Hogs outfielder Eric Cole visited with the media Wednesday after getting into shape, flexibility for Coach Dave Van Horn with schedule.
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.”
