Hogs coach Mike Anderson met with the media Monday afternoon before the team left for College Station and Tuesday night’s matchup with Texas A&M.
Razorbacks’ rally downs Iowa at ITA Kickoff in Georgia
ATHENS, Ga. — Down 3-2, Arkansas closed out the final two matches in three sets Monday to rally over Iowa, defeating the Hawkeyes 4-3.
After freshman Alex Reco defeated Iowa’s Jonas Larsen 7-6, 6-1 on court five to tie the match 3-3, everything came down to the sixth spot.
Freshman Jose Alonso found himself down 3-0 early in the first set to Will Davies. Alonso was able to rally over the Hawkeye, winning the first set 7-5, before Davies tied matched him with a 7-5 win of his own in the second set to force the decisive set.
In the third set, Alonso was able to put away Davies 6-4 to clinch the win for the Razorbacks.
Senior Jose Salazar won his second straight singles match of the season, improving his overall record to 4-1 in dual matches this spring. Salazar was able to handle Iowa’s Josh Silverstein 6-1, 6-2 at the top spot.
Arkansas’ other victory came on court four, as freshman Josh Howard-Tripp improved to 3-2 this spring with a 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 win over Kareem Allaf.
The Razorbacks fell on courts two and three, as juniors Adam Sanjurjo and Oscar Mesquida each dropped their matches to Piotr Smietana (6-4, 6-4) and Joe Tyler (7-6, 7-6), respectively.
Iowa was able to take the early lead, claiming the doubles points with a 6-1 win on court one and a 6-3 win on court two.
Arkansas 4, Iowa 3
Singles Results – Order of finish (1, 2, 4, 3, 5, 6)
1. #113 Jose Salazar (AR) def. Josh Silverstein (IOWA) 6-1, 6-2
2. Piotr Smietana (IOWA) def. Adam Sanjurjo (AR) 6-4, 6-4
3. Joe Tyler (IOWA) def. Oscar Mesquida (AR) 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (7-5)
4. Josh Howard-Tripp (AR) def. Kareem Allaf (IOWA) 6-2, 1-6, 6-4
5. Alex Reco (AR) def. Jonas Larsen (IOWA) 7-6 (7-5), 6-1
6. J. Alonso (AR) def. Will Davies (IOWA) 7-5, 5-7, 6-4
Doubles – Order of Finish (1, 2)
1. Larsen/Allaf (IOWA) def. Sanjurjo/Mesquida (AR) 6-1
2. Davies/Smietana (IOWA) def. Salazar/Howard-Tripp (AR) 6-3
3. Tyler/Jacoby (IOWA) vs. Terrell/Reco (AR) 5-4, uf
Arkansas returns to action this weekend, as the Razorbacks host Wichita State on Saturday at 10 a.m., followed by a doubleheader against Saint Louis.
Macon becomes first Hog with three SEC honors
FAYETTEVILLE — Following two 20-point performances in comeback wins for Arkansas, senior guard Daryl Macon has been named SEC Player of the Week for the third time this season and the fourth time in his career.
Macon becomes the first Razorback in program history to earn the honor three times in a single season and four times in a career.
He averaged 23.5 points and 2.5 rebounds in two wins this week for Arkansas at Georgia and against Oklahoma State in the Big 12/SEC Challenge. Macon went 14-of-27 (.519) from the floor, 9-of-17 (.529) from deep and a perfect 10-for-10 at the free throw line.
His two 20-point efforts bring his season total to eight this year, giving him 11 in his career, including each of the last three games, all off the bench.
Down by as many as 16 at Georgia, Macon helped Arkansas force overtime, where the Razorbacks and Bulldogs would need two extra periods to decide the outcome. Macon scored 25 of Arkansas’ last 41 points, including 16-of-17 in the two overtimes.
After going 4-of-4 from the free throw line in the two overtimes at Georgia, Daryl Macon is a perfect 19-of-19 from the free throw line in the final minute and overtime of games this season. In his career, he is 49-of-53 (.925).
