SEC Now’s Kayla Braud discusses the teams that have the most momentum heading into conference play, including Arkansas.
Hogs’ cold streak at end costly as North Carolina advances in NCAA
Mike Anderson’s first statements after Arkansas’ 72-65 loss Sunday pretty much summed it up:
“Close don’t get it done,” he said. “It’s kind of hard to sum it up right now. I’m really kind of pissed, no — I’m kind of not necessarily ticked off, but it’s just one of those things, you had something in your hand and you let it get away.”
For a Razorback team that at times this year didn’t provide a lot of hope, this team came together after a 17-7 start and finished 26-10, which ties them for the seventh best record in school history.
Few saw that coming when the season started. After a loss to Kentucky, then a loss to hapless Missouri, quite frankly, most were thinking the NIT might be a long shot.
“These guys here, I’ll tell you what, they’re a special group,” Anderson said later. “I think the Razorback Nation — and even the nation — got a chance to see them because a lot of people didn’t even think we had a chance to come here.”
Instead, they made it to the NCAA Tournament after going to the SEC Tournament final and could have made it to the Sweet 16 if not for three things:
• Going completely scoreless for the final 3:28 of the game won’t win many tournament games.
• The bench, after scoring just 7 points against Seton Hall, put up 33 of the 65 points against North Carolina. The starters couldn’t get the shots to fall, even late.
• They didn’t get a break from the officials down the stretch on plays that appeared to be viable candidates for a whistle of some type.
That last one came when the Tar Heels’ charged down the lane, making contact with a Razorback defender, then did an NBA-type shuffle before putting up a lame shot that was rebounded and put back in, putting the Hogs down by 3.
“I thought he ran over one of our guys,” Anderson said later. “If he didn’t, he traveled.”
The non-call is the focus of a lot of fans — and many in the media — but it does detract from what may have been even more critical.
“That wasn’t the difference in the game,” Anderson said. “I just thought we had some bad turnovers at the wrong time or we didn’t get a good shot.”
It’s not unusual for NCAA Tournament games to be much more physical than the regular season. Whether officials are instructed to let the play continue more or not is not something to be answered here.
The bottom line is it’s that way nearly every year.
North Carolina was called for half as many fouls (10) as Arkansas was in the game.
“We shot eight free throws. I noticed that,” Anderson said. “And I don’t know if North Carolina plays good defense … they don’t play great defense. They had three fouls.
“We’re an attacking team. We were attacking. There were some opportunities where we were in the fastbreak mode we were attacking, getting to the basket.
“But it was called that way and of course our guys gotta play through that.”
Coaches always talk about having to adjust to the way the game is being called. No two officiating crews seem to call things exactly the same way.
That was part of the problem for the Hogs. Not all of it, though.
In the final 3:28 of the game, Arkansas got off six shots and Moses Kingsley missed two free throws.
It appeared they wouldn’t have hit water if they fell out of a boat in the middle of Beaver Lake.
It was mostly Anton Beard and Daryl Macon that stepped up to fill the hole left when it became clear it wasn’t going to be Dusty Hannahs’ night.
Macon led the Hogs with 19 points, Beard added 10 and Hannahs had just 9.
“Offensively, we probably weren’t in sync,” Anderson admitted.
What kept them in the game — and created a first-half comeback after the Hogs got down early — was a tenacious defense.
“Our defense in the second half in this game was outstanding, even the first half,” he said. “We had North Carolina on their heels for the most part.
“But they did what an experienced team do: They made the plays going down the stretch.”
In the tournament, not making plays and going scoreless for the final three minutes will usually get you beat.
Against a North Carolina, take the “usually” out of there.
Razorbacks finish sweep of Mississippi State in first SEC series
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas made easy work of Mississippi State on Sunday at Baum Stadium earning a 6-1 victory in front of 7,828 fans and the three-game sweep to open Southeastern Conference play.
The win marks the first three-game sweep for Arkansas in a SEC opening series since 2012 when the Razorback took three-straight from Alabama in Fayetteville.
It’s also the first three-game conference sweep since last year when Arkansas won all three games against Auburn (March 25-27, 2016).
It was also Arkansas’ first sweep of Mississippi State since 2010 when the Hogs won all three games in Starkville, Miss., by a combined score of 29-11.
The Hogs got production up and down their lineup all game forcing the Bulldogs to their bullpen in the third inning. Carson Shaddy, Jordan McFarland, and Jax Biggers all recorded two-hit games.
