Jones, Gafford pace Razorbacks to 73-70 win over Texas State

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

FAYETTEVILLE — Mason Jones tied his career-high with 21 points while Daniel Gafford recorded his fifth double-double, getting 19 points and 10 rebounds, to lead Arkansas(8-3) to a 73-70 victory over Texas State (10-2) Saturday afternoon at Bud Walton Arena.

It marked the second straight game Jones has led the team in both scoring and assists, finishing with four helpers. Jones additionally had a career-high three steals and scored 10 of his 21 points at the free throw line.

Gabe Osabuohien also had four assists, which is a career high. Isaiah Joe, who was 7-of-8 at the free throw line, and Jalen Harris each scored 10 points.

The Bobcats opened the game by taking a 19-3 lead. The Razorbacks held Texas State scoreless for the next 5:20 during on a 17-0 run.

Gafford had a dunk and free throw to tie the game, 19-19, and Osabuohien gave Arkansas its first lead, 20-19, with a free throw at the 7:13 mark. Arkansas did not trail the remainder of the game, including a 34-27 lead at halftime.

Texas State would tie the game, 38-38, on a Nijal Pearson 3-pointer with 14:0 left in the game. However, Gafford answered with a dunk to regain the lead and hold on the rest of the way.

The Bobcats got to within two, 53-51, before Jones converted an old-fashion 3-point play to go up five with 5:13 left in the game. Including that free throw, Arkansas made 15-of-19 at the free throw line.

Arkansas will close the 2018 calendar year by hosting Austin Peay on Dec. 28 (Fri.) in Bud Walton Arena. Tip-off is set for 7 pm.

FIRST HALF: Arkansas 34 – Texas State 27

• Texas State got off to a quick start, but the Razorbacks held the Bobcats scoreless for 4:49. However, Arkansas had its troubles on the offensive end as well and the score stayed at 8-6 for over two minutes. The Bobcats drought ended with two free throws by Alonzo Sule with 13:05 left, which sparked an 11-0 run and 19-6 Texas State lead.

• The Razorback defense stepped up again, holding the Bobcats scoreless for 5:20 while Arkansas went on a 17-0 run. Gabe Osabuohien played a key role on both ends, including his second career 3-pointer. Arkansas tied the game, 19-19 on a Daniel Gafford dunk and free throw with 7:43 left. Osabuohien gave Arkansas its first lead, 20-19, on a free throw. Mason Jones capped the run with a 3-pointer.

• Overall, Arkansas went on a 21-2 run while holding the Bobcats scoreless for a combined 10:09 over two spans.

• Mason Jones and Daniel Gafford led the Razorbacks with 11 points each. Jones made 4-of-5 from the field. Gafford added six rebounds.

• Gabe Osabuohien finished the half with four points, three rebounds, two assists, a steal and a charge taken.

SECOND HALF: Arkansas was 20-of-26 at the free throw line in the second half to secure the win.

• Texas State tied the game, 38-38, on a 3-pointer. Daniel Gafford answered with a dunk and the Razorbacks never relinquished the lead.

• Up two, 53-51, Arkansas’ Mason Jones converted an old-fashion 3-point play to go up five with 5:13 left in the game. Including that free throw, Arkansas made 15-of-19 at the free throw line.

 GAME NOTES:

• Arkansas’ starters were Isaiah Joe (G) – Jalen Harris (G) – Mason Jones (G) – Reggie Chaney (F) – Daniel Gafford (F). Chaney earned his first career start and this was the first time Arkansas used a different starting lineup this season.

• Arkansas controlled the tip, but Texas State’s Jaylen Harris scored the first points at 19:33. Jalen Harris scored the points for the Razorbacks, a floater on the right side at the 18:56 mark.

• This was the fourth meeting between Arkansas and Texas State. The Razorbacks won the previous three meetings.

• Arkansas snapped a two-game home losing streak with the win Saturday. Arkansas has not lost three straight at home since dropping the final three home games of the 2011-12 season versus Florida (Feb. 18), Alabama (Feb. 23) and Ole Miss (Feb. 28).

• Arkansas has won 11 straight in its final game before Christmas and is 15-4 in such games since 2000.

• Daniel Gafford recorded his fifth double-double of the season and eighth of his career.

• Isaiah Joe only made one field goal – a key 3-pointer late – but was 7-of-8 at the free throw line down the stretch to score 10 points.

• Isaiah Joe (10 points) and Daniel Gafford (19 points) are the only Razorbacks to score in double figures in all 11 games this season.

Anderson on team shooting better in win over Texas State

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Arkansas coach Mike Anderson talked after the 73-70 win over the Bobcats about improving on free throws and the team’s break over the Christmas holiday.

Jones, Gafford on hanging on for win against tough Bobcats

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Razorback players Mason Jones (21 points) and Daniel Gafford (19 points, 10 rebounds) talked about battling for the win over Texas State and getting home for Christmas.

Texas State’s Kaspar on surprising FT shooting

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Bobcats coach Danny Kaspar talked after the game about his team’s 8-of-21 from the free-throw line (38.1 percent), which is below their average for the season.

