Hogs pull away in second half for win over Ole Miss
OXFORD, Miss. — Using an 18-1 run with less than eight minutes to play Tuesday night, Arkansas picked up its second road win of the season with a 75-64 victory over Ole Miss.
The win is Arkansas’ eighth SEC road win in the last two seasons, as the Razorbacks are currently riding a three-game winning streak, after winning six of the last eight contests.
Tuesday night’s game did not start at a pace similar to the first meeting between the two teams in Fayetteville in late January.
In a game that was expected to be a track meet, the Hogs trailed 18-14 a little under halfway through the first half, after missing 11 straight shot attempts.
The Razorbacks would soon figure out their shot, going on a 15-2 run to build an eight-point lead.
Senior Anton Beard was a big spark for Arkansas on the offensive end of the court, sinking both of his three-point attempts in the first half to led the Hogs at the break with eight points.
At one point in the first half, Ole Miss missed 13 straight shot attempts. The Rebels made just two of their final 26 attempts from the field to head into the locker room, trailing Arkansas 34-23.
While the Rebels struggled to find their shot, Arkansas hit seven of its last 14 attempts to take a nine-point lead into the break.
After Arkansas made its first basket of the second half and stretch its lead to 13, Ole Miss ran off an 13-1 run, hitting four consecutive shots to pull within one.
Arkansas’ plan to start the first half was to go inside to Gafford and it worked. Gafford scored the first seven points of the half for Arkansas and would finish with 19 points and six rebounds, hitting seven of his 10 free throw attempts.
The Razorbacks got big minutes from freshman guard Darious Hall. Up one, the Little Rock native was the catalyst for a 18-1 Arkansas run to stretch Arkansas’ lead to 18.
Hall and Beard would combine for 11 of Arkansas’ points in that run to open the game, as Arkansas would cruise to a 75-64 win.
Hall picked up his first career double-double, recording 14 points, a career-high 11 rebounds and tied a career high with three assists, after going 3-of-4 from behind the arc.
Game Notes
• During the Mike Anderson era, Arkansas is 120-7 in games it led at the half, including 35 consecutive victories.
• It is Arkansas’ fourth straight win against Ole Miss for the first time since the 1994 National Title season.
Razorbacks set for SEC Championships in College Station
FAYETTEVILLE — As the regular season comes to an end, Arkansas turns its attention to championship action starting Wednesday, as the Razorbacks are in College Station, Texas, for the 2018 SEC Swimming and Diving Championships.
The five-day event will run Wednesday through Sunday on the campus of Texas A&M University.
The Championships will be streamed throughout the entire week on SEC Network Plus, while Sunday’s finals will be televised on SEC Network beginning at 6 p.m.
“We are excited to get the SEC Championships started,” said coach Neil Harper. “We have had a successful seasons o far and improved in all areas from last year. We are confident and positive and now we need to make the most of every individual and team opportunity we have.”
Arkansas wrapped up the regular season 9-3 overall, including a 3-2 mark in conference play. The Razorbacks ended the season on a three-meet winning streak, with wins at Houston, versus Vanderbilt and at Kansas.
It marked the 12th consecutive season that Arkansas has finished .500 or better in dual meets.
Under second year head coach Neil Harper, the Razorbacks are a combined 14-6 overall and 4-5 against SEC opponents in regular season action.
The Championships will mark the second time this season that the Razorbacks have competed in College Station, as Arkansas finished fourth at the prestigious Art Adamson Invitational earlier in the year, falling to nationally ranked Texas A&M, Stanford and Arizona State.
The Razorbacks beat out SEC foe LSU at the invite, as the Tigers finished seventh.
This season, the Razorbacks have plenty of senior leadership heading into the championships. The senior class accounts for nine of the 17 individual event top times this season, while the freshmen class is second with four, juniors have three and sophomores have just one.
Seniors Olivia Weekley, Chelsea Tatlow and Chloe Hannam each lead Arkansas with three top times each.
Weekley has the top time in the 50 and 100 freestyles, along with the 100 butterfly.
Tatlow owns the top time in the 200 freestyle, butterfly and individual medley, while Hannam is tops in the 100 and 200 backstroke, along with the 400 individual medley.