Shaddy unloaded his fifth home run of the year in the seventh inning adding to an already big Arkansas lead. Shaddy now joins Grant Koch and Dominic Fletcher as the three Razorbacks with five or more home runs this year.
Redshirt senior Josh Alberius had his best start of the year, going four strong innings and not allowing a run to earn his first victory in four tries.
Mississippi State did get five hits off the righty, but Alberius only walked one and struck out three, while only three runners reached second base.
Senior Dominic Taccolini closed out the game, garnering the four-inning save after giving up just one hit, a solo home run to Brent Rooker in the sixth.
Other than the long ball, Taccolini was spotless, walking just a single batter and striking out a game-high five Bulldogs.
Moments That Mattered
Unlike its previous two games in the series, Arkansas scored early, putting up three runs on three hits in the third inning. Instead of using the home run ball to take the lead, the Razorbacks strung together three singles from Eric Cole, Jax Biggers, and Shaddy.
Mississippi State went to the bullpen for the first time after the Biggers single and a walk to Jake Arledge loaded the bases. Even with the change, Arkansas still got a run home on a sacrifice fly from Chad Spanberger. Two batters later, Biggers scored on a passed ball, followed by the RBI single from Shaddy.
Spanberger’s bat has warmed up in the last week. Even without recording a hit in Sunday’s contest, the junior has four hits and six RBIs in his last four games, including home runs against Alcorn State and yesterday against Mississippi State.
The Razorbacks went on to add single runs in the fourth, sixth, and seventh innings, while the Bulldogs never had an answer. When Taccolini came in to pitch in the sixth inning, the Rooker homer in the sixth and his walk in the ninth were the only Bulldog baserunners for the rest of the game. Including Sunday’s appearance, Taccolini has struck out four or more batters when he has pitched three or more innings.
Razorback Quotables
“We thought if we get it to a certain point we could bring Dominic (Taccolini) in and let him go. It was really good to see that. It was good for the team but good for Dominic, personally. Just happy for him and happy for the team and just happy with the way we played on a Sunday. We haven’t played very good the past two Sundays. We challenged them on that last night. Come out and give us your best game on Sunday, and today we just played a lot of baseball. We didn’t play homerun derby. We got some big two-out hits and it was just a really well-played game by everybody.” — Coach Dave Van Horn on Dominic Taccolini and the performance of the team
“It feels great. I would be lying to you if I said I wasn’t excited about it. It’s three of thirty (games). That’s what we talk about. You just enjoy it for a few hours and then you slowly move on to the next game. We’ll start working on them tomorrow. Monday’s a day off and they need to relax. It’s a great feeling knowing we won the series last night, but the challenge was, can we come out and play on a Sunday.” — Van Horn on sweeping Mississippi State
“Getting the sweep is huge. You look back at your first weekend and there’s three wins that you can sit on for a while. Mississippi State’s a good team, they’ve got some injuries but we’re really excited we came away with these three wins. It’s huge. We’re glad to get a good start.”— Carson Shaddy on the SEC opening series sweep
“We’ve all three been here and we’ve all played in SEC series. We just wanted to come out and show the young guys that the intensity does come up. I think the older guys took it to heart that we weren’t playing very well on Sunday’s and we just came out here and emptied the tank.” — Shaddy on ending the series on a strong note
“They have some of the best hitters in the country on that team. You just have to pitch to them low in the zone. You can’t try and do too much. We came with that game plan today. We came into this game with a pretty solid game plan and it worked.” – Josh Alberius on why Arkansas had so much success against MSU hitters
Up Next
Arkansas will play a single game on Wednesday at Baum Stadium to close out its 11-game homestand against New Orleans. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. and will be broadcast on SEC Network+. The game can also be heard on the radio on the Razorback Sports Network.
Hogs slide past Mississippi State to clinch series
FAYETTEVILLE — A five-run second inning off two Razorback home runs proved to be the difference Saturday night as Arkansas defeated Mississippi State, 5-4, to win its Southeastern Conference opening series at Baum Stadium.
Juniors Carson Shaddy and Chad Spanberger both hit home runs in the same inning that put the Hogs ahead and then added to their lead.
The long balls helped the Razorback offense explode for a five-spot, forcing Bulldog starting pitcher, Peyton Plumlee out of the game after just 1.2 innings.
