Barford leads Razorbacks to easy win over UConn
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
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
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?
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).
UPDATED: Tennessee hoping to finalize agreement with Greg Schiano to be its next coach today https://t.co/J7K9rH2UKC via @usatoday
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) November 26, 2017
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
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
Newy Scruggs, who does a fine mid-day sports radio talk show for NBC Sports Radio, apparently thinks Gus Malzahn is headed to Arkansas.
Arkansas is about to get a good head coach in Gus Malzahn. @NBCSportsRadio
— Newy Scruggs (@newyscruggs) November 25, 2017
As we’ve said elsewhere, we’r’e a long way from it becoming reality.
Malzahn could still be in picture for Razorbacks
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.
