The Razorbacks’ 2020 baseball season gets under way with practices this weekend and Dave Van Horn talked about the team in general ahead of the opener against Eastern Illiniois on Feb. 14.
Lack of offense, turnovers, doom Arkansas in surprising loss to Bulldogs
Arkansas wasn’t supposed to lose to Georgia on Thursday night at Bud Walton Arena, but the combination of a lot of things — all bad — led to a 64-55 loss.
“We tried to do a few different things,” Mike Neighbors said later. “It certainly appeared like we tried the same thing over and over and over expecting a different result. I think Einstein said is the definition of insanity.”
The Bulldogs turned the Hogs over 20 times, a season-high for the Razorbacks, while also holding Arkansas to just three 3-pointers, a season-low.
“Maybe the first time this year I’ve been disappointed,” Neighbors said.
There were some warning signs that he apparently didn’t realize (or know about) until it was too late to do anything about it.
Chelsea Dungee, who had 13 points and seven rebounds but also five of the team’s 20 turnovers, said later the team just had a lack of energy the last few days.
“That’s on me,” Neighbors said. “She’s not the only one that said it. That goes to the thing I can do better, which is have a better pulse. I’d like to tell you I had seen it, but I didn’t.
“I thought we had a quiet confidence about us. We were getting on that borderline of having a bit of swagger and maybe that’s what I was attributing it to.”
It wasn’t hard to tell Neighbors wasn’t real happy, although he did a pretty good job of masking it.
“There was no reason not to have any energy,” he said.
Then he started just listing the things he found out. Neighbors wasn’t using any of it as an excuse, but it did point to a lack of focus for this game.
“We just came off a day off and I found out just a minute ago nobody came in to do any extra shooting for the first time all year,” he said. “We had pre-practice on Tuesday, which I just found out nobody showed up for for the first time all year.
“As a result, for the first time this year we’re disappointed.”
This loss is going to stick with Neighbors, although he may have gotten some of it out in a rare post-game talk, which may have involved some straight talk.
The guess here is there may be a more focused team by Sunday.
“I will make sure those things don’t beat us before the game — and I’m not telling you that’s the reason — I’m telling you it’s the first time it’s happened,” he said. “It’s the first time I’ve talked to them — win or lose, home or away — that I’ve ever talked to the team following the game.
“I’m going to leave a little more encouraged. I can tell you if I hadn’t talked to them, I would have been not much fun to be around the rest of the night or tomorrow until I saw them again.”
With Florida coming up in a home game Sunday, Neighbors can’t let this game turn what a lot of fans expected to be two wins into the opposite.
“We’ve gotta take care of one of these two home games,” he said. “You can’t let two homes to people you’re picked around slip by and not regret it.”
Redshirt freshman Erynn Barnum was the Hogs’ leading scorer, matching her career-high with 14 points, shooting 50 percent from the field (6-12) and from three (1-2).
Dungee was the only other Hog to reach double-figures.
Gabby Connally led the way for Georgia, going for a game-high 18 points.
Turning point
The Hogs had a seven-point lead with 3:13 to play in the third quarter after a lay-in from sophomore guard Rokia Doumbia. Barnum went on a solo 7-0 run in just over a minute of clock time early in the third period, but the spark didn’t last long.
Georgia rolled from them on, though, closing the game on a 28-12 run over the end of the third and throughout the fourth period. That run included a 19-2 spurt that put the game just out of reach.
Hogs highlights
• Barnum matched her career-high in points, going for 14.
• Dungee scored in double-figures for the ninth straight time.
• Senior guard Alexis Tolefree led the Hogs on the glass, pulling down seven rebounds.
• Doumbia recorded three steals, a new career-high.
The Razorbacks will host Florida in a game is set to tip at 2 p.m. and will be streamable on SECN+.
Information from Razorback Sports Communications is included in this story.
Neighbors on what he should have seen leading up to loss to Georgia
Arkansas coach Mike Neighbors said there were signs he shouldered the blame for not noticing leading up to 64-55 loss to Bulldogs on Thursday night at Bud Walton Arena.
Dungee, Tolefree after Hogs’ home loss to Georgia on Thursday night
Arkansas players Chelsea Dungee (13 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 5 turnovers) and Alexis Tolefree (9 points, 7 rebounds) talk about what went wrong in 64-55 loss.
Bulldogs’ coach surprised at Razorbacks’ lack of offense in road win
Georgia coach Joni Taylor talked was surprised at the lack of offense by Arkansas and credited her team with a strong defensive effort stopping an offense that scored 100 Sunday.
