Barford leads Razorbacks to easy win over UConn

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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PORTLAND, Ore. — All the attention will be on the amount of points Arkansas dropped on Connecticut. It got out of hand because of how good the Razorbacks were on defense.

“I thought we had fun playing defense,” Arkansas coach Mike Anderson said. “And that’s what I stressed with our guys coming out early and setting a defensive tone.”

Jaylen Barford scored 16 of his 24 points in the first half, and Arkansas used a huge second-half run to rout Connecticut 102-67 on Sunday in the consolation bracket of the PK80 Invitational.

The Razorbacks (5-1) rebounded nicely from being overwhelmed by North Carolina in the semifinals on Friday.

Arkansas led 45-31 at halftime and blew away the Huskies in the second half thanks to a 19-0 run that gave the Razorbacks a 72-41 lead.

The Razorbacks topped 100 points for the second time this season after scoring 101 in a win over Bucknell.

So while they had fun with all the points being scored, it was predicated by an excellent defensive effort.

“It’s amazing how you do that (on defense) what takes place on offense,” Anderson said. “If your defense is really solid and good and you’re making shots, a lot of good things take place.”

Barford was a spectator for a big chunk of the second half. His 24 points came in just 28 minutes. He was 9 of 12 shooting, including 4 of 5 on 3-pointers. He was the leader of a tremendous shooting performance by the Razorbacks, hitting 60 percent for the game and 65 percent in the second half. Arkansas was 11 of 19 on 3-pointers.

Daryl Macon added 16 points after leaving Friday’s game against North Carolina early due to an ankle injury, and C.J. Jones had 19 points.

Jalen Adams added 16 for the Huskies (4-2), but very little went UConn’s way two days after watching Michigan State run away in the second half for a 77-57 victory. Terry Larrier added 18 points, but left late in the second half with an apparent right leg injury after landing awkwardly. Larrier limped off with 5:45 left.

It was the most lopsided loss for the Huskies since a 40-point loss to Syracuse early in the 1977 season.

“At the end of the day you’ve got to get stops. You don’t get stops, you don’t get in transition, everything gets difficult for us,” UConn coach Kevin Ollie said. “If you look at the game, if you break down tape, we got plenty of shots in the first half that we can make.”

While Arkansas played well for most of the first half, the Razorbacks were dominant the final 20 minutes. After cutting the Arkansas lead to 12 with 15 minutes remaining, the Huskies missed eight straight shots and watched the Razorbacks turn the game into a laugher. Arkansas made 10 straight shots at one point of the second half, the streak finally snapping when Jones’ 3-point attempt from the wing rimmed out with four minutes remaining.

Macon left Friday’s loss to North Carolina early with a leg injury, missing most of the second half. Arkansas coach Mike Anderson was unsure the severity of Macon’s injury but he looked just fine against the Huskies, making 5 of 9 shots and playing 26 minutes.

“I’m in pain right now but I didn’t feel anything during the game,” Macon said.

The Huskies must be more consistent with their 3-point shooting. UConn was 7 of 26 from deep — 26.9 percent. The Huskies started the day shooting just 29.5 percent on 3s this season, including a 0-for-10 performance in the second half against Oregon in the tournament opener.

It’s not often that UConn gets blown out that badly. The last time the Huskies lost by more than 30 points was 2014 when they were handed an 81-48 setback by Louisville.

The Razorbacks stay on the road playing at Houston on Saturday.

Venables’ name pops up in talk about Hogs’ opening

Andy Hodges
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It really was a just a matter of time before Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables’ name surfaced in the rumor mill around Arkansas’ coaching vacancy.

He is considered in some circles as the best assistant coach in college football these days and it’s kinda hard to argue with that.

He’s coached defenses that have played in back-to-back national championship games and won the last one, although it could be argued the defense didn’t exactly slow Alabama down that much in either game.

Barrett Sallee at CBSSports.com placed Venables’ name into the mix along with one we’ve heard numerous times in the past couple of weeks: Mike Norvell at Memphis:

Sources tell CBS Sports that Venables impressed many people tied to Arkansas when he was in Little Rock, Arkansas, receiving the 2016 Broyles Award given to the nation’s top assistant coach. His ability to consistently produce top-tier defenses in conjunction with Clemson’s high-octane, no-huddle offense is a trait that would translate well to an Arkansas program that recognizes the need to be more innovative offensively after Bielema’s more traditional approach never found sustained success.

