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Razorbacks down Gators, headed to third straight SEC final

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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ORANGE BEACH, Ala. — Arkansas is, once again, in the SEC Tournament final after defeating eight-seed Florida, 1-0, in overtime Friday afternoon.

Junior Kayla McKeon headed in a perfect cross from junior Marissa Kinsey in the 92nd minute, sending Arkansas to its third-straight tournament final appearance, fifth overall.

Arkansas (13-4-3) will be going for its first SEC Tournament championship on Sunday when it will face seven-seed LSU at 1 p.m. on the SEC Network. The Razorbacks beat LSU earlier this season, 2-1, in double overtime, getting a two-goal performance from junior Tori Cannata.

LSU (13-6-2) reaches the title game after winning three matches this week, similar to Arkansas’ run last year. The Tigers have eliminated 10-seed Missouri, two-seed Tennessee and six-seed South Carolina en route to its title appearance.

McKeon’s goal was her eighth of the year, tying her with fellow junior Tori Cannata, who scored one goal in Arkansas’ 4-0 win over Ole Miss on Tuesday.

Friday’s score was McKeon’s fifth game-winning goal of the year, the most by a Razorback since Lindsey Mayo had five during the 2016 season.

The Razorbacks have made reaching the tournament final normal practice over the last three seasons, but have yet to raise the trophy as conference tournament champions in their history.

In each of its last two appearances, the goal difference has been only one goal. Arkansas fell to Florida in 2016, 2-1 in overtime, then fell to Texas A&M by the same score in regulation in 2017.

By reaching Sunday’s championship game, Arkansas is the first team to make the final in three or more consecutive seasons since Florida made it five-straight seasons between 2010 and 2014.

Sound Byte

“This team is just tough. I think they really wanted it. They’ve seen two different teams celebrate winning the title and I think this team just said ‘We want to win it. We want to win an SEC championship. Every team is a little bit different and we thought this team had a chance to do it. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”  — Coach Colby Hale how his team was able to reach the SEC Tournament final for the third-straight season

“It’s interesting so far. We’ve played two teams that have beaten us earlier this season, but got to face them again in this tournament. This team just has a tremendous mentality. When all the chips are on the table, this team is the one you want to bet on.” — Hale on the mentality his team has had this season with the goal of winning the SEC Tournament title this week

“We’re extremely excited about this. We just lost to Florida, 3-0, last week, so it was good to come out and get a team win like this. We’ve all bought in to our plan and this shows how much we’ve come together as a team. It’s really impressive.” — Carly Hoke on the win over Florida

“I honestly thought the ball was going to go out. But when Stef (Doyle) saved it and Marissa (Kinsey) put in a good cross, it was a whole team effort. We were in their half for nearly the entire game and it was the press that hurt them. We just kept going and kept fighting and knew we would eventually get one.” — Kayla McKeon on her game-winning goal

“It’s just about the way we play and the way we press. All year, we’ve been preparing for this. The way we practice prepares us for this. It’s nice we’ve made it three years in a row, but we want to win it this time.” — Hoke on reaching the SEC Tournament final three years in a row  

“We are ready to get the ring. We’ve made it to two-straight championships and we’ve been working towards this since last year and even since my freshman year. We are very ready to finish this thing out. We know we are very capable of it.” — McKeon on the motivation of trying to win the program’s first championship

Other Key Notes

• With the victory,  Arkansas now has 13 wins on the year, which is the third-most ever in a season in program history.

• The goal by Kayla McKeon was her eighth goal of the year, one less than her previous career-high of nine goals set during her freshman season (2016).

• McKeon now has five points in her two tournament games this week, which leads the team. She had a career-high three assists in Arkansas’ 4-0 quarterfinal win over Ole Miss on Tuesday.

• Friday’s win was Arkansas’ second win all-time against the Gators, the first coming in 2016. Florida leads the all-time series with Arkansas, 2-22.

