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Palsha gets invitation to NCAA Championships in two weeks

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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FAYETTEVILLE — Freshman Peyton Palsha was announced as the lone Razorback swimmer to qualify for the 2018 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships, the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Committee announced Wednesday.

The championships will be held March 14-17 at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion in Columbus, Ohio. The Ohio State University and the Greater Columbus Sports Commission will serve as co-hosts.

A total of 322 participants (281 swimmers and 41 divers) will compete in the championships. Swimmers qualified for the championships by meeting the established minimum time for the events in which they entered.

Palsha qualified for the 1650 freestyle, after swimming a personal-best 16:12.53 at the SEC Championships two weeks ago, finishing sixth overall in her first conference championships.

She holds the fastest time on the team this season in the event, including three of the top six times.

Palsha has also been invited to participate in the 500 freestyle and the 400 individual medley.

“Obviously, we are excited for Peyton,” said coach Neil Harper. “It is great for her to come in her freshman year and perform so well and qualify for NCAA’s. This will be a great experience for her and she is already training hard to attempt to go even faster. This year’s meet and qualifying times were faster than ever. We had several seniors get really close and we are disappointed for them in their last season.”

Divers will be determined by performances at the Zone Diving Meets held March 5-10. Selected divers will be announced Sunday, March 11.

ESPNU will broadcast live the championship finals session Friday starting at 5 p.m. Eastern time.

The finals session on Saturday will be streamed live by ESPN3 starting at 6 p.m. Eastern time.

All sessions not broadcast by either ESPNU or ESPN3 will be streamed live on the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships microsite at www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com.

Tape delayed coverage of the women’s championships will be broadcast on ESPNU March 25 at 4 p.m. Eastern time.

Tenth-ranked Razorbacks back home to host Arizona

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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FAYETTEVILLE — Tenth-ranked Arkansas returns to the friendly confines of Barnhill Arena for the first time since February 9 to host Arizona in its first non-conference dual meet of the season.

In this week’s first Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) rankings, the Razorbacks moved back into the top-10 with an average of 196.530 following its second highest road score in program history of 196.875 at No. 5 Florida last Friday.

Arkansas’ score of 196.530 is its highest opening week RQS since 2012.

Three Razorbacks have made their 2018 debut in the all-around in the past two weeks including freshman Sophia Carter, sophomore Hailey Garner and senior Amanda Wellick. In Wellick’s debut at Florida last season, the Razorbacks competed a season high four all-arounders.

Freshman Sarah Shaffer continues her torrid pace through her first full season as a Razorback.

Last Friday at Florida, the Tyler, Texas, native posted the highest scores among freshmen in the SEC on vault, bars and floor. She has recorded a 9.900 in two events two out of the last three weeks, including four out of five on the floor.

How They Compare (Season RQS) 
Vault: Arkansas- 49.015, Arizona- 48.895
Bars: Arkansas: 49.165, Arizona- 48.940
Beam: Arkansas- 49.200, Arizona- 48.565
Floor: Arkansas- 49.175, Arizona- 48.950
Total: Arkansas- 196.530, Arizona- 195.180

The Razorbacks have posted scores of 196 or higher in six of the last seven meets. This season, Arkansas has scored a 49.000 or higher in 21 event rotations, after posting similar scores just 18 times all of last season.

Action is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., with pre-meet ceremonies beginning at 6:45 p.m.

Friday’s meet will be Arkansas’ annual pink meet as all fans are encouraged to wear pink to the meet.

The Razorbacks will recognize breast cancer survivors prior the start of the meet and enter the competition area with the Arkansas team to be introduced.

Fans can nominate survivors here to be recognized. Students attending the meet will have a chance to win one of four $100 gift cards.

Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Wednesday

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Wednesday

Morning Rush Hour 2

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Morning Rush Hour 1

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Highlights of Hogs’ win over No. 14 Auburn

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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VIDEO FROM ESPN SEC NETWORK

Senior guard Daryl Macon talks about his final game at home and the offensive production late in the season.

Big night by Barford, Gafford pace Hogs to win

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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FAYETTEVILLE —  Behind double-doubles from Jaylen Barford and Daniel Gafford, Arkansas defeated Auburn, 91-82, Tuesday night.

Arkansas has now won six of the last seven games, improving to 21-9 overall and 10-7 in SEC play.

The Razorbacks moved to 8-2 against Auburn under coach Mike Anderson, including a 4-1 mark at home against the Tigers.

Arkansas has won 10 of the last 12 meetings against the Tigers, including six of the last seven at home.

Fittingly, Arkansas started five seniors Tuesday night, just the second time this season the Razorbacks have done so. However, the game did not start as planned.

Arkansas fouled Auburn three times in the first 40 seconds, as the Tigers would hit three of four free throws to take a 3-0 lead.