We’ve heard from folks that Auburn coach Gus Malzahn is still the No. 1 target. Venables offers no quicker hiring options as the Tigers are poised to be in the College Football Playoff if they get past Miami in the ACC Championship game Saturday night.

Plus there’s still that question about whether Venables, who has turned down overtures on other head coaching jobs, is even interested in being a head coach.

“I love my job. I love the simplicity of it,” Venables said in a story with the Charleston Post and Courier in 2014. “I’m not going to be defined by a title or any kind of stature or pay. I just want to make sure I’m somewhere successful and got a quality family life.”

In a teleconference Sunday before the title game, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said nobody’s brought it up to him.

“We are 100 percent focused on Miami. I don’t know anything about that and I never get too worried or focused on any of that stuff,” Swinney said. “There are a million rumors and whatever. Our focus, Brent’s focus is on — I promise you — getting ready for Miami.”

He did say, however, it’s his policy to help his assistants get head jobs if they want them.

“I’ve always had a policy of if guys have opportunities somewhere down the road that they think is good for them, that’s great,” Swinney said. “But nobody’s sitting around worrying about any of that stuff. Everybody’s focused on trying to beat Miami this week. That’s it.”

 

Barford leads Razorbacks’ win over Huskies at PK80

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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PORTLAND, Ore. — Jaylen Barford scored 16 of his 24 points in the first half, and Arkansas used a huge second-half run to rout Connecticut 102-67 on Sunday in the consolation bracket of the PK80 Invitational.

The Razorbacks (5-1) rebounded nicely from being overwhelmed by North Carolina in the semifinals on Friday.

Arkansas led 45-31 at halftime and blew away the Huskies in the second half thanks to a 19-0 run that gave the Razorbacks a 72-41 lead.

The Razorbacks topped 100 points for the second time this season after scoring 101 in a win over Bucknell.

Barford was a spectator for a big chunk of the second half. His 24 points came in just 28 minutes.

He was 9-of-12 shooting, including 4-of-5 on 3-pointers. He was the leader of a tremendous shooting performance by the Razorbacks, hitting 60 percent for the game and 65 percent in the second half. Arkansas was 11-of-19 on 3-pointers.

Daryl Macon added 16 points after leaving Friday’s game against North Carolina early due to a leg injury, and C.J. Jones had 19 points.

Jalen Adams added 16 for the Huskies (4-2), but very little went UConn’s way two days after watching Michigan State run away in the second half for a 77-57 victory.

Terry Larrier added 18 points, but left late in the second half with an apparent right leg injury after landing awkwardly. Larrier limped off with 5:45 left.

While Arkansas played well for most of the first half, the Razorbacks were dominant the final 20 minutes.

After cutting the Arkansas lead to 12 with 15 minutes remaining, the Huskies missed eight straight shots and watched the Razorbacks turn the game into a laugher.

Arkansas made 10 straight shots at one point of the second half, the streak finally snapping when Jones’ 3-point attempt from the wing rimmed out with four minutes remaining.

COACHING SEARCH: Mullen heading to Gators?

Andy Hodges
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We told you to get ready for a wild ride and apparently it’s already starting with Dan Mullen possibly heading to Florida after all.

Gainesville sports radio host and author Buddy Martin has been going live for about two weeks now (okay, not all the time, but a lot of it) and he’s reporting that the Mississippi State coach is headed there.

He is reporting this morning that Mullen has been offered the job and that Florida athletics director Scott Stricklin was in Mississippi for most of the holiday weekend, including slipping into the Egg Bowl on Thanksgiving night.

How does this affect Arkansas’ coaching search?

You can bet the Bulldogs will be going hard after Memphis coach Mike Norvell, who is reportedly on the Razorbacks’ radar as well.

It also means Central Florida coach Scott Frost, who will meet Memphis in the All American Conference championship game Saturday morning, is likely headed to Nebraska.

With the news that former Rutgers coach Greg Schiano is being offered the Tennessee job Sunday morning that takes one of the premier jobs off the market (raise your hand if you saw that coming).

All of which means the game of musical chairs has started.

And you don’t want to be the one left standing at the end.

Barford earns All-Tournament honors at PK80 Tournament

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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FAYETTEVILLE — Senior guard Jaylen Barford put Arkansas on his back at the Phil Knight Invitational over the weekend, leading the Razorbacks to a pair of wins to earn PK80 Victory Bracket All-Tournament team honors.