Shaddy finished the game 2-for-3 at the plate with two RBIs and a walk. Spanberger’s home run was his only hit of the night, but it was a big one as it brought home the final three runs that Arkansas scored in the game.
Junior starting pitcher Trevor Stephan was sharp through 6.1 innings, scattering seven hits and allowing just two earned runs with one walk, while striking out eight Bulldog batters.
The outing earned him his fourth win of the year, keeping him undefeated. In his last four starts, Stephan has pitched at least five innings and struck out six or more.
In his last three starts, the strikeout total has been eight or more. Stephan continues to lead the team with a 1.19 ERA and 40 strikeouts over 30.1 innings.
Senior Cannon Chadwick earned his second save in as many days.
With the bases loaded and only one out, Chadwick was brought into the game to try and hold a two-run lead. Mississippi State did get one run on a sacrifice fly, but the senior struck out the next batter he faced to get out of the jam and then struck out four of the last six Mississippi State batters in the eighth and ninth innings to shut the door.
Moments That Mattered
Mississippi State took its first and only lead of the game in the top of the second inning, scoring one run off Stephan on just two hits. But the Razorbacks responded in a big way in the bottom half with its five-run outburst, getting the homers from Shaddy and Spanberger.
Shaddy delivered his bomb into the left field bullpen one batter after Dominic Fletcher reached with a leadoff single. It was Shaddy’s fourth home run of the year.
Spanberger’s homer came at an opportune time later in the inning when Arkansas continued to put runners on. Spanberger took a 2-2 pitch from Plumlee and hit it well over the right field bullpen to send Baum Stadium into a frenzy and give his team a 5-1 lead. Spanberger now has three home runs on the year, part of 29 home runs combined that Arkansas has hit this year, which continues to lead the SEC.
Up Next
Arkansas and Mississippi State finishes off the series on Sunday with the third and final game at 1 p.m. at Baum Stadium. The game will be televised online only on SEC Network+ and on the radio on the Razorback Sports Network.
Razorbacks, Tar Heels meet in NCAA Tournament again
GREENVILLE, S.C. — Looking to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1996, Arkansas goes for an upset of No. 1 seed North Carolina on Sunday at Bon Secours Arena.
Tipoff is set for 5:10 p.m. on TNT.
The Rundown
Date: Sunday, March 19
Location: Greenville, S.C.
Teams: #8 Arkansas (26-9) vs. #1 North Carolina (28-7)
Tip-off: 5:10 p.m.
TV: TNT
Talent: Brian Anderson (PXP), Chris Webber (Analyst), Lewis Johnson (Reporter)
Let’s Dance
• The Razorbacks hold a 42-30 all-time record in 31 NCAA Tournament appearances.
• Arkansas is 9-10 all-time in the second round of the NCAA Tournament with its last win coming in 1996.
• The Razorbacks have never beaten a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, going 0-8 all-time.
• Arkansas will play UNC for the sixth time in the NCAA Tournament, the most of any opponent in the Big Dance (2-3 record).
Boss Hog In March
• A win would make Mike Anderson one of three coaches in this year’s field to take three different teams to the Sweet 16.
• Anderson is making his eighth appearance in the NCAA Tournament as a head coach. He is 9-7 all-time in the Big Dance, including two Sweet 16’s.
• The Boss Hog is one of five current Division I coaches with 15 years of head coaching experience and zero losing seasons.
The #Fastest40 Facts
• Arkansas is looking to advance to the Sweet 16 for the 11th time in program history and the first time since 1996.
• The Razorbacks have 11 road/neutral wins for the first time in 22 seasons when the 1994-95 team recorded 18 such victories.
• Mike Anderson is 1-1 all-time against No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, knocking off No. 1 Kentucky as a 9 seed at UAB 2004 to advance to the Sweet 16.
• Arkansas is 5-1 in neutral site games this season, the most such victories in the last nine years.
• The Razorbacks are shooting 76.3 percent from the free throw line, the highest in the last 55 years when Arkansas shot 77.6 percent in 1961-62.
• In the final minute of games this season, Daryl Macon is 30-of-34 (.882) from the charity stripe, including three of those against Seton Hall on Friday to help seal the 6-point victory.
• Arkansas is being outscored by six points in the first half this season and is outscoring its opponents by 209 points in the second half. The Razorbacks have only been outscored in the second half four times in 35 games.
• The Razorbacks’ 26 wins is tied for the seventh most in program history.
