Arkansas coach Mike Anderson talked about the Hogs’ performance in the 83-75 win over Fresno State on Friday night.
Razorbacks conclude second day at Art Adamson Invite
FAYETTEVILLE — The second day of the Art Adamson invitational concluded as the Arkansas swimming and diving sent 16 athletes to Friday’s finals.
“It was another good day qualifying for lots of finals, giving us more opportunities to perform,” said coach Neil Harper. “There were numerous lifetime-bests and now we need to finish strong tomorrow. It was another great performance by Brooke and Nicole on the 1m. We have to stay strong as a team, as the challenge of the third day will test the ability and growth of our team.”
The day began with the 400 individual medley prelims. Arkansas saw four advance to the evening finals, as senior Jessie Garrison qualified for the B-final, clocking a season-best 4:14.76. Senior Chloe Hannam (4:17.38), freshman Peyton Palsha (4:17.93) and sophomore Ayumi Macias (4:18.84) all qualified for the C-final.
In the B-final of the 400 IM, Garrison swam a 4:20.12 to finish eighth. In the C-final, Hannam (4:12.82 – season best) and Palsha (4:15.61 – personal best) finished first and second, respectively. Macias would finish seventh in 4:22.33.
In the next event, senior Olivia Weekley swam a lifetime-best 53.01 in the 100 butterfly prelims to finish fifth overall and earn the first trip to an A-final for Arkansas at the invite. Junior Marlena Pigliacampi swam a season-best 54.91 in the prelim to qualify for the C-final.
In the A-final of the 100 fly, Weekley touched sixth in 53.29. Pigliacampi touched in a fifth in 54.95 in the C-final, while Weiss advanced to the D-final, touching in 55.48.
In the 200 free prelims, freshman Ayumi Macias touched in a season-best 1:48.93 to earn a trip to the C-final, along with freshman Kenedy Thaman (1:49.11 – personal best) and junior Annah Carney (1:49.53 – season best). Senior Chelsea Tatlow (1:49.95 – season best) qualified for the D-final.
In the C-final, Thaman would touch fifth in 1:50.00, while Macias and Carney would touch in seventh and eighth in times of 1:51.09 and 1:51.44, respectively.
Three Razorbacks moved on to the 100 breaststroke finals, as junior Sydney Angell led the way with a 1:02.28 to earn a spot in the B-final. Junior Madison Strathman finished in a season-best 1:03.17 to claim a spot in the C-final. Senior Madison Edwards swam a season-best 1:04.89 to get into the D-final.
Angell would touch in a season-best 1:02.04 in the B-final to finish fifth. In the C-final Strathman raced to a seventh-place finish, swimming a 1:03.28. Edwards swam a 1:05.01 in the D-final to finish seventh as well.
Hannam and Angell each earned their second final’s appearance on the day in the 100 back, as Hannam swam a lifetime-best 55.46 to earn a trip to the D-final, while Angell (55.85 – season best) also swam her way to the D-final.
Angell and Umberger would finish second and fifth in the final with times of 55.51 and 56.16.
For the second day in the row, Arkansas went 1-2 on the boards, as freshman Brooke Schultz won the 1m finals with a score of 328.15. Schultz outscored the field by 29.85, as senior Nicole Gillis finished second in the finals with a score of 298.30.
In the prelims, Schultz led the way with a score of 350.60, while Gillis scored third with 290.60.
Saturday’s action begins at 9:30 a.m. and evening finals at 6 p.m. Diving preliminaries and some finals will occur between the morning and evening swim sessions with one diving final in the evening session.
Live swimming results will be available here, while much of the meet will be on SEC Network+ and can viewed with the WatchESPN app. Diving results will be available here.
SCHEDULE
Saturday, Nov. 18
Platform (Gillis, Green, Welch)
1650 Freestyle (Macias, Palsha, Lemon)
200 Backstroke (Hannam, Umberger, Degnan, Porporis, Macias, Holland, Torkelson)
100 Freestyle (Weekley, Pigliacampi, Thaman, Chambliss, Kelly, Carney, Michailoff-Russell, Gregson, Lemon, Strathman)
200 Breaststroke (Strathman, Angell, Palsha, Edwards, Hale)
200 Butterfly (Tatlow, Garrison, Weiss, Pigliacampi, Roberts, Degnan)
400 Freestyle Relay
Bulldogs’ coach talks about loss to Gafford, Razorbacks
Fresno State coach Rodney Terry talked about how well Daniel Gafford played for Arkansas in the Bulldogs’ 83-75 loss Friday night.