He followed that performance with another 20-point effort against Oklahoma State, where he was the lone Razorback to score in double figures, shooting 7-of-13 (.538) from the field, 4-of-7 (.571) from behind the arc and a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe.
This season, Macon is the only player in the SEC to rank in the top 10 in the conference in three-point field goal percentage (2nd – .431), scoring (4th – 16.6 point per game), free throw percentage (5th – .860), assists (8th – 4.0) and field goal percentage (9th – .457).
Record night against Georgia pushes Hogs to No. 8 ranking
FAYETTEVILLE — Following Arkansas’ record night last Friday against Georgia, the Razorbacks moved up to No. 8 in this week’s Road To Nationals weekly rankings, its highest ranking since Feb. 1, 2016.
With one of the nation’s youngest rosters, that includes 10 underclassmen, the Razorbacks secured its seventh score over 197 in school history last Friday against the Bulldogs. It’s just the second time in program history, and first since 2012, that Arkansas has posted a 197 in the month of January.
Freshman Sophia Carter secured the nations third best beam score of the season with a 9.975 against the Bulldogs, making her the 10th-ranked gymnasts in the nation in the event.
The Razorbacks upped its average on the beam to 49.256, giving it the fourth-best beam team in the nation for the third-consecutive week.
Four gymnasts hold spots in the top-60 of the individual rankings, including sophomores Jessica Yamzon and Michaela Burton who are tied for 22nd and 27th, respectively.
Vault remained the Razorbacks second-best event, jumping two spots to No. 9 in this week’s rankings with an average of 49.044.
Senior Braie Speed is the highest ranked individual on the event, coming in at No. 22, while junior Sydney McGlone and senior Amanda Wellick come in at No. 50 and No. 56, respectively.
Arkansas made huge strides on bars and on the floor against Georgia, moving them up six spots to No. 13 on bars and up 10 spots to No. 19 on the floor.
On bars, the Razorbacks had their best performance of the season against Georgia with a score of 49.175. Individually, Wellick and Speed lead the way, both placing in the top-60 with Wellick at No. 34 and Speed at No. 54.
The Razorbacks were assisted on the floor by five scores over 9.875 against Georgia, including a 9.950 by Carter and a 9.900 by fellow freshman Sarah Shaffer.
Shaffer is the highest ranked Razorback coming in at No. 74, while Yamzon is the 78th best gymnasts on the floor.
Arkansas has matchups with No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 5 Florida, No. 10 Alabama, and No. 13 Denver left this season, along with the Mardi Gras Invitational meet in St. Louis that includes rematches against No. 2 LSU and No. 23 Missouri on Feb. 16, 2018.
The Razorbacks began the year as the preseason 19th-ranked team, and moved up to No. 11 following its week one score of 195.350 at LSU.
It’s the first time the Razorbacks have been in the top 10 in three straight weeks since 2016, and the first time that Arkansas has held a top-10 ranking for three weeks in the first month of the season since 2014.
The Razorbacks travel to Tuscaloosa, Alabama this Friday for a Top-10 Southeastern Conference showdown against the Crimson Tide.
The meet is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. and will be streamed on the SEC Network+ and the WatchESPN app.
Was Bielema’s ignoring assistants his downfall?
Several wise (and winning) head football coaches over the years have told me they are only as good as their assistants.
Frank Broyles was the first I heard say it. The fact the annual aware to the top assistant coach in the country is named after him is testament to how much he believed that axiom.
Among the many things former Arkansas coach Bret Bielema didn’t get, that one may have been his ultimate undoing.
Not that you’ll get him to admit it. Bielema hasn’t spoken publicly since his firing the day after Thanksgiving, but his name didn’t surface much in the many coaching vacancies. Nothing was really his fault anyway and they were always close.
Several people have pointed out that the rap on Bielema now is his success at Wisconsin was due more to following Barry Alavarez’ instructions than anything he did.
