn (13-0).
• Of the 13 teams Arkansas played, eight are in either first or second place in their league. Leading their conference are North Texas (8-1), Montana (7-2), Texas Southern (5-1), Austin Peay (8-0) and Tulsa (6-1); second place: Northern Kentucky and Western Kentucky, a half-game behind (North Texas is 8-1 to lead WKU).
• TCU is 3rd in the Big 12 and South Dakota is 4th in the Summit, but one game out of 1st.
Good start; high RPI and NET Ranking; bracketology
• Arkansas was picked 11th in the preseason SEC poll but is off to a good start under first-year head coach Eric Musselman.
• The 12-1 non-conference regular-season record is Arkansas’ best since going 12-1 in 2008-09 regular-season.
• Arkansas’ 15-4 record through 19 games is the best since going 16-4 to start the 2014-15 season.
• Arkansas’ NCAA NET is 28th — fourth-best in the SEC behind Auburn (20), Kentucky (21) and LSU (25).
• Arkansas’ RPI is 14th — third-best in the SEC behind Auburn (4) and LSU (13).
• As of Monday (Jan. 27), CBS’ Jerry Palm has Arkansas as a No. 7 seed, facing No. 10 Saint Mary’s in the East Region.
• Prior to the win over TCU, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has Arkansas as a No. 8 seed, facing No. 9 Michigan in the South Region.
• As of Monday (Jan. 27), NBCSports has Arkansas as a No. 9 seed, facing No. 8 Houston in the Midwest Region.
Information from Razorback Sports Communications is included in this story.
Neighbors previews back-to-back road games against Alabama, Missouri
With Arkansas going on the road for a pair of games this week, coach Mike Neighbors talked about the RPI and how it plays a role in getting to the critical second half of the conference season.
With recruiting season closing, we’ll move on to more important football matters
Excuse me, but recruiting season is something that has become a competition all by itself with some folks worrying more about that than what actually happens.
Yeah, I know it’s kind of a big deal but I don’t spend a whole lot of time talking about folks that aren’t here, whether they are still in high school, the transfer portal or not in Arkansas any more.
It simply means to me we’ll be moving on to more important matters regarding football soon.
Spring practice is around the corner. We don’t have a schedule for Sam Pittman’s first spring drills, but there should be some information coming on that around signing day next Wednesday. We’ll get our first official visit with him then.
Recruiting rankings are one thing. Yes, I’m well aware the teams that finish near the top of those are also usually in the running for championships come November, but not always.
For the Razorbacks, those two have never really coincided. For a program that’s never been a consistent recruiting powerhouse they’ve seriously over-achieved at times.
Great talent can’t overcome bad coaching. That has never been more evident than the last two years with the Hogs.
The last coach started with a great plan he had no idea how to implement. He got the job based on a just four years at a Power 5 program that got better when he left. Hey, I fell into the trap like a lot of other people who told me he was a can’t-miss for a big time head coaching job.
They were wrong, proving it’s not really a fine science picking these things.
Coming on the heels of another coach who got the job based on a resume that was a mirage. Combine that with an athletic director and his merry band of idiots that rewarded mediocrity too much, well, you end up with a mess.
Which is exactly what Pittman inherits for his first head coaching job. A lot of Hog fans wanted a coach with a winning record, but they weren’t coming to Fayetteville unless they were over-paid, which means they really didn’t WANT the job.
But Pittman can thank the previous coach for leaving him some pretty good young talent. Especially keeping the redshirt on a large number on a talented freshman signing class.
It will be interesting to see how they develop with some coaches that actually have a clue how to coach at this level. The guess here is this coaching staff would have been bowl eligible the last two seasons with the players on the roster.
There is no way that talent would have competed for a division title, but they would have qualified to make it to SOME bowl game.
I’m extremely reluctant to make a lot of absolute statements on any of the players the last two years because they were not coached, poorly prepared for even practices and didn’t really have a chance in most of the games they played.
Especially at quarterback. Considering none of them ever experienced an offensive staff that knew how to prepare for practice (much less a game), there’s not really much objective baseline to judge them with.
There were flashes the players could perform over the last couple of years, which is an indicator they weren’t that inept.
In four wins over two seasons that were over teams clearly over-matched, if you want to see what happens when a team doesn’t know HOW to prepare, well, there you have it.
Don’t get carried away. It’s not likely this team is competing to go to Atlanta this season, but they will have a realistic shot at a bowl game.
Remember, “a realistic shot.”
Let’s hold off on predictions for a few more months.
Opitz on handling added weight, working with Hogs’ pitcher this season
Razorbacks catcher Casey Opitz talked with the media Tuesday morning about his added weight not slowing him down and working with this group of pitchers along with that process.
???? Halftime Pod — Isaiah Joe missing time, Nikki Chavanelle talks recruiting and more!
Phil & Tye on Isaiah Joe’s impact, Nikki Chavanelle gives a recruiting update, and some Arkansas baseball talk!
Kopps on being healthy to start Hogs’ new season, battling for starting spot
Arkansas pitcher Kevin Kopps talked with the media Tuesday about being comfortable out of the bullpen, but really would like to nail down the third spot in the starting rotation.
Softball ranked in Top 25 in five different preseason polls ahead of season start
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas is less than two weeks out from it’s season opener in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and are tabbed in the top 25 in five different preseason polls.
Softball America: 17
FloSoftball: 17
USA Softball: 20
D1 Softball: 21
NFCA: 24
Earlier this month, the team was predicted to finish seventh in the SEC after a vote of the 13 head coaches in the league’s preseason poll.
Returning All-SEC selections, senior Autumn Storms and junior Hannah McEwen were also named to the 13th annual Southeastern Conference Preseason All-SEC Team last week.
According to the NFCA rankings, Arkansas will face ranked opponents in 15 games, six of which will take place in Bogle Park. The Razorbacks will also play in five games against opponents that are receiving votes in the preseason poll.
In the NFCA poll, the Southeastern Conference led the way with ten ranked programs, while three leagues — Big 12, Big Ten and Pac-12 — boasted four teams apiece.
Three of the Pac-12’s teams were in the top five. The Atlantic Coast Conference, Colonial Athletic Association and Sun Belt Conference each saw a single program among the top 25.
The 2020 USA Today-NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll is voted on by 32 NCAA Division I head coaches, one representing each conference.
Final 2019 records are shown with first-place votes in parentheses. The first regular season poll will be published on Feb. 11.
Information from Razorback Sports Information is included in this story.