Arkansas has combined for 39 NCAA ‘B’ cuts this season, led by Hannam who has nine of her own, including six in the 200 backstroke.
Senior Jessie Garrison has seven ‘B’ cuts, while senior Sydney Angell has six. On the boards, Razorback divers combined for 51 NCAA Zone scores, as freshman Brooke Schultz owns 20.
All 10 of her six-dive scores on the one-meter and three-meter springboards this season qualified for NCAA’s, as the six-time SEC diver of the week broke six school records in her freshman campaign, including both of Arkansas’ pool records and the UCLA pool record on the three-meter.
Fassi, Hogs win individual, team titles in Puerto Rico
FAYETTEVILLE — Junior Maria Fassi and fourth-ranked Arkansas picked up where they left off winning the individual and team titles at the 2018 Lady Puerto Rico Classic in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Tuesday.
The Razorbacks’ final round 296 was the low round for the day while their round one score of 284 was low round for the tournament field this weekend.
Arkansas finished shooting 882 (284–302–296) and was 10 strokes better that the tournament runner-up.
The win is the fourth in five events this season and it is the third time Arkansas has finished on top of the leaderboard in Puerto Rico.
The victory is the third of the season for Fassi and her second career win at this event.
Fassi is the third Razorback to win at least three events in a season (Stacy Lewis and Emily Tubert).
Fassi finished 3-over shooting a 216 (68–75–73) in extremely windy conditions. She had 11 birdies over three days and played her final nine holes even with six consecutive par holes to hold the lead.
She is one of two players (Stephanie Meadows, Alabama) to win the event twice.
Junior Dylan Kim played to her fourth top-5 finish in five events with a tie for fifth place. Kim carded a 221 (71–76–74) finishing round one with back-to-back birdies, part of seven birdies for the weekend.
Senior Alana Uriell tied for 16th overall shooting a 227 (72–77–78) while Kaylee Benton (78–77–73) and Maria Hoyos (73–77–78) tied for 20th overall shooting 228.
Senior Jody LaBarbera rounded out the Razorback scores with a 234 (84–74–76). She moved up more than 20 spots over the three-day event.
Lineup
| PLACE | NAME | SCORE | TO PAR |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maria Fassi | 68–75–73—216 | 3 |
| T5 | Dylan Kim | 71–76–74—221 | 8 |
| T16 | Alana Uriell | 72–77–78—227 | 14 |
| T20 | Kaylee Benton | 78–77–73—228 | 15 |
| T20 | Maria Hoyos | 73–77–78—228 | 15 |
| T40 | Jordy LaBarbera | 84–74–76—234 | 21 |
Notes
• Maria Fassi has three victories this season and five for her career. She is the third Razorback in program history to win three or more events in a single season (Stacy Lewis 6; Emily Tubert 3).
• Arkansas has posted four tournament titles this year (Mason Rudolph Classic, ANNIKA Intercollegiate, Maryb S. Kauth Invitational, Lady Puerto Rico Classic). It is the most tournament titles in a single year.
• Arkansas has produced four medalists and five winners at the Lady Puerto Rico Classic (Amanda McCurdy-2006; Stacy Lewis- 2008; Emily Tubert-2013; Maria Fassi-2016, 2018).
• Arkansas has won the team title at this event three times (2014, 2015, 2018).
• Razorback coach Shauna Taylor has paced Arkansas to 16 tournament titles since the 2007-08 season. She has won multiple tournaments in a single season four times.
The Field
| PLACE | TEAM | SCORE | TO PAR |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arkansas | 284 – 302 –296—882 | 30 |
| 2 | Iowa State | 296 – 295 –301— 892 | 40 |
| 3 | Kent State | 292 – 302 –303— 897 | 45 |
| 4 | NC State | 299 – 301 –304— 904 | 52 |
| 5 | Colorado | 310 –299–298—907 | 55 |
| 6 | TCU | 297 –306–307—910 | 58 |
| 7 | East Carolina | 303 –310–299—912 | 60 |
| 8 | August | 305 –308–300—913 | 61 |
| 9 | Maryland | 302 –308–306—916 | 64 |
| 10 | Purdue | 312 –305–304—921 | 69 |
| 11 | Nebraska | 309 –319–323—951 | 69 |
From Shauna Taylor
“I’m super proud of this group. It was not only a test of our games but a test of our mental fortitude.