That, plus, some are saying he doesn’t listen to his assistants.
And in looking back over his five years with the Razorbacks, you have to wonder if there’s some validity to that.
His first staff with the Hogs, combined with more talent than anyone wanted to admit, should have been considerably better than the 3-8 mark they posted (0-8 in SEC games). That team wasn’t going to challenge for any division titles, but it was considerably better than what it finished.
Just look at the staff:
• Offensive coordinator Jim Chaney: He stayed for two years and was shoved out the door by Bielema, then he went to Pittsburgh for a year before landing at Georgia doing the same job for Kirby Smart. They played for the national championship less than a month ago.
• Offensive line coach Sam Pittman: One of the best recruiters in college football, he left following the 2015 season to join Chaney in Athens. In two years he put together an offensive line that played for a national title.
• Defensive coordinator Chris Ash: Stayed one season, then left for Ohio State, where he was co-defensive coordinator on the national championship team in 2014.
• Associate head coach, defensive line coach Charlie Partridge: Lasted one season before jumping off the ship for the head coaching job at Florida Atlantic where he put together the players Lane Kiffin won 10 games with this past season. He wasn’t a head coach, though, winning just nine games over three seasons.
Off that first staff, there is one national championship and a championship game appearance on the staff.
Following that, you got the impression something was up. The guys he was bringing in were good guys that reportedly knew a better way to do some things, but were basically ignored.
The latest is Dan Enos, who was Bielema’s offensive coordinator. Some have said he wanted to do some different things with the offense, but was limited by Bielema, who was simply too stubborn or (more likely) didn’t know enough to change and adapt.
Now Enos is going to be associate head coach and quarterbacks coach at Alabama.
Nick Saban has never been accused of hiring bad assistants. There may be some he disagrees with and they are gone soon, but they are usually winners wherever they go.
Since hindsight is usually 20/20 looking back over these things, we see now Bielema was pretty good in hiring assistants. When he came to Arkansas he said one of the reasons he wanted to leave Wisconsin was to stop the revolving door of good assistants leaving.
Now we know money wasn’t why they were leaving the Badgers.
Or so it seems.
Hogs fall to Tigers in Sunday morning marathon match
ATHENS, Ga. — In a match that lasted four and a half hours, Arkansas fell in an early Sunday morning match to the Memphis Tigers 4-3.
In doubles, Arkansas came from behind to steal the point from Memphis, as the Tigers took an early advantage with a win on court three, 6-4.
Tied 6-6 on both court one and two, Arkansas was able to squeak by the Tigers to take the doubles point with 7-6 wins on both courts.
The duo of Jose Salazar and Josh Howard-Tripp defeated Andrew Watson and Ryan Peniston 7-6 to improve to 3-1 this season in doubles, while Adam Sanjurjo and Oscar Mesquida earned their first victory together this season with a 7-6 win over Kai Lemke and Matt Story.
In singles, the Tigers quickly evened things with a win on court two, as junior Sanjurjo fell to Peniston 6-1, 6-2.
Howard-Tripp would drop his second match of the season, falling to Pallares 6-4, 6-3 to give the Tigers the lead at 2-0.
Arkansas would respond with a win at the top spot, as No. 113 Salazar defeated Watson 6-4, 6-4, to improve to 3-1 in dual matches this season, 9-5 overall.
Mesquida would fall 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to Lemke after taking the first set, to give the Tigers the 3-2 lead.
The Razorbacks would pick up a win on court five, as freshman Alex Reco defeated Chris Patzanovsky 6-4, 6-3 to knot the match up at 3-3.
On the decisive court, P. Alonso would fall 6-7 in the first set then drop 6-3 in the second to give the Tigers the victory.
Arkansas will return to the court Monday morning to face the loser of the Georgia/Iowa match at 9 a.m. in the consolation match.