???? Halftime Pod — What went wrong in Starkville, a possible lineup change, plus Bob Holt!
Phil & Tye on what went wrong in Starkville, change in the starting lineups, plus Bob Holt joins the program!
Coaches rank Razorbacks at No. 5 in first ‘USA Today’ poll
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas will start the season at No. 5 in the USA Today Coaches preseason rankings, making it five top 15 marks so far heading into the 2020 campaign.
It is the second time in three years the Razorbacks have received a top 10 ranking from the outlet, beginning the 2018 season in sixth.
Last year, the coaches poll put the Hogs at 12th in its first set of rankings.
The Razorbacks are coming off a 46-20 season that produced an SEC West division title and the program’s 10th trip to the College World Series in 2019.
Coach Dave Van Horn, entering his 18th season at the helm of the baseball team, has more appearances in the CWS than any active coach in the nation with eight.
Arkansas returns a number of veterans with experience on the mound, including two-thirds of last year’s rotation in sophomores Connor Noland and Patrick Wicklander.
Noland and Wicklander were among the top freshmen arms in the conference in 2019, as the duo combined for a 4.16 ERA, nine wins, 145 strikeouts and only 51 walks. Noland was named a Perfect Game freshman all-American while both garnered SEC All-Freshman honors.
Offensively, the Razorbacks return plenty of firepower, including last year’s top hitter in Matt Goodheart, who finished with a .345 batting average as the team’s designated hitter.
Along with Goodheart, the Hogs bring back two of the top bats in the nation in juniors and preseason All-Americans Heston Kjerstad and Casey Martin.
Kjerstad hit .325 or higher in each of his first two seasons, matching his hit total (87) from 2018, while driving in another 51 RBIs to go with 17 home runs.
Martin hit more home runs (15) and had more RBIs (57) than his freshman season, finishing with 81 hits overall last season.
Arkansas is set to host 32 games at Baum-Walker Stadium this spring, including home SEC series against Alabama, Florida, Texas A&M, Auburn and Georgia.
During the 2019 postseason run, Arkansas saw 93,868 fans pack Baum-Walker Stadium, the most of any ballpark in the country. The Razorbacks wrapped up the 2019 season with a 33-7 home record, the second-straight year Arkansas has totaled 30 or more wins at home.
The 2020 slate kicks off with Eastern Illinois for the second-straight season, beginning on Friday, Feb. 14, at 3 p.m. at Baum-Walker Stadium.
2020 Preseason Rankings
Perfect Game – No. 4
USA Today Coaches – No. 5
D1 Baseball – No. 7
Collegiate Baseball – No. 9
Baseball America – No. 11
Information from Razorback Sports Communications is included in this story.
Free throw difference puts Mississippi State over Arkansas, 77-70
Mississippi State outscored Arkansas in a huge way from the free-throw line Wednesday night to come away with a 77-70 win in Starkville, Miss.
The shorter Razorbacks out-scored the Bulldogs in the paint, 46-24, but couldn’t overcome a 21-point difference in free throws.
Arkansas out-scored the bigger Mississippi State, 46-24, in the paint, but the Bulldogs were 27-of-31 at the free throw line to claim a 77-70 victory Wednesday night.
The Razorbacks were just 6-of-11 at the free throw line.
Mason Jones and Jimmy Whitt, Jr., each had 20 points for Arkansas, while Jones and Isaiah Joe each pulled down seven rebounds.
Joe, for the second straight game, was completely shut down on the offensive end, getting just five points in the game. He was 2-of-13 from the field and 1-of-8 on 3-pointers. His only made shot from outside the arc came 2:25 into the game.
After that, he was Oh-for-7 and that’s never good for the Razorbacks.
Reggie Perry led the Bulldogs with 26 points and 13 rebounds, as the sophomore was 14-of-15 at the free throw line.
The loss dropped the Hogs to 14-4 overall and evened the league record at 3-3.
Arkansas will step out of conference Saturday, hosting TCU in the SEC-Big 12 Challenge at Bud Walton Arena, starting at 3 p.m.
Information from Razorback Sports Communications is included in this story.
???? Halftime Pod — MSU next up, Bret Bielema heading to NYC, Chad Morris calling plays, and more!
Phil & Tye on the MSU game tonight, Bret Bielema as a NYG, Morris calling Auburn’s offense, plus Clay Henry & Bill King!