They just did a fantastic job. It was a collaborative effort and it took everyone on the team playing their hearts out. When you have winds of 20-30 miles an hour it tests you in all areas and I think this was a great way to open our spring season.
This kind of a test shows us areas that we can grow and improve but also that when it gets tough, we can step up and hit some great golf shots.
For Maria (Fassi), she was just fantastic in these conditions. To shoot 3-over in these winds shows that she is learning to win in all kinds of conditions.
She did shoot it awesome today.
Dylan (Kim) finished fifth so another top-5 finish for her. She has been a great addition to our team. Jordy did a great job of bouncing back.
She had two great days and it shows a lot about her senior leadership and willingness to fight until the last putt drops.”
Time has arrived to put Nolan’s name on BWA court
Nolan Richardson didn’t put Arkansas basketball on the map.
Anyone under 40 will find that hard to fathom, but Nolan inherited a program Eddie Sutton put into the national spotlight.
Nolan did take Arkansas basketball to the top of the mountain, though. Came close one more time.
It was Nolan’s accomplishments that got Bud Walton Arena built. Sutton’s accomplishments literally got rid of the sawdust floor at Barnhill Arena.
The UA’s student government has submitted a proposal to name the floor at Bud Walton after Nolan.
Andrew Counce, president of the UA’s Associated Student Government (ASG), submitted a recommendation to the UA athletic department Monday. He is the nephew of former Arkansas basketball player Jim Counce, who played for Sutton.
The ASG legislation was shown to UA Chancellor Joe Steinmetz in his monthly meeting with the chancellor last Friday. The legislation was passed by the ASG on Feb. 6 by a 41-1 vote with seven abstentions, Counce told WholeHogSports.com.
It wasn’t an original idea, but it is the first time I’m aware that any action of any type has been taken on it.
Former athletics director Jeff Long, not surprisingly, failed to show much interest. Considering in recent interviews he’s developed some form of revisionist history with selective amnesia, don’t be surprised to hear him say he was actually planning it in the near future.
Richardson, 76, compiled a 127-22 record at Walton Arena, winning 85.2 percent of his games there. He was 78-15 (.838) in Barnhill Arena for an overall home record of 205-37 at Arkansas.
No one will ever come close to that record. It’s an entirely different world in college basketball some 23 years later and to some Stan Heath and John Pelphrey pushed Razorback hoops back beyond Sutton’s tenure.
Nolan, who is a much calmer, relaxed individual these days from his coaching days, is humble about the whole idea.
“I would say to the students that if they felt I did a job they liked and they want to express their opinion on something such as naming the court after me, there’s no reason for me to not want anything to happen,” Richardson told WholeHogSports.com.
“If it happens, that’s wonderful. If it doesn’t happen, that’s wonderful. I’ve done the job that I thought I had to do, which was to get our program on a level where such a facility could be built.”
New Hogs athletics director Hunter Yurachek could bank a lot of good will just a couple of months into his tenure by coming down on the side of naming the floor after Nolan.
It’s likely not his decision. That would have to come from Steinmetz, who has gotten more publicity from athletics in the past six months than he likely ever envisioned.
And before anyone starts anything, naming the arena after Nolan should not be considered. That wouldn’t be fair to Bud Walton’s family. Honestly, the place opened with the name of the man who stepped up and wrote a check to make it happen.
Nolan is likely in agreement with that.
But naming the floor in an arena is a trend in basketball that should be done by whoever is in charge of those things with the UA.
It would be a nice announcement at, say, the Kentucky game about it.
Having it done and unveiled then would be better. It’s not expensive and it’s not a time-consuming project.
If there is a question, it’s really simple:
Why hasn’t it been done already.
Mason, Zimmerman hit career highs in loss to Missouri
FAYETTEVILLE — Jailyn Mason and Bailey Zimmerman tied their season and career-bests, respectively, but Arkansas fell, 84-58, to No. 15 Missouri in Bud Walton Arena on Monday.