???? Friday Halftime Pod — featuring Nate Olson

Tye Richardson
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Phil Elson & Tye Richardson discuss the doubt creeping into Razorback fans’ minds, FOMO Friday, plus Nate Olson joins the pod!

Hogs have learned how to win close games in busy 3-0 run

Andy Hodges
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Mike Neighbors knew when he made up the schedule it was going to be difficult in December.

Coaches don’t look forward to playing three games in five days, regardless of what they’ll say on the record.

“I probably would have called you a liar if you’d told me we’d go 3-0 in those games,” Neighbors said Friday morning.

And, of course, the Hogs just went 3-0.

Arkansas beat Prairie View on Sunday to start the week, then banged out an 84-80 win over a larger, more physical Nebraska team Tuesday night, then capped it off with a 61-59 win over Tulsa on Thursday afternoon.

Last year’s team wouldn’t have beaten the Huskers and probably turned around and lost on the road, too, two days later. Close wins over Texas-Arlington and Wisconsin fall into that category, too.

“No way,” Neighbors said. “We didn’t have the depth to overcome some of the things that happened to us. We may have gotten beat by 30.”

The Razorbacks got down 15-2 in the first quarter and it looked like things might get out of hand, but they finished on an 8-0 run to make it 15-10 at the end of the period. They made the plays in the fourth quarter to win it.

Less than 48 hours later was a road 115-mile road trip to face the Golden Hurricane.

“In a two-point game, we found a way to win,” Neighbors said. “We came out lethargic.”

It took a layup from senior Malica Monk after one of her drives down the lane to lock down the 61-59 win.

“The compounding effect of us starting slow, then playing fast probably worked to our advantage in the fourth quarter,” Neighbors said.

Like we said, nobody particularly tries to play three games in five days just before the holidays, but that’s how it played out.

“When we looked at putting the schedule together we knew it was going to be tough to get all the non-conference games in with everything going on,” Neighbors said. “We knew we’d have to play a condensed number of games. It was a real challenge.”

He got an idea this team was making strides in a closed game against the men’s practice team where the girls won, 109-108.

“You can’t reward a kid or the team if you don’t get what a win gives you,” Neighbors said. “Now they know what it feels like, looks like.”

That practice, plus winning three in a row, has allowed the Hogs to take a big step in learning how to win close games in the fourth quarter while building a 10-3 record and getting to No. 45 in the RPI as of Friday morning.

“That’s as high as anybody on this team has been,” Neighbors said. “We’ve played a lot of teams in the Top 100.”

It lets the team head into the Christmas break with what he called “a quiet confidence.”

“That’s a huge thing,” he said.

And it also led to the team heading in multiple directions from the Tulsa game … by car and airplane. They don’t have to return for a week.

“They’ve earned it,” Neighbors said. “This is the longest break I’ve ever given a team, even when I was coaching high school.”

Arkansas will play next Dec. 30 at home against Jackson State, then it gets serious.

The SEC schedule starts … with two-time defending national runner-up Mississippi State at Bud Walton on Jan. 3.

“They aren’t bad, are they?” Neighbors said.

As he pointed out, whoever came up with the SEC slogan “It just means more” was talking about all sports.

“They were dead-on for this league,” he said.

It appears Morris isn’t signing any ‘projects’ in Razorbacks’ 2019 class

Andy Hodges
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Chad Morris is very aware how college football has changed over the last decade or so.

Top tier programs have been recruiting the type players that nobody wants to stay around four or five years. For good reasons.

“You’re in a time now where a lot of these guys where if you’re recruiting the right way they’re with you three years,” Morris said on Wednesday’s signing day. “That’s what we’re after, that’s what we want.”

Forget the way it used to be.

Freshmen are expected to play immediately. Teams in the playoff nearly every year have a lot of those freshmen on special teams and they rotate in their position group on a regular basis.

“We want guys to be able to come in here, put them on a path to graduate in three years and all of a sudden they’re some of the top guys the NFL is wanting,” Morris said. “If we’re doing that, we’re recruiting the right way.”

It was Urban Meyer at Florida back in 2007 who said, “we only recruit people that can play immediately.”

That was radically different thinking then. Nick Saban started doing the same thing at Alabama, Les Miles was doing it at LSU along with others that were finishing high in the rankings nearly every year. Before them, Phil Fulmer at Tennessee and Steve Spurrier at Florida weren’t signing players to hang around long.

It has taken awhile for some to catch on to that. You better be signing players coming out of high school that can step on the field in the SEC and contribute somewhere. That may be the biggest change as college football has evolved.

As Arkansas’ previous staff learned, doing what you did for a decade doesn’t work the same way anymore. Especially in the SEC where you can win 11 games and still be the third-ranked team in your own division (which the Razorbacks did in 2011).

How tough is it in the SEC? The Hogs have their best class ever in the modern recruiting era and that’s just sixth in the SEC West and ninth in the entire league.

You better be getting help EVERY signing day.

It appears none of the 20 players Morris signed on Wednesday are expected to sit around, much less redshirt. With up to nine more expected to join the fold, there aren’t “projects” anymore on scholarship (those are now called walk-ons).

