Hogs show out in 109-64 blowout of Golden Eagles
FAYETTEVILLE — The conference’s top scoring offense put on a show Tuesday night, as Arkansas defeated Oral Roberts, 104-69, for its sixth 20-point victory of the season.
Arkansas eclipsed the 90-point mark for the sixth time this season, including fifth time out of six games in Bud Walton Arena.
It was the third time that the Razorbacks surpassed the 100-point plateau.
The offense was sparked by Arkansas’ defense that forced eight turnovers in the first eight minutes of action, helping build a 19-8 lead that the Razorbacks would never relinquish.
Arkansas turned 16 first-half turnovers into 25 points, taking a 52-23 lead into the break. ORU finished the game with 27 turnovers, allowing the Razorbacks score a season-high 42 off its errors.
That is the most turnovers Arkansas has forced since turning over Texas-San Antonio 28 times in 2013-14.
Arkansas got well-rounded efforts from many players, as five Razorbacks scored 10-plus points and had at least three rebounds and three assists.
Senior guard Jaylen Barford was all over the place on the defensive end, swiping four of Arkansas’ seven first-half steals. The most an Arkansas player had had in a game going into the ORU contest was three, Barford finished with a career-high five steals.
Arkansas built its early lead thanks in large part to senior guard Anton Beard and sophomore guard C.J. Jones.
Beard scored seven of Arkansas’ first 10 points, while Jones splashed three early three-pointers to stretch the Razorbacks’ lead to 30-12. Jones would lead Arkansas at halftime with 12 points, going 4-of-5 from behind the arc.
The Razorbacks would maintain their lead, not only due to its defense, but also because of its hot shooting. Arkansas shot 59.4 percent (41-69) as a team from the floor, including 56.0 percent (14-25) from behind the arc.
Over the last four games, the Razorbacks have done a really good job of taking care of the ball. After having just nine turnovers Tuesday, it extends Arkansas’ streak of games with less than 10 turnovers to four, the longest streak at least 28 years.
After having a rough game from the floor in Arkansas’ last outing, Barford made up for it on Tuesday, going 8-of-9 from the field for a team-high 18 points to go with three rebounds and four assists.
The Razorbacks had six players with three or more assists, as Arkansas finished with 27 dimes, the second most this season by the Razorbacks.
It is the fourth game this season that Arkansas has had 20 or more assists as a team, including the third in the last four games.
During the last four games, Arkansas has turned the ball over just 27 times compared to 91 assists, good for a +3.4 assist-to-turnover ratio during that span.
Arkansas had six players finish in double figures, as Jones finished with 15, tying his career high with five made three-point baskets.
Senior guard Daryl Macon and Beard each had 14 points, while freshman forward Daniel Gafford added 12 with four dunks. Freshman guard Darious Hall posted 11 points, including an impressive fastbreak windmill slam.
Arkansas will take the rest of the week off for the Holiday season, before returning to Bud Walton Arena next Wednesday, Dec. 27 against Cal State Bakersfield for a 7 p.m. tip off on SEC Network.
It will be Arkansas’ final non-conference match-up before conference play starts against No. 21 Tennessee on Saturday, Dec. 30.
Game Notes
• The Razorbacks improve to 6-0 at home for the 11th time in the last 14 years, including the fifth time in seven seasons under Mike Anderson.
• Arkansas has won nine straight games in Bud Walton Arena, dating back to last year.
• With the win, Arkansas the only team in the SEC to string together two separate four-game winning streak this season.
• The Razorbacks improve to 60-1 (.983) against unranked non-conference opponents inside Bud Walton Arena during the Mike Anderson era.
• With 27 assists and just 9 turnovers Tuesday, the Razorbacks have a combined 91 assists and 27 turnovers during the last four games, good for a +3.4 assist-to-turnover ratio. For the season, Arkansas has a +1.7 mark.
• During the last seven years, Arkansas is 43-3 when dishing out 20 assists, including a 31-1 mark in non-conference play. The Razorbacks are 4-0 this season when recording 20-plus dimes.
• Arkansas has 30 runs of seven points or more in 11 games this season, compared to just 11 by opponents.
• The Razorbacks have multiple runs of seven points or more in nine of 11 games.
• During the Mike Anderson era, Arkansas is 114-7 in games it led at the half, including 29 consecutive victories. This year, the Razorbacks have led by an average of 17.6 points at the break in their eight wins.
• In six games in Bud Walton Arena this year, the Razorbacks are 6-0 with a +152 scoring margin, including a +116 scoring margin in the first half.
Mills on how Hogs overwhelmed Oral Roberts in 109-64 win
Oral Roberts coach Paul Mills talked with the media after Arkansas’ 109-64 win at Bud Walton Arena on Tuesday night.