• An 8 seed has beaten a No. 1 seed 16 different times in the NCAA Tournament, including two times in the last three seasons.
Razorbacks pull out close win over Tennessee; clinch SEC series
FAYETTEVILLE — With the bases loaded and two outs in a tied ballgame, junior Tori Cooper stepped to the plate and delivered a game-winning single to lift the 25th-ranked Razorbacks to a 2-1 win over No. 14 Tennessee Saturday afternoon at Bogle Park.
The rally secured Arkansas’ first series win against Tennessee since 2002 and its first SEC series win since the 2013 season. Saturday’s game was played in front of 1,544 fans, a program attendance record.
With the win, Arkansas improves to 21-5 overall and 2-3 in league play. Freshman starter Autumn Storms picked up the win in a complete-game performance while Cooper and Autumn Russell, who had the game-tying RBI in the seventh, each had two hits to pace the Razorbacks’ offense.
With her team trailing by one, pinch hitter Haydi Bugarin led off the bottom of the seventh with a walk. After a one-out single off the bat of Madison Yannetti and a third walk of the game to Shelby Hiers, the bases were loaded. Russell tied the score with a base hit to left field, scoring Bugarin from third.
Tennessee (21-5, 2-3 SEC) was one out away from pushing the game to extra innings after a Nicole Schroeder lineout but Cooper dropped the 0-2 pitch to shallow center just past a diving effort by the Volunteers’ shortstop and pinch runner Sydney Parr, on for Yannetti, crossed the plate to clinch the win.
Featuring a pitcher’s duel between two freshmen, the game was scoreless entering the seventh inning. Tennessee had the bases loaded in the top of the inning, and scored on an RBI groundout by pinch hitter Savannah Huffstetler.
Storms limited the damage to one run with her fourth strikeout. She used the strikeout to record the final out in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.
The Temecula, Calif., native allowed just the one run, scattered five hits over seven innings and struck out four in her fifth complete game of the season. In earning the win, Storms moves to 9-3 in 16 appearances. She collected a three-inning save in Friday’s opener.
Up Next Arkansas goes for the series sweep Sunday when the teams return to the field at 11 a.m. (CT). The game will be streamed live on SEC Network+ which is also available through the WatchESPN app. General admission is free for all home games.
Arkansas stuns Tennessee in SEC matchup with grand slam homer
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas’ 34th home run of the season was a game changer as junior A.J. Belans delivered a grand slam in the bottom of the third to lift Arkansas to a 4-3 home win over Tennessee on Friday evening at Bogle Park.
The win was the program’s first against a ranked team since the 2014 season.
In its all-time series against Tennessee, 11 of Arkansas’ 15 wins have come on in Fayetteville.
With the win, the Razorbacks improve to 20-5 overall and 1-3 in SEC play. Grace Moll picked up the win, her eighth of the season, while Autumn Storms secured the triumph with a three-inning save.
Tennessee starter Matty Moss retired the first two hitters of the third inning before Autumn Russell lined a single into center field. After a four-pitch walk to Nicole Schroeder and an infield single off the bat of Tori Cooper, Belans stepped in with the bases loaded.
She sent the 0-1 offering from Moss over the fence in center field for the Razorbacks’ fifth grand slam of the season. It was her fourth round tripper of the year.
Belans now has a hit in nine of the last 11 games including four straight. Russell and Stephanie Canfield each had two hits against Tennessee (21-4, 2-2 SEC).
Russell now has a team-leading 10 multi-hit performances while Canfield moved into sole possession of fifth place on Arkansas’ career hits (216) list. Schroeder, the NCAA leader with 12 home runs, drew three walks in the game, tying her career high.
Moll allowed two runs on four hits in four innings of work, and was aided by a pair of double plays turned by her defense. In the top of the third, the visitors had runners on second and third with one out.
Tennessee’s Meghan Gregg lifted a ball into foul territory which Belans gloved before firing home to cut down a would-be score tagging from third. After giving up a run in the sixth inning, Storms worked a 1-2-3 seventh to preserve the win.
Up Next
Game two of the weekend series is scheduled for Saturday at 1 p.m. and will be streamed live on SEC Network+ which is also available through the WatchESPN app.
The first 200 fans in attendance will receive an Arkansas Razorbacks cell phone wallet. General admission is free for all home games.