Barford averaged 21.3 points per game to guide Arkansas to a nine-point win against Oklahoma, followed by a 35-point blowout of UConn to hand the Huskies their worst loss in the last 40 years.

The Jackson, Tennessee, native scored 19 points against the Sooners, poured in 21 points against No. 9 North Carolina and added a 24-point performance against UConn.

He shot 50 percent from long range, going 9-for-18 from behind the arc, including a 4-for-5 performance against UConn.

Against the Huskies, Barford scored the first five points of the game and hit back-to-back threes to score Arkansas’ first six points of the second half to fuel the rout

Barford currently ranks second in the Southeastern Conference in points per game at 21.3, scoring 150 points through the first six games.

The Razorbacks return to action on Saturday, traveling to the state of Texas to play Houston. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.

PK80 Victory Bracket All-Tournament Team
Cassius Winston, Michigan State (MVP)
Jaylen Barford, Arkansas
Trae Young, Oklahoma
Luke Maye, North Carolina
Joshua Langford, Michigan State

Dallas-area talk show host thinks Gus going to Hogs

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Newy Scruggs, who does a fine mid-day sports radio talk show for NBC Sports Radio, apparently thinks Gus Malzahn is headed to Arkansas.

As we’ve said elsewhere, we’r’e a long way from it becoming reality.

Malzahn could still be in picture for Razorbacks

Andy Hodges
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Chaos reigns supreme in the world of college football.

And Tuesday night we find out just how chaotic it is as we close in on the Final Four of college football with the playoff committee rankings.

Auburn has thrown a gigantic monkey wrench into what was humming along nicely.

Beating Alabama 26-14 just two weeks after drubbing Georgia 40-17 a couple of weeks ago.

And now, with an official opening at head coach, many Arkansas fans have started to tear up their tickets they had purchased to get on the Gus Bus of Malzahn coming to Fayetteville.

They might want to hold up on that. And don’t take that as any sort of prediction that Malzahn will be the next coach, but this is going so crazy, who knows?

There was a report shortly after Auburn beat Alabama at AL.com that outgoing athletics director Jay Jacobs was trying to deflect talk of Malzahn going to Arkansas.

“Gus and I, we haven’t spoken about a new contract,” Jacobs said. “We spoke about his future here and he’s very happy here and I expect him to be here for quite some time. … Gus and I will talk about (a new contract), but the way Gus is, he doesn’t like to talk about things until everything is over.

“He’ll be completely focused on playing Georgia again. When Gus is ready to talk about it, we’ll talk about it. He knows; I’ve already mentioned it to him. He said he’s perfectly happy here at Auburn and wants to stay here. We’ll see how things go, it’s a competitive business we’re in and in order to stay in this business you got to be competitive. So we’ll just see how it all unfolds.”

To summarize that standard adminstrative doubletalk: Jacobs doesn’t know how it’s all going to come out.

There’s still a week to go before anything will be done. I know, you were hoping for a press conference Monday or Tuesday to announce a coach, but it would be completely surprising to see that happen.

If, in fact, Malzahn and Memphis coach Mike Norvell are the top two candidates, they each still have a game to play.

The Tigers will play Georgia in the SEC Championship Game on Saturday in Atlanta while Memphis plays Central Florida (who’s coach, Scott Frost, is a prime target of Nebraska and Florida).

No coach is going to make a move before those conference championship games.

Central Florida doesn’t have a shot at the playoff. Auburn has an outside shot … a longshot, based on precedent of what the committee does picking the final four teams.

No two-loss team has made it to the playoff. Auburn has two losses, but they’ve got to beat the Bulldogs, who will be the third big-time opponent in a month of do-or-die games for Malzahn.

There are many that think Malzahn wouldn’t leave Auburn now that he won the Iron Bowl and beat Alabama for the second time in five years. They feel Auburn will offer him a contract extension and a raise and some folks feel completely confident that will keep him on The Plains for a while longer.

And they may be right.

But don’t be surprised if they aren’t. Gus has always marched to the beat of a different drummer. Don’t forget in 1999 he left Shiloh for much larger Benton and stayed about two weeks before going back to Springdale.

Applying your logic and assuming Malzahn uses the same logic might not be reality.

Making the playoff MIGHT be the deal-breaker, but that’s not guaranteed, even if Auburn beats Georgia on Saturday.

In fact, if the Tigers do win the game, it will be surprising here if they get into the playoff. I would think they’ll take Alabama over a two-loss Auburn team, regardless of the head-to-head outcome.