• Arkansas is returning to the SEC Tournament final for the third-consecutive season and will be making its fifth appearance in the final all-time.

• Arkansas is now tied for the second-most tournament final appearances all-time. Florida leads all teams with 17 appearances, while Arkansas, Tennessee and Auburn each have five appearances.

• Marissa Kinsey has had a hand in three of Arkansas’ five goals during this week’s SEC Tournament, including Friday’s winner over Florida. Kinsey only had one assist coming into the tournament, but now has four goals and four assists (12 points) heading into Sunday’s final.

• The Razorbacks locked up their eighth shutout of the year and second of the tournament after defeating Florida, 1-0. Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Taylor Beitz has been in goal for six of those clean sheets and is averaging four saves in those matches.

Up Next

The Razorbacks will go for its first SEC Tournament title on Sunday when it faces seven-seed LSU at 1 p.m. at the Orange Beach Sportsplex.

The game will be televised on the SEC Network.

Hogs get 100-63 win over Southwest Baptist in last exhibition

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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PHOTOS BY ANDY HODGES | HITTHATLINE.COM

FAYETTEVILLE — Daniel Gafford had a double-double (17 points and 12 rebounds), while Isaiah Joe had a game-high 19 points and Mason Jones added 17 points, to lead Arkansas to a 100-63 victory over Southwest Baptist in the Razorbacks’ second and final exhibition game prior to next Friday’s season opener versus Texas in the ESPN Armed Forces Classic at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas.

Joe was 5-of-9 from the field — all from 3-point range — and 4-of-4 at the line. Gafford added three blocked shots to go with his double-double and Jones was 7-of-8 from the free throw line to assist in his 17-point effort.

Keyshawn Embery-Simpson came off the bench to score 11 points, making 4-of-6 from the field (3-of-5 from 3-point range).

Much as they did in the first exhibition, Arkansas turned a close game at halftime into a blow-out early in the second half as the Razorbacks went on an 18-4 run to put the game out of reach.

In a tale of two halves, Arkansas only had nine assists with 10 turnovers in the first half while using its up-tempo brand to dish out 12 second-half assists while committing just five turnovers.

Defensively, Arkansas forced 15 turnovers each period and finished with 18 steals – nine each half.

Arkansas will open the 2018-19 season next Friday (Nov. 9) versus Texas in the ESPN Armed Forces Classic.

The game will be played on Fort Bliss military base in El Paso, Texas. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.

FIRST HALF: Arkansas 40 – Southwest Baptist 30

• Starters were #1 Isaiah Joe (G); #2 Adrio Bailey (F), #5 Jalen Harris (G), #10 Daniel Gafford (F) and #13 Mason Jones (G).

• Arkansas led by one, 13-12 with 11:59 left in the first period. Mason Jones sparked a 10-0 run, hitting a layup and 3-pointer – to pit the Razorbacks up 11 at the 7:57 mark.

• The Bearcats trimmed their deficit to six (36-30), thanks to a 3-pointer by Quinn Nelson, with two minutes to play in the period.

• Desi Sills drained a pair of free throws and Daniel Gafford made a layup with 39 seconds left to put the Razorbacks up 10 at the break.

• Mason Jones led the way with 10, first-half points while Daniel Gafford had seven points and five rebounds.

SECOND HALF: Arkansas out-scored the Bearcats 60-33

• Teams traded baskets the first two trips down the floor to start the second half until Isaiah Joe sank back-to-back 3-pointers two-and-a-half minutes into the half. Those treys ignited an 11-0 run to put the home team up 21 (55-34). All told, Arkansas had an 18-4 run as the clock went under 14 minutes.

• At the 8-minute media timeout, Arkansas pushed its lead to 30, 81-51. In the first 12 minutes of the second half alone, Daniel Gafford put up eight points and seven rebounds while Isaiah Joe had nine points on 3-of-4 shooting beyond the arc.