The game was rescheduled from Sunday when Missouri (20-5, 8-4 SEC) experienced a weather-related travel delay.
Arkansas (12-13, 3-9 SEC) battled through a hot start by the Tigers and kept pace in the second, third and fourth quarters, 51-44. Missouri, however, scored 33 points in the first frame and the Razorbacks couldn’t make up the deficit.
Mason paced Arkansas with 15 points, tying her season-best. The Mason, Ohio, native was 5-for-12 from the floor including one 3-point field goal. She added a 4-for-4 performance from the line. Zimmerman was 4-for-10 with three 3-pointers and three free throws for 14 points. That ties her career-best set against Missouri last season.
Arkansas took good care of the ball with just six turnovers while forcing 11 miscues by the Tigers. It is the ninth time this season Arkansas has had 10 or fewer turnovers and the 18th time the Razorbacks have committed fewer turnovers than its opponent.
Notes
• Missouri’s 33 first quarter points are the most allowed by Arkansas in that frame.
• Junior Bailey Zimmerman tied her career-best with 14 points. Her three 3-pointers also ties her career high.
• Jailyn Mason scored in double figures for the 16th time this season. Mason tied her season-best with 15 points.
• Arkansas finished with six turnovers. It is the ninth time the Razorbacks have had 10 or fewer miscues this season.
• All 12 Razorbacks played, and eight players scored.
Up Next
Arkansas travels to Lexington on Thursday for a rematch with Kentucky. Then it’s back home for Senior Day against LSU on Feb. 18.
Hogs volleyball signs three more players on Monday
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas will be bolstered over the next four years with the additions of Ellease Crumpton (Houston, Texas), Maylin Garrett (San Antonio, Texas) and Gracie Ryan (Orlando, Fla.).
All three signees were mentioned among the 2017 Prep Volleyball Senior Aces list. This is the second recruiting class at Arkansas for head coach Jason Watson.
“With these three signees and what we plan to add later this spring, this 2018 class compliments our previous recruiting classes,” Watson said. “It provides additional depth in two key positions and enhances our group of talented outside hitters. Equally important to our staff, they are each committed to making an impact and will strive to build upon our 2017 season.”
Ellease Crumpton
6-0 | MB | Houston, Texas (Cypress Lakes HS)
About Crumpton …
A two-year starter and two-time district honoree for Cypress Lakes High School, she twice earned a spot on the 17-6A All-District First Team.
In addition to her accolades at the prep level, Crumpton played for the Houston Juniors club and helped lead her team to the 2017 17-USA national title.
Crumpton was mentioned among “The 150” on the Senior Aces list.
Ellease is the daughter of Willie Crumpton and Amy Whaley, and has three older siblings, Chris, Aaliyah and Troy.
Her dad played football at Northwestern State. Crumpton is planning to major in biology at Arkansas.
Maylin Garrett
5-11 | OH | San Antonio, Texas (Antonian College Prep)
About Garrett …
Named as a Prep Volleyball Senior Ace Honorable Mention performer, Garrett was the TAPPS 6A Player of the Year after leading Antonian College Prep to the 2017 state title.
She also earned all-state, all-state tournament and all-district honors.
Garrett totaled 563 kills and 347 digs during her senior campaign and amassed more than 1,800 kills and 1,000 digs in her prep career.
Maylin is the daughter of Franklin and Mamie Garrett, and has three younger siblings, Caleb, Kyleigh and Avery. Her father played basketball at UC Riverside.
Gracie Ryan
5-9 | S | Orlando, Fla. (Bishop Moore HS)
About Ryan …
Checking in as a Prep Volleyball Senior Ace Top 100 recruit, Ryan helped lead Bishop Moore High School to back-to-back Florida state titles.
The Hornets were 5A champions in 2015 and continued their run with the 6A title during the 2016 season.
Following her junior prep campaign, Ryan was an AAU national champion playing with Top Select Volleyball Academy. She was also an All-American performer at the prep and AAU level.
Gracie is the daughter of Scott and Kelly Ryan, and has two siblings, Mackenzie and Denny. Her mother was a track and field student-athlete at the University of Florida.