They did it last year with Ohio State over Penn State, remember. The Nittany Lions were a two-loss conference champion, yet the committee took a one-loss Ohio State team that LOST to Penn State in the regular season.

That’s precisely why I’m saying if you want Malzahn, don’t give up hope yet.

They still have to beat Georgia and may not have their best running back (Kerryon Johnson injured a shoulder in the fourth quarter).

When they beat the Bulldogs a few weeks ago, it was on The Plains. This one will be in Georgia’s back yard in Atlanta, although Auburn is almost as close, but the guess is this is going to be a pro-Georgia crowd.

If Auburn loses, Malzahn is available immediately.

If the Tigers win, then we all have to wait until 11 a.m. Sunday to find out about the playoff picture and I’m not sure they get in even with a win.

Of course, this is going to be a case of what-if’s and what-about’s are going to be flying all across the world of college football.

But for those that want Norvell, he’s not available any sooner.

Now, if Julie Cromer Peoples has someone already lined up that’s not Malzahn or Norvell, we’ll know this week, but if there’s no announcement, I think one of those two will be the primary targets.

Get ready for a wild ride this week.

Bielema’s firing handled only way it could have been

Andy Hodges
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FAYETTEVILLE — Bret Bielema was going to be fired at the end of the Missouri game.

What we had heard after the infamous Board of Trustees meeting a couple of weeks ago was Chancellor Joe Steinmetz was instructed to let athletics director Jeff Long go and Bielema was to be fired in a time period after the LSU game and the end of the Missouri game.

Well, interim athletics director Julie Cromer Peoples handled that last part with a press release handed to media members awaiting Bielema at the end of Missouri’s 48-45 win Saturday night.

Clearly the decision had been made long before Tucker McCann’s 19-yard field goal with five seconds left secured the win for the Tigers.

In reality, the decision wasn’t that hard if Arkansas cared anything at all about being winners.

Bielema, hired in December 2012 amid much fanfare, hadn’t done much in his five seasons, finished 11-29 in the SEC and a 29-33 overall record.

Like I said, it wasn’t that hard of a decision if the Razorbacks wanted to be able to say winning mattered with anything resembling a straight face.

Immediately after the game there was some grumbling among media members about letting him go that quickly.

Bielema’s official termination letter is here.

“I was informed coming off the field that I’ll no longer be the coach at Arkansas,” Bielema said later.

Well, that wasn’t exactly right.

He clarified it later when asked. Bielema gets a little slack here because, in a profession where you are hired to be fired, he had never been terminated before or even been on a staff where the head coach was fired.

“I have a little office over here,” he said when asked about it later. “So it was private. I’ve never been let go before.”

He remained as mystified by the entire process as most things he’s encountered in the last year or so. That’s understandable, too.

Bielema did a lot of positive things in his time at Arkansas. Unfortunately, though, most of it wasn’t winning games.

“Because I didn’t win games, I can brag about my GPA,” he said later.

Many fans criticized the manner he was fired. While it certainly appeared to outsiders they were waiting on him to walk off the field to swing the axe, the guess here everybody — and that includes Bielema — knew how this was going down.

In his rambling sort of way, Bielema pretty much admitted he was on board with the way this went down with my thoughts in parenthes, trying to explain it. The media has had to more or less do this with every press conference for nearly six years.

“Glad I had the chance (to tell his players himself),” he said later. “I did like (being able to do it in person), obviously, everybody’s probably like, oh, they got him right after that.

“But I’d much rather have it this way than think about it. I was going on the road recruiting tomorrow, so that kind of sums that up (no need to pack).

“I got a chance to say goodbye to at least 80 of those players in that locker room. A lot of emotion running through there, and I think that’s a great indication of the trademark or imprint you’ve had on their lives.”

As Cromer Peoples said in the press conference later (which was set up a couple of hours before the kickoff of the Missouri game, we were told later), she wanted Bielema to be able to tell his players personally so they wouldn’t hear about it on social media or television.

While you may not like how it was handled, it really couldn’t have been handled any other way.

In the end, Bielema didn’t have a problem with the way it went down, which is the strongest indicator that everybody involved knew how it was coming.

Which is why the fans shouldn’t be worried about it, either.

Peoples talks about timing of firing, search for new coach

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Arkansas interim athletics director Julie Cromer Peoples met with the media Saturday evening at Barnhill Arena to address the firing of football coach Bret Bielema.

