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Jones’ 21, Bailey’s 20 paces Hogs’ win over UC-Davis
PHOTOS BY ANDY HODGES | HITTHATLINE.COM
FAYETTEVILLE — Adrio Bailey scored a career-high 20 points, including eight on a 22-1 run in the final five minutes to pace Arkansas to an 81-58 victory over UC-Davis Monday night at Bud Walton Arena.
The game was the home opener for Arkansas and the first of four games as part of the Hardwood Showcase.
Arkansas improves to 26-0 in home openers at Bud Walton Arena and now have won 45 consecutive home openers.
The Razorbacks, who led by seven at the half, could not pull away from the Aggies early in the second half as Arkansas led by nine (63-54) with 5:19 left.
With 4:55 remaining, Bailey then hit the first of six consecutive free throws — adding a jumper — to spur the 22-1 run.
Aiding in the win, Arkansas made 21-of-27 from the free-throw line in the second half while the Razorback defense held the Aggies to just 25 percent shooting and 28 points.
Mason Jones led the Razorbacks with 21 points, making four 3-pointers, and led the team with eight rebounds, including seven in the second half. Joining Jones and Bailey in double figures were Isaiah Joe (14 points) and Daniel Gafford (12 points).
UC Davis was led by TJ Shorts II, who finished with 14 points.
FIRST HALF: Arkansas 37 – UC Davis 30
• Arkansas raced out to a 10-0 lead – thanks to a pair of 3-pointers by Mason Jones and two buckets by Adrio Bailey – to force an early UC Davis timeout (16:12 on the clock).
• The Aggies worked their way back in the game and kept it between 5-10 points the rest of the first half.
• Mason Jones, who scored 11 in the opener versus Texas, scored 15 in the first half to lead the Razorbacks, making 5-of-6 from the field – including 4-of-5 from 3-ponit range.
SECOND HALF: Arkansas Uses 22-1 run to pull away
• Isaiah Joe and Adrio Bailey each made a pair of free throws to give Arkansas a 12-point lead to start the second half.
• Adrio Bailey made his first career 3-pointer at 8:40 to give Arkansas its largest lead – 16 points (58-42).
• UC Davis cut the deficit to nine, 63-54, with 5:19 left. However, Adrio Bailey scored eight points during a 22-1 run to extend the lead to 21 (76-55) with 2:05 left.
UP NEXT:
Arkansas will host Indiana in game two of the Hardwood Classic. The Hoosiers are just out of this week’s Top 25, coming in at 27th.
This will be Indiana’s first trip to Bud Walton Arena and just the third time the Hoosiers and Razorbacks have met. Both teams have won a game in the series with Arkansas winning, 86-72, in the first round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament.
It is just the fourth time a Big Ten member has come to Fayetteville and Arkansas is 3-0 all time versus Big Ten members in Fayetteville, including 2-0 in Bud Walton Arena.
NOTES:
• UC Davis controlled the tip, but Arkansas scored first on a Mason Jones 3-pointer.
• Arkansas starters were Isaiah Joe (G) – Jalen Harris (G) – Mason Jones (G) – Adrio Bailey (F) – Daniel Gafford (F).
• Junior Adrio Bailey attempted his first career 3-pointer (a miss at 15:50). Sophomore Gabe Osabuohien also attempted his first trey – a miss at 14:15 on the clock.
• Arkansas is 2-0 all-time versus UC Davis. The Razorbacks also defeated the Aggies, 68-59, on Nov. 29, 2008 in Fayetteville.
• Like this year, that previous meeting was also Arkansas’ second game of the year.
• Arkansas is 86-10 all-time in home openers, has won 45 consecutive home openers. The Razorbacks additionally won each of their first 31 home openers.
• The Razorbacks are 26-0 in openers inside Bud Walton Arena.
• Mike Anderson is 17-0 in home openers as a head coach when playing his home opener, outscoring his opponents by 22.8 points in such games.
• Arkansas’ other games as part of the Hardwood Showcase including hosting Indiana (Nov. 18 on ESPN), Montana State (Nov. 21) and UT Arlington (Nov. 23).
Anderson on how improved defense was a key to win over Aggies
Razorbacks coach Mike Anderson talked about the defense, improved free-throw shooting in the second half in what ended up being a comfortable win over UC-Davis.
Jones, Bailey after win over UC-Davis on Monday night
Arkansas players Mason Jones (21 points) and Adrio Bailey (20 points) talked with the media after beating UC-Davis, 81-58, at Bud Walton Arena.
Morris on loss to LSU, previewing game against Bulldogs
Arkansas coach Chad Morris talked with the media Monday about the one-score loss to the Tigers last Saturday and what he’s expecting in this week’s game against Mississippi State.
Chavis on two big plays against LSU being costly
Razorbacks defensive coordinator John Chavis talked Monday about two defensive breakdowns leading to problems in last week’s game against the Tigers and facing Mississippi State this weekend.
???? Monday Halftime Pod — featuring Kevin McPherson
Phil & Tye talk about the LSU loss, 3 up 3 down and interview Kevin McPherson!