Knight’s pitching lifts Razorbacks past Mississippi State
FAYETTEVILLE — Sophomore Blaine Knight had a strong showing in his Friday night debut in SEC play, going a career-long seven innings and striking out a career-high 11 batters to help the Razorbacks to a 3-1 win over Mississippi State at Baum Stadium.
Knight, who already had a 10 strikeout performance earlier this year against No. 5 Arizona in the Frisco College Classic, did just a little bit better on Friday. Matching Bulldog starter Konnor Pilkington pitch for pitch, Knight shook off an early first inning home run to pick up his second win of the year and allowed just four baserunners over his seven innings of work.
With his 11-strikeout performance, Knight is the first Razorback pitcher to have multiple 10+ strikeout games in the same season since Drew Smyly had 11 against Wisconsin-Milwaukee (March 13, 2010) and 10 against Florida (April 23, 2010) during the 2010 season.
Junior Luke Bonfield and sophomore Grant Koch provided all the run support Knight needed as both hit home runs that provided the three runs. Bonfield’s came in the bottom of the first inning as a response to Mississippi State’s solo home run in the first. His two-run shot was his fourth of the year as it was part of a 2-for-4 night.
Koch provided the insurance run with a solo home run of his own in the sixth inning, his team-leading sixth of the year and was his only hit of the game.
Moments That Mattered
It seemed like Friday night’s contest was going to be a slugfest after both teams hit home runs in the first inning. Mississippi State’s Ryan Gridley hit his fourth home run of the year with two outs in the first, but Knight settled down to retire 14 of the next 16 batters with only one reaching second base.
In his last three starts, Knight has struck out 25 batters in 17.1 innings and has still only walked one batter this season. Going back to last year, Knight has never walked more than two batters in a game and he has only done that twice in his career over 23 appearances.
Knight and Pilkington matched each other with scoreless frames in the second through fifth innings. Koch broke that scoreless streak with his solo shot into Hog Pen to give Arkansas a 3-1 advantage. Koch still remains near the top of the SEC in home runs. His six round-trippers is just one less than LSU’s Greg Deichmann, who led the league with seven home runs coming into Friday night.
Arkansas still leads the conference as a team in long balls with now 27 home runs. Mississippi State remains in second with 20 home runs of their own.
Arkansas’ bullpen continued what Knight had started when head coach Dave Van Horn decided to change up pitchers. Kevin Kopps and Evan Lee worked a scoreless eighth inning, giving up just one hit. Senior Cannon Chadwick worked a perfect ninth inning, striking out two and earning his first save of the year.
Razorback Quotables
“That was a really good Friday night ballgame. There were 24 or 25 strikeouts. We struck out a lot. He’s (Konnor Pilkington) a strikeout pitcher. He’s tough to see. The zone was fairly wide for both pitchers and they were hitting their spots. Both teams had to make that adjustment. I feel fortunate that we got a couple balls up in the air and we hit them out of the park. It was a tremendous job of Blaine Knight just shutting it down after the first inning. They’re a really good offensive team and Blaine just had one of his best nights as a Razorback.” – Coach Dave Van Horn on the SEC opening victory
“The bullpen was outstanding. We told Kevin (Kopps) to come in and he had three right-handed hitters in a row in that 7-8-9 hole and you get those guys we’re going to go to (Evan) Lee for the switch hitter at the top and the two hole, left-hander if need be. Then we were going to go with (Cannon) Chadwick and that was our plan. We stuck to it and it ended up working.”.– Van Horn on his bullpen’s performance
“He had all his stuff working tonight, sometimes one pitch is there, one is not. Tonight, he was commanding all of them, mostly his fastball. I think his fastball was the biggest part. He was really throwing hard and it lasted throughout the game, which is rare for a lot of guys. Just phenomenal.”.– Grant Koch on Blaine Knight’s career night
“It’s not good, it’s great. Now we got them on their heels a little bit, but it’s like we’ve been talking about. It’s like a boxing match. We got three rounds, we won the first one, we got to fight the second one tomorrow and the third one on Sunday.” – Knight on winning the SEC opener
Anderson puts lot of credit with Kingsley for first-round win
If there was a defining moment for Moses Kingsley in the NCAA Tournament, it with 17:41 left in Arkansas’ opening game in the NCAA Tournament.
Seton Hall’s Desi Rodriguez was sailing along down the lane for what he assumed was going to be a fairly routine dunk.
He obviously didn’t know Kingsley.
“Coach says you gotta protect the paint,” Moses said later.