Arkansas settled in, going on a 10-0 run to gain control. After going back and forth, the Razorbacks gained their first double-digit lead of the half at 24-14 after a small 6-0 run.

Auburn ran off a 12-4 spurt to cut make it a two-point game before it turned into the Daniel Gafford show. Gafford recorded dunks on back-to-back possessions before swatting an Auburn shot that led to a transition dunk for senior guard Daryl Macon.

Arkansas would go on to lead by as many as 13 points in the half, as the Razorbacks took a 52-42 lead into the break.

It marked the sixth time this season and second time in SEC play that Arkansas scored 50-plus points in the first half.

Looking eclipse 1,000 career points, Macon, needing 14 points, would score 11 in the first half. Also looking to surpass the plateau,  Jaylen Barford, needing 17 points, led Arkansas with 13 at the break.

Arkansas opened the half with a plan and executed it to perfection.

The Razorbacks found Gafford inside on three-straight possessions, as the big man slammed home his fourth and fifth dunks of the, along with a lay-up to score six straight and force the Tigers to use a timeout.

The Razorbacks opened on a 9-0 run as Macon hit a three in transition to give the Little Rock native 1,000 career points. Macon became the sixth Razorback in program history to record 1,000 career points in just two seasons.

As Arkansas stretched its lead to 19, Auburn responded with a 10-2 run to cut it back to nine.

Barford helped the Razorbacks extend its lead back out, scoring five straight, as the senior would join Macon and become the seventh Razorback in program history to pass the 1,000 career points mark in just two seasons.

Auburn cut the Arkansas lead to six but Arkansas would hang on to win.

Gafford led the way for Arkansas, finishing with his second career double-double, recording 21 points on 10-of-15 shooting, 10 rebounds and seven blocks. The big man also recorded seven dunks.

Barford recorded his first double-double of his career, scoring 20 points and pulling down a career-high 10 rebounds. Macon added 16 points, going 4-for-4 from deep, to go along with six assists and three rebounds.

Arkansas’ bench was key Tuesday night. It outscored Auburn’s 40-15. In the last two games, the Razorbacks’ bench has outscored its opponents by a margin of 62 to 27.

Game Notes

• Arkansas improves to 110-17 at Bud Walton Arena under Anderson.

• The win marks No. 15 in Bud Walton Arena this season, marking the seventh time in the last eight years that Arkansas has won  15+ wins in BWA.

• The win marks the fourth ranked team Arkansas has beat at home this season, the most in a single season in program history.

• Daryl Macon and Jaylen Barford became the 42nd and 43rd players, respectively, in school history to eclipse the 1,000 career points mark.

They are the sixth and seventh Razorbacks to accomplish the feat in two seasons.

Four of the seven players will have done it in the last four seasons under Anderson (Bobby Portis, Dusty Hannahs, Daryl Macon, Jaylen Barford).

• The Razorbacks are 38-23 against AP top 25 teams in Bud Walton Arena, including winning five of the last six such games.

• Arkansas is 4-0 at home against ranked teams this year for the first time in 10 years, and have won those games by an average 11.5 points.

• During the last five years, the Razorbacks have posted a 35-15 (.700) regular season record in the months of February and March.

• Arkansas has won 38 consecutive games in which it has led at halftime. During Mike Anderson era, the Razorbacks are 123-7 when leading at the intermission.

• During the Mike Anderson era, Arkansas is 88-11 when scoring 80+ points, including wins in 33 of the last 34 games.

• Arkansas has recorded 12 victories over AP Top 25 teams during the Mike Anderson era, including at least one in six of his first seven years.

Hogs’ Barford, Macon talk about big win over Auburn

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Arkansas’ Jaylen Barford and Daryl Macon met with the media after the win over Auburn and at the end took pictures of the media.

Pearl feels Auburn will bounce back from recent slide

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Tigers coach Bruce Pearl finally met with the media after showering and changing clothes and is confident they will bounce back.

Tigers’ Harper talks about loss to Hogs on Wednesday night

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Auburn guard Jared Harper met with the media Wednesday night after scoring 20 points and adding five assists in the Tigers’ loss.

Hogs kick off long homestand Wednesday

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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FAYETTEVILLE — Home from its four-game road trip to San Diego, No. 5 Arkansas is back home for its longest homestand of the year as it will play 13 games in Baum Stadium over the next 18 days starting with a two-game series against Dayton on Wednesday and Thursday.

The Hogs (5-2) will then play a three-game series against Pac-12 foe USC starting on Friday.

The Razorbacks are coming off a week spent in San Diego where they took part in the Tony Gwynn Legacy tournament and won games against Arizona (1-0) and San Diego State (5-2).

The Hogs did fall to Cal Poly (4-3) and San Diego (7-6), but got great performances across the board from its pitching staff, especially its starting pitchers.