Hogs can’t come back on North Carolina, fall 87-68

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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PORTLAND, Ore. — Roy Williams was able to find the one flaw in Luke Maye’s otherwise nearly spotless performance.

Oh, those turnovers.

“The young man is really, really intelligent and he’s finally starting to play basketball with his brain involved too,” the North Carolina coach said. “Except for his turnovers.”

Maye, who committed five turnovers, had career-highs with 28 points and 16 rebounds, Kenny Williams had 16 of his 19 points in the second half, and No. 9 North Carolina slowed down high-scoring Arkansas beating the Razorbacks 87-68 on Friday in the semifinals of the PK80 Invitational.

The Tar Heels were smothering on the defensive end, holding the Razorbacks under 80 points for the first time this season. The Razorbacks shot just 32 percent in the first half and were dominated on the boards getting outrebounded 46-30.

Maye carried the Tar Heels offensively for the first 25 minutes before Williams and Joel Berry II got going. Maye made 11 of 16 shots and 11 of his rebounds came at the defensive end. Berry was just 3-of-12 shooting, but he made 7 of 8 free throws. Williams took just three shots in the first half, but was 6-of-9 shooting in the second half.

It all added up to another impressive performance by North Carolina and specifically Maye. The Tar Heels (5-0) will face either Michigan State or UConn in the “Victory Bracket” championship game on Sunday night.

“We have so many guys that can score,” Maye said. “Theo (Pinson) and Kenny and Joel are all capable of hitting shots, getting to the basket. It’s really tough to guard all four of us at the same time.”

Jaylen Barford led Arkansas (4-1) with 21 points and C.J. Jones added 12 off the bench. Daniel Gafford, who was averaging nearly 16 points per game, was hampered by foul trouble and finished with just five points. The Razorbacks also lost second-leading scorer Daryl Macon to a leg injury midway through the second half.

“We came out and wanted to punch them and they punched back,” Arkansas coach Mike Anderson said. “I thought their defense was really good. They did a good job of guarding us and we got some guys in foul trouble and I thought that limited us.”

North Carolina used two first-half runs to take control. Down early, the Tar Heels rattled off 13 straight points to take the lead for good. They followed with a 14-4 run to close the first half and led 37-26 at the break.

Arkansas had a couple of second-half rallies that fell short. The first came after Macon had to be helped off the court due to his leg injury suffered on a baseline drive. Barford scored five straight points and layups from Dustin Thomas and Gafford pulled the Razorbacks within 55-48 with 13:01 left.

Maye tipped in a miss and the Tar Heels scored nine of the next 13 points to build the lead back to 14 on Pinson’s layup with 9:20 remaining.

The lead remained there until consecutive 3s by Jones. Maye missed in the lane and a three-point play by Barford pulled the Razorbacks within 74-68 with 3:32 remaining. It was the final points for Arkansas. Berry hit two free throws and an offensive foul on Arkansas led to Pinson’s thundering one-handed dunk and a 10-point lead with less than 3 minutes left.

Bielema let go immediately after loss to Mizzou

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas coach Bret Bielema has been dismissed by the University of Arkansas, it was announced by interim athletics director Julie Cromer Peoples.

Bielema completed his fifth season as the Razorbacks’ head coach on Friday.

“Shortly after the completion of today’s game, I met with Coach Bret Bielema and informed him of our decision to move forward with new leadership in the Razorback Football program,” Cromer Peoples said. “During the course of the past five seasons, we have not been able to sustain the success on the field that is expected and required at the University of Arkansas.

“There is no question that Coach Bielema has been a valued and respected member of our department and has made a positive impact on the lives of our student-athletes, including supporting them in their pursuit of graduation.

“We are grateful for his contributions to our program and most importantly his investment in the lives of our student-athletes. We wish him the very best both personally and professionally.

“Our goal has been and will always be to compete and win in the SEC and nationally.

“I firmly believe that with all that the University of Arkansas has to offer, including our history and tradition, our facilities, our passionate fan base and competing in the nation’s best conference, we will attract the interest of many of the top coaches in the nation.”

Named the 32nd head coach in program history in December of 2012, Bielema compiled a 29-34 record over his five seasons.

He led Arkansas to three straight bowl appearances, highlighted by wins over Texas at the 2014 Texas Bowl and Kansas State at the 2016 Liberty Bowl.

In 2014, Arkansas became the first unranked team in college football history to post back-to-back shutouts over ranked opponents after blanking No. 20 LSU and No. 8 Ole Miss.

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