Hogs get primetime slot for Big 12-SEC Challenge
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas landed a primetime slot for the 2018 Big 12/SEC Challenge, welcoming Oklahoma State to town on Saturday, Jan. 27 for a 5 p.m. tip-off on ESPN2.
Arkansas is appearing in the Big 12/SEC Challenge for the fourth straight year and will battle the Cowboys in back-to-back seasons after traveling to Stillwater last year.
The matchup in Bud Walton Arena will be the 52nd meeting in the all-time series.
The Razorbacks are 1-0 in the Big 12/SEC Challenge in Bud Walton Arena, knocking off Texas Tech 75-68 during the 2015-16 season.
Arkansas and Oklahoma State are two of the 11 teams in the challenge coming off NCAA Tournament appearances.
Arkansas will be one of the most experienced teams in the country next season, returning three of its top five scorers in Daryl Macon, Jaylen Barford and Anton Beard, with the potential of five seniors in the starting lineup.
The Razorbacks also welcome four of the top five high school players in the state of Arkansas, as Daniel Gafford, Darious Hall and Khalil Garland and Gabe Osabuohien make up a top 20 recruiting class according to ESPN.
2018 Big 12/SEC Challenge (Jan. 27):
• Baylor at Florida, ESPN, 11 a.m.
• Texas Tech at South Carolina, ESPN2, 11 a.m.
• Ole Miss at Texas, ESPN2, 1 p.m.
• Georgia at Kansas State, ESPNU, 1 p.m.
• Oklahoma at Alabama, ESPN, 1:15 p.m.
• TCU at Vanderbilt, ESPN2, 3 p.m.
• Tennessee at Iowa State, ESPNU, 3 p.m.
• Texas A&M at Kansas, ESPN, 3:30 p.m. or 6 p.m.
• Kentucky at West Virginia, ESPN, 3:30 p.m. or 6 p.m.
• Oklahoma State at Arkansas, ESPN2, 5 p.m. CT
How good are Hogs’ backups? We’ll find out Saturday
All offseason I’ve said we won’t have any answers about Arkansas until the TCU game.
Well, the time has arrived.
The biggest question in my mind has been depth. It’s been a huge reason the Razorbacks have struggled at times in the SEC for 25 years and it’s gotten worse with the advent of offenses playing Nolan Richardson-style basketball on the football field.
The Hogs’ starting 11 on defense can probably out-play the Horned Frogs. The problem with that is the way TCU plays offense you better have at least 25 players on defense where the level of play doesn’t drop off much.
Teams playing with a lot of tempo have given Arkansas fits over the last five years. Toledo, Texas Tech and Rutgers are teams that surprised the Hogs in the last few years. All were moving with a fast pace and trying to run as many offensive plays as possible.
The only team Arkansas has had any level of consistent success over the last five seasons against that plays an up-tempo offense is Ole Miss. The Hogs they caught them totally uninspired (2014), simply out-scored and out-lucked them with the Henry Heave (2015) and had to outscore a Rebels team going through the motions (2016).
Arkansas hasn’t beaten Texas A&M in five years, is 1-4 against Mississippi State and Auburn and 1-2 against Missouri.
They did beat TCU last year, mainly because Dan Skipper managed to add a six-inch vertical leap to his 6-10 frame and got about 11 feet in the air to block a field goal.
Leave that out and you wonder how the Hogs did it.
“We were dead tired last year,” defensive tackle Sosa Agim said after practice Tuesday. “They would snap the ball when we weren’t ready.”
The Hogs blew a 13-0 halftime lead as the Horned Frogs came roaring back into what ended up being a 41-38 double overtime win for the Hogs. That may have been an omen.
A tired and worn-out bunch of Hogs.
“At the end of the first half I saw it and told Robb as soon as we got into the locker room, ‘We’re tired,'” defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads said Monday. “We did not play nearly as well the second half as we did the first half because we started to get gassed there at the end.”
That is where quality depth comes into play. Especially in the defensive line and linebacker spots.
Which is what the new-look 3-4 defense hopefully provides.
“That’s going to help us for TCU on Saturday to keep guys fresh,” defensive line coach John Scott, Jr., said Tuesday.
At least that’s the hope.
What nobody will say is fresh doesn’t always mean better. It depends on the talent drop-off between first and second team players.
That’s the biggest question we’ve had all summer long.
We may know the answer by nightfall Saturday.
D-line coach Scott: ‘I’ve seen big O-line players before’
Arkansas defensive line coach John Scott, Jr., told the media Tuesday he’s seen some big offensive linemen before similar to what TCU has.
Balanced attack leads to sweep of Oral Roberts
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas defeated Oral Roberts Tuesday night with a 3-0 victory at Barnhill Arena.
The Razorbacks had three players — Pilar Victoria, Hailey Dirrigl and Reagan Robinson — with double-digit kills while Victoria and Rachel Rippee each turned in double-double performances.
With the win, Arkansas improves to 6-1 on the season.
FINAL
Arkansas 3, Oral Roberts 0 | Box Score
Attendance: 639 | Time: 1:36
Barnhill Arena (Fayetteville, Ark.)
#RazorStats
Leaders vs Oral Roberts
• Kills: Pilar Victoria – 19
• Digs: Okiana Valle – 14
• Blocks: Elizabeth Pamphile – 2.0 (0-2)
Double-Doubles
• Rachel Rippee: 46 assists, 10 digs
• Pilar Victoria: 19 kills, 12 digs
With her 23rd assist of the match, Rippee moved into the program’s top-10 list for career assists.
She finished the night with 46 assists and sits in eighth place on Arkansas’ all-time list, moving past former teammates Bailee Hankenson and Adrien Wohlschlaeger.
The sophomore setter added 10 digs to complete her second double-double of the season. Under Rippee’s direction, the Razorbacks registered a .278 hitting percentage.
Victoria, named SEC Player of the Week earlier in the day, continued her high-kill, high-efficiency numbers with 19 kills and a .368 hitting percentage against Oral Roberts (1-6).
She was joined in double figures by Dirrigl who had a career-best 12 kills to go along with a .385 attack efficiency and Robinson who tallied her third double-digit effort of the season with 10 kills in the match.
The Razorbacks’ floor defense was as impressive against the Golden Eagles, picking up 56 digs in the victory. Junior libero Okiana Valle recorded a match-high 14 digs while senior Krista Kolbinskie established a career high with 11 digs.
From the service line, Arkansas had five aces including three from freshman Paige Johnson who sealed the win with back-to-back aces at the end of the third set.
After winning the first set, Arkansas trailed by as many as four points early in the frame but recovered to pull even at 13-all on an ORU attack error.
From that point, the set was tied eight times and late in the set, the score was tied at 22.
The home team reeled off the final three points of the set including kills from Elizabeth Pamphile and Robinson to clinch the set and a 2-0 match lead.
The Razorbacks led throughout the early stages of the third—and final—set until Oral Roberts served an ace to take a 14-13 advantage.
Arkansas responded by winning six of the next seven points to go ahead 19-15 and forcing an ORU timeout after a Dirrigl-Pamphile block.
With one final push, Oral Roberts pulled to within one of tying the set but at 22-21, Victoria put down her final kill of the match and Johnson followed with her two aces.
Defensive back Kevin Richardson talks TCU game prep
Arkansas defensive back talked with the media after practice Tuesday about the defense getting ready for TCU.
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