• Ethan Henderson had a break-away dunk just before the final buzzer to put the Razorbacks in triple digits.

Quick Hits:

• Arkansas is 16-0 in exhibition games under head coach Mike Anderson and Coach Anderson is 34-0 as a head coach in exhibition games.

• Arkansas has scored 88-plus points in 11 of those 16 wins with an average margin of victory of 31.5 points.

• Arkansas won both exhibitions this season by an average margin of 43 points, including a 49-point win versus Tusculum and a 37-point win over Southwest Baptist.

• Arkansas has won 30 consecutive exhibition games dating back to 2004-05 season.

Anderson recapping Hogs’ win in final exhibition tuneup

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Razorbacks coach Mike Anderson talked about the strong second half against Southwest Baptist in the final tuneup before opening the season against Texas next week.

Gafford, Jones talk about Friday’s win over Southwest Baptist

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Arkansas players Daniel Gafford and Mason Jones talked with the media after the 100-63 win over Southwest Baptist on Friday night at Bud Walton in the final exhibition game of the preseason.

Lengthy interview with Van Horn on Hogs’ baseball after fall

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn held a lengthy media session Friday morning and covered a wide range of topics on the Hogs baseball team, including offseason and Andrew Benitendi’s championship with Boston.

???? Friday Halftime Pod- Featuring Nate Olsen

Tye Richardson
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Phil & Tye talk about college football this weekend and interview Nate Olsen!

Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Friday

Tye Richardson
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Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Friday

John & Tommy are joined by Tyler Wilson to discuss the Arkansas-BYU series, Bama-LSU, Fenceman picks and more!

Williams perfect, Monk scores 18 win win in final tuneup game

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas junior Kiara Williams had a perfect shooting night, pacing the Razorbacks to a 101-46 win over East Central in exhibition action in Bud Walton Arena on Thursday.

Williams was 5-for-5 from the floor and 6-for-6 from the free throw line finishing with 16 points. She was one rebound shy of a double-double grabbing nine boards in 20 minutes of play.

The victory is the second consecutive exhibition win and the second in which Arkansas has scored 100+ points.

Malica Monk drives inside against East Central on Thursday night as the senior scored 18 points to lead all scorers in the game. PHOTO BY ANDY HODGES | HITTHATLINE.COM

Senior Malica Monk led Arkansas in scoring with 18 points followed by Williams with 16 points. A’Tyanna Gaulden added 12 points and Chelsea Dungee had 10 points rounding out the Razorbacks in double figures.

The good shooting night was highlighted by an exhibition record 13 3-point field goals.

While the offensive numbers were impressive, it was Arkansas’ defense that head coach Mike Neighbors wanted to talk about after the game.

Raven Northcross-Baker drives inside the lane as East Central defenders try to slow her down in Thursday night’s exhibition matchup. PHOTO BY ANDY HODGES | HITTHATLINE.COM

The Razorbacks held ECU to 46 points, the fifth lowest opponent exhibition point total in program history and the Tigers shot just 24.6 percent for the game. Arkansas allowed just seven points in each of the first two quarters and held a 43-14 lead at the half.

Key Stats

Arkansas went on a 12-1 run over 4:58 to open a 14-4 lead late in the first quarter.
Arkansas did not have a turnover in the first quarter.

Notes

• Arkansas starters: Alexis Tolefree, Malica Monk, Kiara Williams, Jailyn Mason, Chelsea Dungee.
• Arkansas set a program exhibition record with 13 made 3-point field goals.
• Arkansas has scored 80+ points in 25 exhibition games, 90+ points eight times and 100+ points six times.

Up Next

The Razorbacks open the regular season hosting Northwestern State Friday, Nov. 9 at 10:30 a.m.

Neighbors on big win over East Central in exhibition

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Arkansas coach Mike Neighbors talked after the 101-46 win over East Central in the final warmup game before the regular season starts next Friday against Northwestern State.