Barford, Gafford talk about Hogs’ win over ORU
Arkansas’ Jaylen Barford (18 points) and Daniel Gafford (12 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocked shots) talk about the win over the Golden Eagles.
Bohannon’s choice doesn’t slow down Hogs’ recruiting
Gerry Bohannon has made his choice and it’s not Arkansas.
The Earle quarterback picked the Bears over the Razorbacks on Tuesday afternoon in a press conference at the high school in Earle.
In the last few days it had become increasingly clear from people who follow the world of college football recruiting closely that he was leaning in that direction.
To be honest, the response should be, quite simply, okay. Good luck and goodbye.
Earle’s Bohanan in Baylor gear . They were after him from day one pic.twitter.com/GlkjqGQvnP
— Steve Sullivan (@sully7777) December 19, 2017
The Hogs weren’t putting all their eggs in Bohannon’s recruitment, mainly because they don’t have to.
Signing Bohannon would have been nice, but in my opinion Connor Noland is more capable of stepping in and running the new offense sooner and it’s about 99 percent that he’s coming to Fayetteville.
It would be a shocker, according to people who are extremely knowledgeable about such things, if he’s drafted high enough to consider an immediate leap to play pro baseball.
I would've signed LAST December if they would've let me! Can't wait to be part of @RazorbackFB & @RazorbackBSB !!! #HammerDown #OmaHogs #WPS #OneMoreDay ????????⚾️???? https://t.co/rehBLjxXTx
— Connor Noland (@cnoland_13) December 19, 2017
Some fans are already getting on the Debbie Downer group that Chad Morris isn’t able to recruit. If you’re thinking that you don’t know enough to be giving it a second thought.
With less than two weeks on the job, Morris has tried to build a relationship equivalent of one or two years in about 20 minutes. In some cases, he’s made progress.
Losing Bohannon a day after Sean Michael Flanagan of Charleston chose Oklahoma State certainly isn’t great news, but it’s not even a warning sign.
Not after 12 days as the Hogs coach.
Baylor had been on Bohannon for some time. According to his coaches in Earle, Arkansas really didn’t push that hard.
No, don’t blame Morris for this one … or Flanagan, either.
The negative being used against Arkansas right now on the recruiting trail is the lack of a defensive staff. While that may indeed be the case, it’s only going to affect the early signing date.
That is the major culprit here.
Nobody knew what would happen this first year with that new date, but you knew anybody making a coaching change probably wasn’t going to do well in that early signing period.
Let’s see how it plays out through February.
If things haven’t improved by then, well, we’ll address it at that time.
But Bohannon’s decision won’t slow Morris down one bit.
Razorbacks start season ranked third in nation
TUCSON, Ariz. — Arkansas is ranked No. 3 in Collegiate Baseball Magazine’s NCAA Division I Preseason Poll released on Tuesday.
Fresh off a 45-win season and the 28th NCAA Regional appearance in school history, the Razorbacks enter their 16th season under the guidance of head coach Dave Van Horn as one of the most highly touted teams in the nation. It’s the highest preseason ranking for Arkansas since being ranked No. 1 by Collegiate Baseball in 2013.
Offensively, the Hogs return a potent lineup that includes six of its top eight hitters from a year ago. Shortstop Jax Biggers is back after hitting .338 with four home runs and 37 RBIs, as he was the first Razorback primary shortstop to hit over .300 in a season since Scott Hode in 2005.
Arkansas also returns the services of seniors Luke Bonfield and Carson Shaddy, who both combined for 17 home runs and 89 RBIs last year, as well as catcher Grant Koch, who is coming off a summer playing with the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team.
Captaining the outfield is freshman All-American Dominic Fletcher. Fletcher was, arguably, the best freshman hitter in the SEC last year with a .291 average, 12 home runs, and 37 RBIs. His 12 long balls was just one off from tying the Arkansas freshman record set by Zack Cox back in 2009, but were the most among all freshman in the SEC.
On the mound, Arkansas returns the heart of its pitching staff in preseason All-American Blaine Knight along with redshirt sophomore Isaiah Campbell, junior Kacey Murphy, and junior Jake Reindl. Entering his second year as the Arkansas pitching coach, Wes Johnson hopes to continue seeing the pitching success the Razorbacks had last year, which combined for a 3.61 team ERA and a school-record 619 strikeouts.
13 teams ranked in the Collegiate Baseball Top 40 are on the Arkansas schedule, seven from the top 25. Top-ranked and defending national champion Florida will go up against the Hogs on March 23-25 in Gainesville, while Texas Tech (No. 5), Kentucky (No. 8), South Carolina (No. 19), and Missouri State (No. 22) will all visit Baum Stadium during the year. Other notable road trips include games at LSU (No. 10), Mississippi State (No. 13), and Ole Miss (No. 38).