Razorbacks meet Virginia Tech in second round of NCAA
FAYETTEVILLE — Fresh of the heels of its 5-1 victory over Little Rock in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the Razorback soccer team finally received its opponent for the Round of 32 as it will face Virginia Tech from the ACC.
The Razorbacks and Hokies will face off on Friday at 1 p.m. in Chapel Hill, N.C. at WakeMed Soccer Park.
NCAA Tournament Second Round Match Info
Opponent: Virginia Tech Hokies (10-7-3, 5-5-0 ACC)
Date: Friday, Nov. 16
Location: WakeMed Soccer Park (Cary, N.C.)
First Kick: 1 p.m.
The winner between Arkansas and Virginia Tech will move to face the winner of one-seed North Carolina and Kansas on Sunday also in Chapel Hill at Noon. Details on television or streaming are still being determined.
Arkansas (14-4-4) is back in the second round of the NCAA Tournament after an offensive explosion last week against Sun Belt-champion Little Rock. It’s the fourth time in school history that Arkansas has been one of the final 32 teams in the national tournament and a win on Friday would mark the first time since 2013 that it has reached the Sweet 16.
Virginia Tech (10-7-3) reached the second round after defeating Texas, 1-0, in Austin last week. The Hokies went 5-5-0 in ACC play this year, finishing eighth in the league and received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Monday
John & Tommy discuss the LSU loss, interview Tom Murphy, and more!
Now what direction does Morris go with worst team in Hogs’ history?
With just two games left on the schedule, Chad Morris has an opportunity to start getting some answers about players without worrying about burning a redshirt year for some freshmen.
Particularly at quarterback.
Maybe the plan all along was to put a redshirt on Connor Noland and John Stephen Jones. Unlike many, I don’t think the offensive problems on this team are around the quarterback position.
Let’s face it, for the first few games of this season, the offensive line was a game of musical chairs. If there was a position on this team the former coaching staff let go down the drain, that was it … which is surprising because that was what Bret Bielema came in bragging about being his strong point.
Strange how that always works out, huh?
Bielema was surprised to find an Arkansas team in 2013 that was seriously lacking in numbers of quality at wide receiver, especially considering that was the strength of Bobby Petrino’s successes in 2010-11.
This Razorback team has problems in other areas, too, but the complete chaos in the offensive line is what happens when you hire the NFL equivalent of a grad assistant to be the offensive line coach in the SEC.
In my opinion, the two most critical areas on any team are the cornerbacks and offensive tackles. My ranking on those two varies from game to game and it’s something I got from former Raiders owner Al Davis, who first told me that in 1982.
“If you’re great at those spots — and I don’t mean just good — you can fill in everywhere else a lot easier,” he said.
When he got talked into changing his philosophy later, the Raiders dropped off and have never recovered.
For this Razorback team, the offensive tackles and cornerbacks haven’t even been what I would call good the last couple of years. Bielema talked a lot of about being better closer to the ball, meaning center and guards before tackles.
As for the cornerbacks, well, let’s just say the Hogs have made a lot of average quarterbacks look like All-American candidates this season. Kamren Curl got turned every which way but loose by LSU’s Justin Jefferson on Saturday night.
Jefferson finished with 117 yards on six catches and a touchdown where Curl was the closest defender and was barely in the picture when Jefferson scored.
It’s an area Morris and his staff are recruiting hard to fix. Out of the 23 commitments they have lined up for what could be a banner 2019 class, right now they have three offensive tackles and three defensive backs (if you put Rison’s Malik Chavis in that category … he’s being recruited as an athlete).
They also want pass rushers. The Tigers’ Burrow — who finished the night 15-of-21 for 195 yards, a touchdown, but no interceptions and no mistakes — didn’t get a lot of pressure.
It was Curl, of all things, who had the only quarterback hurry all night for the Hogs. Curl also had the only pass break-up of the night for the secondary.
In the recruiting class, the Hogs are also loading up on defensive ends. That is an indicator they need more pressure on the quarterbacks.
But, back to my original point of finding out about some players. At this point, nobody is going to lose a redshirt by putting them on the field. That includes Noland, Jones and some other players across the entire team.
Storey has proven he can handle the pressure of being a quarterback in the SEC. His numbers haven’t been particularly impressive with the exception of the number of times he’s gotten back up after being decked.
Has the time come Morris is going to put some players out there in SEC games to see what he’s got?
Morris was asked last week what Noland has to show to get on the field more and he said it was a consistency issue.
You wonder if that’s something that could be gained by getting some experience in games. Yes, Morris feels like he still has to shoot for wins and that’s something Razorback fans would like to see in these last couple of games against Mississippi State and Missouri.
They won’t be favored in either game and the Bulldogs have a pretty stout defense that’s been in the Top 20 all season in terms of numbers.
This Arkansas team is either going to be the worst in modern history or tied right there with some of the worst. There’s no way around that sitting at 2-8.
Why not play the youngsters? To many fans, hope for the future is about all they have right now.
It’s an interesting question.