Gafford has career best night in Hogs’ win
FAYETTEVILLE — Behind a career-high 25 points from freshman Daniel Gafford, Arkansas held off Fresno State, 83-75, Friday night in Bud Walton Arena to improve to 3-0.
Most of Gafford’s night was played above the rim, as the explosive 6-foot-11 forward used six dunks, including five in the second half, to go 9-of-11 from the floor to go along with eight rebounds and three blocks.
Fresno State came into Friday’s contest averaging 92.5 points per game, but the Razorbacks had other ideas. The Hogs turned up the defense, forcing 16 turnovers and holding the Bulldogs to 28-of-61 from the field, scoring 17 points below their season average.
The game opened with a pair of runs, one by each side. Fresno State got in the scoring column first, making its first two shots of the game, to take a quick and brief 6-0 lead. Arkansas responded on the defensive end, forcing four turnovers on the Bulldogs’ next five possessions to fuel a 9-0 run and take a lead that it would never relinquish.
Arkansas would manufacture a 31-11 run, following Fresno State’s initial spurt, to build a lead as large as 16 in the first half. At the half, senior Jaylen Barford led all scorers with 12 points, while Gafford scored 11 of his own. Gafford has scored in double-figures each of his first three games as a Razorback, averaging 16.7 points.
The tale of the first half was Arkansas’ ability to score off of turnovers. The Razorbacks forced 10 Bulldog turnovers, outscoring Fresno State 14-3 in points off turnovers.
Through three games, Arkansas is outscoring its opponent by 64 points in the first half, an average of 21.3 points per game.
The Bulldogs would score four quick ones in to open the second half, cutting the Arkansas lead to 10. Arkansas would open it back up to as many as 19 in the second half, thanks in large part to Gafford.
The second half was the “Daniel Gafford Show,” highlighted by an electrifying alley-opp slam from Anton Beard to bring Bud Walton Arena alive. The big man scored 14 of his game-high 25 points over the final 20 minutes.
In a game where both teams like to run, fouls kept the flow from doing so. Fresno State recorded 29 total fouls to Arkansas’ 21. Arkansas was able to take advantage however, going 25-of-38 from the charity stripe to hold off the Bulldogs, who would make a late run, getting as close as seven with one minute to play.
Hogs’ interim athletic director answers questions
Julie Cromer Peoples met with the media before Arkansas’ basketball game with Fresno State at Bud Walton on Friday night.
Razorbacks face final volleyball road test at Mizzou
Arkansas faces its final road test of the regular season on Sunday afternoon with a match at Missouri.
First serve of the SEC matchup is scheduled for 3 p.m. in Columbia.
The late-year match, which will be televised on the SEC Network, is the first between Arkansas and Missouri this season. The Razorbacks enter the match with an 18-9 overall record and an 8-7 mark in league play.
All-Time Series vs Missouri
Sunday’s match will be the 13th meeting between Arkansas and Missouri (17-10, 10-4 SEC) and eighth since Mizzou joined the SEC in 2012. The Tigers own a 9-3 advantage in the series with Arkansas in search of its first win in Columbia.
Last Time Out
With their match at South Carolina (Nov. 12) tied 1-1, the Razorbacks hit .344 over the final two sets on their way to a four-set road win. Arkansas tallied a .270 overall hitting percentage and has now hit .260 or higher in 14 matches.
Balancing Act
For the 10th time this season, Arkansas had at least three players with 10+ kills in its win at South Carolina (Nov. 12). Hailey Dirrigl and Pilar Victoria had 13 kills while Elizabeth Pamphile tied her career high with 12 kills.
It Starts with a Serve
The Razorbacks are third in the SEC with 134 service aces and have six players with double-digit aces. Three players have 20 or more aces including Pilar Victoria who leads the team with 30. She is the first Razorback to reach 30 aces in a season since 2010.
RPI Watch
Arkansas sits at No. 49 in the Nov. 13 release of the NCAA RPI, one of six SEC teams inside the top 50. Each of its final three opponents of the regular season are within the top 40 with Missouri (35), Kentucky (3) and Auburn (37).
Setter-Hitter Connection
Redshirt senior Pilar Victoria enters Sunday’s match as the NCAA leader with 587 kills this season, good for second in the country with 5.54 kills per set. In running the show, sophomore Rachel Rippee is second in the SEC and 20th in the NCAA at 11.30 assists per set.