Williams, Monk talk about win over East Central

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Arkansas players Kiara Williams and Malica Monk met with the media after the 101-46 exhibition over East Central on Thursday night, the Hogs’ final tuneup before the regular season opens.

Vanderbilt home loss takes Hogs’ season to a new low

Nate Olson
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My wife, Sheena, awoke early Sunday morning perplexed.

“How can our Razorbacks be this bad?” she asked. “I just can’t believe they are that horrible. I don’t understand.”

Those weren’t the sweet nothings I expected when she rolled over. As a lifelong resident of this state, I shouldn’t have been too surprised that this was on her mind. I know the shock along with frustration are common among the Hogs faithful.

After 17 years of marriage, she should have been ready for what came out of my mouth. It was a breakdown of the failures of the Bret Bielema experiment including an analysis of failed recruiting classes as well as the disappointing losses and blown second-half leads.

A few minutes into it, Sheena rolled back over. I guess that was just a rhetorical question.

But her reaction after the Vanderbilt home loss last Saturday was a reminder about epically bad this season has been and how rare that is.

It’s true the Hogs have won four or less games three times since 2012. The worst season I had seen in my time in Arkansas occurred in 2012 when John L. Smith subbed in for the fired Bobby Petrino

That team had big expectations, but an early season loss to Louisiana-Monroe in Little Rock proved to be the harbinger of the bad things to come.

Bielema’s first team finished 3-9 with a nice start in the non-conference slate, but then went winless in the SEC, which it looks likely the 2018 team will do (more on that in a moment).

Bielema’s final team finished 4-8. So, losing records aren’t completely foreign on The Hill.

However, you have to go back to 1952 to find a Hogs team that finished with two wins. The Hogs only have three three-win seasons since then — 1953, 1992 (Who can forget the Citadel loss?) and the aforementioned Bielema debut in 2013.

As a whole, Arkansas fans have too high of expectations. Its historical lot in the SEC is middle of the pack at best and that reality escapes some of the Razorback faithful.

However, Arkansas isn’t a perennial basement dweller, either.

Sheena didn’t sit through winless seasons and rush the field after beating a miserable Baylor team like I did growing up as an Iowa State fan. That kind of futility that I got used to is either depressing or angering depending on the disposition when it’s rare.

All Arkansas fans can agree. it’s unacceptable to lose to two non-conference opponents and perennial SEC doormat Vanderbilt in the same season. The Vandy game was the icing on the cake as Sheena’s reaction indicated.

This isn’t one of those resurgent Commodore teams. This team was winless in the SEC and won’t have a winning record. Derek Mason’s squad waltzed into Fayetteville and dominated them at times.

The alarming part for Hogs fans was the talent differential was obvious. Vandy had more speed and athleticism and it showed, especially in the second half. That’s a tough pill to swallow and finally triggered an emotional eruption from first-year coach Chad Morris, who has been unbelievably positive.

“We know that our goals of getting to a bowl game are not attainable,” Morris told the media following the loss. “As I shared with our players, our culture is not going to change. I’m not changing, our coaching staff is not going to change. We’re going to show up every day and coach hard. We’re going to find out who’s on board.”

I don’t know if many fans expected a bowl win, but most would not have predicted losses to Colorado State, North Texas or Vanderbilt. The common sentiment was four wins may be the low mark with six being very optimistic.

Now, with an open week Saturday that leaves a home game with No. 4 LSU and road tilts with Mississippi State and Missouri remaining. Arkansas won’t be favored in any of the three and will be heavy underdogs against the mighty Tigers.

Arkansas is staring one of its worst football seasons squarely in the face, and it isn’t a good feeling for anyone involved.

The encouraging news is as bad as Arkansas has been on the field, the coaching staff has dominated the recruiting game with the Hogs on track to sign a Top 10 recruiting class.

That may not lead to big gains next year, but in 2020 it could lead for Sheena to roll over and say, ‘Wow, I can’t believe how good the Hogs are. This has been a great season.”

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