Last week, Arkansas pitchers combined for a 2.31 ERA and struck out 39 batters.

The starting pitching duo of Blaine Knight and Isaiah Campbell turned in its second strong week in a row with each going five innings or more and striking out seven batters with one earned run allowed each.

Follow Live

All five games will be available on SEC Network+ and the WatchESPN app with Brett Dolan (PXP) and Troy Eklund (Analyst) calling the action.

Scott Inman (PXP) and former Razorback Bubba Carpenter (Analyst) will have the radio call on the IMG Sports Network.

Important Links
Wed, Feb. 28 – Arkansas vs. Dayton – LIVE STATS | WATCH
Thu, March 1 – Arkansas vs. Dayton – LIVE STATS | WATCH
Fri, March 2 – Arkansas vs. USC – LIVE STATS | WATCH
Sat, March 3 – Arkansas vs. USC – LIVE STATS | WATCH
Sun, March 4 – Arkansas vs. USC – LIVE STATS | WATCH

Probable Starters
Wed. | 3 p.m. | (ARK) RHP Caleb Bolden (0.00 ERA, 3.0 IP, 0 K, 1 BB) vs. (DAY) RHP R.J. Wagner (0.00 ERA, 6.2 IP, 8 K, 4 BB)
Thu. | 3 p.m. | (ARK) TBA vs. (DAY) Austin Cline (15.00 ERA, 0-2 W-L, 6.0 IP, 2 K, 3 BB)

Fri. | 3 p.m. | (ARK) Blaine Knight (0.82 ERA, 1-0 W-L, 11.0 IP, 11 K, 3 BB) vs. (USC) TBA
Sat. | 2 p.m. | (ARK) Isaiah Campbell (2.00 ERA, 1-0 W-L, 9.0 IP, 14 K, 3 BB) vs. (USC) TBA
Sun. | 12:30 p.m. | (ARK) Kacey Murphy (0.00 ERA, 1-0 W-L, 6.0 IP, 6 K, 1 BB) vs. (USC) TBA

Five For Five — This week’s slate of games against Dayton and USC will be a rare instance that Arkansas will play five games in five days.

Dayton will visit Baum Stadium for a two-game series starting on Wednesday before the USC Trojans come in for a weekend series.

Last year, Arkansas played five games in four days en route to the 2017 SEC Tournament championship game. These five games kick off a 13-game homestand where the Hogs will play 13 times in a span of 18 days.

Soooieville Sluggers Year Two? — In 2017, Arkansas crushed an SEC-best 83 home runs. It was the most home runs by a Razorback team since 2010.

The Hogs picked up where they left off during opening weekend, hitting eight homers, including six in the 32-4 victory over Bucknell.

Arkansas currently third in the SEC and 12th nationally with 11 home runs this year. After seven games last year, the Hogs had just nine homers.

Pitchers Shine In Early Weeks — Arkansas has shown its depth on the mound through the first two weeks of the season and it was just as apparent last week in San Diego.

Blaine Knight, Isaiah Campbell, and Kacey Murphy each went five or more innings in each of their respective starts and all three struck out six or more batters.

As a pitching staff, the 2.03 ERA is sixth-best in the league and best seven-game start by an Arkansas pitching staff since 2014 (1.86). Among the starters only this year, the ERA dips to 1.76.

Cronin Shows His Stuff — One of the biggest bright spots to Arkansas’ pitching staff this year has been the play of sophomore Matt Cronin.

In three appearances this year, Cronin has one victory and one save and has yet to give up a run in 7.1 innings. Against Arizona last week, he retired seven of the final eight batters and also got out of a bases loaded jam in the seventh.

Cronin is one of five pitchers and one of two relief pitchers in the SEC with an ERA of 0.00 through the first two weeks of the season. He also currently holds the lowest opponent’s batting average in the league (.043).

Van Horn Wins 600 Games As Razorback Head Coach — By defeating San Diego State, 5-2, last Saturday, coach Dave Van Horn claimed his 600th win as the Razorback skipper.

Van Horn is now one of only three head coaches in the SEC with 600 or more wins at their current school. Overall, Van Horn has 971 wins as a Division I head coach, good for eighth most among all active coaches.

Murphy And Kjerstad Will Hogs Past Wildcats — Playing a neutral site game as part of a warmup to the Tony Gwynn Legacy Tournament, Arkansas was able to gut out a 1-0 victory over PAC-12 power Arizona Wednesday night.

Junior pitcher Kacey Murphy showed no drop off from his strong 2017 postseason by throwing six scoreless innings and totaling six strikeouts on 73 pitches.

At the plate, freshman Heston Kjerstad continues to show he belongs by hitting the solo home run that provided the victory. Kjerstad has at least one hit in all four games this year and only one strikeout in 12 at-bats.

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