Memphis 4, Arkansas 3
Singles Results – Order of finish (2,4,1,3,5,6)
1. No. 113 Jose Salazar (AR) def. Andrew Watson (MEM) 6-4, 6-1
2. Ryan Peniston (MEM) def. Adam Sanjurjo (AR) 6-1, 6-2
3. Kai Lemke (MEM) def. Oscar Mesquida (AR) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
4. Jan Palleres (MEM) def. Josh Howard-Tripp (AR) 6-4, 6-3
5. Alex Reco (AR) def. Chris Patzonovsky (MEM) 6-4, 6-3
6. Felix Rauch (MEM) def. Pedro Alonso (AR) 7-6, 6-3
Doubles Results – Order of finish (3,1,2)
1. Adam Sanjurjo/Oscar Mesquida (AR) def. Kai Lemke/Matt Story 7-6
2. Jose Salazar/Josh Howard-Tripp (AR) def. Andrew Watson/Ryan Peniston (MEM) 7-6
3. No. 58 Jan Pallares/Felix Rauch (MEM) def. Branch Terrell/Alex Reco (AR) 6-4
Anderson glad to get win over Oklahoma State
By Razorback Sports Communications
FAYETTEVILLE — Daniel Gafford tipped in Anton Beard’s 8-footer with 15 seconds left to give the Hogs a 66-65 win against Oklahoma State in the Big 12-SEC Challenge.
In a game that saw neither team lead by more than one possession in the last 12 minutes, 17 seconds of the game, the Razorbacks won their 10th one possession game in the last 11 tries.
Oklahoma State jumped out on the Hogs, scoring nine-straight points to put pressure on Arkansas. The Razorbacks responded with their own form of pressure. Arkansas rattled off eight straight in a span of 44 seconds to pull within one early.
After senior guard Jaylen Barford hit the first shot for Arkansas, the Razorbacks were able to set up their full court press, causing two Cowboy turnovers, leading to Arkansas scores.
Oklahoma State used an 15-3 run of its own to extend the Cowboy lead to the largest of the game at 13. The Razorbacks would respond to cut it to a five-point deficit with a 10-2 run.
Coming off the bench for the third straight game, senior guard Daryl Macon provided a spark for the Razorbacks on the offensive end of the floor. Macon finished the first half with a game-high 13 points, going 5-of-9 from the field and 3-of-5 from behind the arc.
Oklahoma State would take a 40-32 lead into the half.
To begin the second half, the Razorbacks and Cowboys would go back and forth for the first three-plus minutes of the period.
Arkansas turned the pressure back up, forcing five turnovers in a span of less than three minutes to help Arkansas go on a 12-0 run and claim its first lead of the game at 51-50.
Following the Cowboys hit two free throws to reclaim the lead, freshman guard Darious Hall made a heads-up play to get the steal and score an easy lay-up.
For the final 12 minutes and 17 seconds of the game, neither team would hold a lead larger than one possession. Following two free throws by OSU, Arkansas found itself down 65-64 with 22 seconds play.
Game Notes
• The Razorbacks snapped a five-game losing streak against Oklahoma State, giving the Razorbacks their first victory against the Cowboys in 46 seasons.
• Arkansas improved to 31-6 in its last 37 games in Bud Walton Arena.
• The Razorbacks are tied for the fourth-most home wins in the country during the Mike Anderson era at 106.
• In the fifth annual #BIG12SEC Challenge, Arkansas is improved to 2-2 all-time in the event, including 2-0 in Bud Walton Arena.
Macon, Beard on Hogs’ 66-65 win over Cowboys
Daryl Macon led all scorers with 22 points and talked about it being his night along with teammate Anton Beard after win over OSU.
Cowboys’ Boynton on atmosphere causing problems
The sellout crowd at Bud Walton Arena on Saturday was loud and it made a difference, Cowboys coach Mike Boynton.
OSU’s Averette, McGriff talk about close loss to Arkansas
Oklahoma State players Brandon Averette and Cameron McGriff met with the media after the Cowboys’ 66-65 loss to Arkansas on Saturday night.