Especially on the offensive and defensive lines.

“We had to create depth on both sides of the ball,” he said. “It’s a line of scrimmage league and that’s an area where we can make immediate improvement as far as creating depth and competition.”

You also get the idea some of the linemen last year were redshirted more for 2019 than helping a bad 2018 season. Morris hinted a couple of times they saw early they were going to be in trouble last year due to a variety of things and because of the four-game redshirt rule, he got a little of the best of both worlds.

No, that doesn’t mean he tanked the season at any point in time. To be honest, though, he probably thought last year’s team would win three or four more than they did. Considering Colorado State, North Texas and Ole Miss that wasn’t unreasonable.

Unless you were blind, the offensive line was one of the glaring issues. The Hogs signed six Wednesday on the offensive side, seven on defense.

“I’m anticipating some of these guys playing as well as the guys who were redshirted last year,” Morris said. “Part of this is recruiting, the other part is developing guys that we have on our roster and we were able to play and redshirt some guys from last year. What this is going to allow us to do is create competition.”

That’s some not-so-subtle coach-speak for nobody has a guaranteed job … anywhere.

“We need competition at every position … we didn’t have enough of that this year,” Morris said. “We’ve addressed that and we’re not done addressing that.”

Yeah, the guess here is you will need a program next year to know who’s who.

Fourth-quarter push lifts Razorbacks to road win in Tulsa

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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TULSA, Okla. — Malica Monk drove the lane, scored and was fouled as time wound down lifting Arkansas to a 61-59 road win at Tulsa on Thursday.

Arkansas (10-3) once again used fourth quarter heroics to win their fifth game in a row and their third in five days before the holiday break.

Arkansas trailed the Golden Hurricane to start the final quarter but opened the frame on a 10-0 run jumping out to a six-point lead. Tulsa continued to nip at Arkansas’ heels tying the game at 59-all with just 15 seconds remaining in the game.

Coach Mike Neighbors called a timeout to advance the ball and Arkansas got it into Monk’s hands. She faked left and drove right laying it in to give Arkansas the 61-59 lead with eight seconds on the clock.

Tulsa had one last look but couldn’t convert as the Razorbacks hung on for the win.

Chelsea Dungee led the Razorbacks in scoring with 23 points and came within one rebound of getting a double-double. PHOTO BY ANDY HODGES | HITTHATLINE.COM

Chelsea Dungee led all scorers with 23 points and was one rebound shy of a double-double. Monk finished with 12 points and Arkansas got six points each from Kiara Williams, Alexis Tolefree and Jailyn Mason. Williams also added a game-high 10 rebounds.

Notes

• Arkansas Starters: Alexis Tolefree, Malica Monk, Kiara Williams, Jailyn Mason, Chelsea Dungee.

• Kiara Williams recorded double figure rebounds for the fifth time this season and the third time in the last four games.

• Chelsea Dungee scored in double figures for the 11th time this season. She has scored 20+ points in seven games including two in a row.

• Arkansas has won the fourth quarter 10 times.

• Arkansas has forced 20+ turnovers six times this year. Tulsa had 23.

Up Next

Arkansas breaks from competition for the holidays. The Razorbacks host Jackson State on Dec. 30 and open Southeastern Conference play with Mississippi State on Jan. 3.

Anderson: This team ‘learning on the job’ during nonconference

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Arkansas coach Mike Anderson talked with the media ahead of Saturday afternoon’s game with Texas State and addressed the 69-65 loss to Georgia Tech on Wednesday night.

???? Thursday Halftime Pod — featuring Brett Goode

Tye Richardson
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Tye Richardson and Phil Elson discuss the key to recruiting at Arkansas, plus former Razorback Brett Goode joins Halftime in studio!

Hogs let one slip away at home against Georgia Tech, 69-65

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

FAYETTEVILLE — This is one Arkansas fans didn’t see coming as Jose Alvarado scored 20 points to help Georgia Tech hold on in the closing minutes for a 69-65 win Wednesday night.

It’s the first time since 2012 the Hogs have lost back-to-back games inside Bud Walton Arena.

The win comes a game after the Yellow Jackets suffered an embarrassing 79-69 home defeat to Gardner-Webb on Monday, and in a game they trailed by as many as five points early in the second half.

Alvarado was 9-of-15 from the field and scored in double figures for the sixth time in seven games, and the 6-foot guard added nine rebounds. James Banks III added 14 points and 15 rebounds, and Michael Devoe finished with 11 points and Khalid Moore had 10 in the win.

The loss is the second in the last three games for the Razorbacks (7-3), who shot just 38.1 percent (24 of 63) from the field.

Mason Jones led Arkansas with 17 points, while Daniel Gafford added 14 and Isaiah Joe 13. The Razorbacks hit only 10 of 32 3-point attempts.

Arkansas trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half while opening the game 1 of 11 from the field, including 0 of 8 on 3-pointers.

The Razorbacks, however, hit 6 of 9 3-point attempts to close out the half — with Jones and Joe combining for five — and rallied to take a 32-31 halftime lead.

The Razorbacks host Texas State on Saturday.

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