Rodriguez had his dunk blocked and Kingsley didn’t let the ball hit the floor. Rodriguez bounced a third of the way down the lane but Kingsley didn’t foul and it sparked the Hogs to a 77-71 win.
“That was the turning point for us,” forward Jaylen Barford said after the game.
Kingsley had a huge game.
He hit 10-of-13 field goals including a 3-pointer, two-of-two at the free throw line, grabbed six rebounds, had four blocked shots, two assists and a steal.
“We didn’t want to go home,” he said. “My team’s looking for me to bring it in games like this and I think that’s what I did.”
That may have been an understatement.
But it’s what Dusty Hannahs has seen for years from the native Nigerian who played on the Arkansas Wings AAU team with Hannahs.
“I’ve played with Moses since the 10th grade and he’s just grown as a player every year that I’ve ever been around him,” Hannahs said. “Now it’s almost peak Moses.”
Mike Anderson agreed.
“I don’t know what happened to Moses, but he awakened today and he was big,” Mike Anderson said later.
The Pirates came into the game as one of the leading rebounding teams in the country and got up by 8 on Arkansas in the second half with 9:29 to play.
No panic from the Hogs. That’s due partly to Anderson, who has had a finger on the pulse of this team most of the time this year.
“At the end they were locked in,” Anderson said of his team. “Fatigue was a factor in this game. Sometimes when fatigue happens, your decision-making is not as quick.”
For Seaton Hall, it played exactly the way Anderson expected it.
“Early in the game they were attacking us and getting to the basket, whipping that ball around,” he said. “As the game went on, they kinda slowed down on those decisions. Our guys were in that moment.”
When the Razorbacks fell behind, Anderson took a timeout.
“We had to settle down and get back to what we were doing in the first half,” he said. “We lost our composure. You win games with defense and we went offensive-minded, so we started trying to do it individually and I told our guys that’s not who we are.”
It worked.
“Once we got some baskets, we went right inside to Moses — we went in to the bellcow — and he delivered for us, he made some big buckets, got to the free-throw line, now we get Delgado in foul trouble, so it was an effort of let’s establish inside and it’s amazing how that opens up the outside and, of course, now you get to the free-throw line,” Anderson said.
“We thought we could go off the dribble with those guys and it really came in handy in those times — it’s a game of runs — so we had a run to come back at ’em.”
The other reason nobody was too worried was the way this team has played all year.
“We are a second-half team,” Anderson said.
The biggest difference was the Hogs winning the turnover battle in the second half.
“It’s funny because in the first half we only got 2 points off turnovers and I think we missed about five layup opportunities, whether we charged or not make the right decision, or they make a great play and block it,” Anderson said. “In the second half, once we sped ’em up or tuned ’em over, we made better decisions.”
He knows that’s usually the way it works for this team. When it’s all clicking, they are getting the turnovers.
“Today, we needed that,” he said. “We had 12 steals and we needed that because they were just attacking us on the glass. They had 21 offensive rebounds and you don’t win those kind of games unless you change the possessions some kind of way and that was the difference in the game today.”
In the end, it was a win, which allows Arkansas to advance.
“It was a good win for us,” Anderson said. “Looking forward to advance.”
Even if it’s against North Carolina, the No. 1 seed in the South Region.
But more on that later.
Considering how few wins the Hogs have lately in the NCAA, this one should be enjoyed.
At least for a night.
Hogs hold off Seton Hall at end for first-round win
GREENVILLE, S.C. — Jaylen Barford hit the go-ahead layup with 57.8 seconds left to help Arkansas hold off Seton Hall 77-71 on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Barford had 12 of his 20 points after halftime for the Razorbacks (26-9), the No. 8 seed in the South Region. That included his layup off Khadeen Carrington‘s turnover at the other end, pushing Arkansas ahead for good as the Razorbacks scored the game’s final seven points.
The 6-foot-3 junior also came through with a pair of free throws with 18.3 seconds left following a whistle in which officials reviewed Desi Rodriguez‘s foul to stop the clock and changed it to a flagrant foul.
After Barford hit his free throws, Daryl Macon added another to make it a 75-71 game. Carrington missed a 3 at the other end in what amounted to the ninth-seeded Pirates’ last gasp.
Macon added two more free throws with 9.7 seconds left to seal Arkansas’ ninth win in 11 games.
Moses Kingsley added 23 points on 10-for-13 shooting for the Razorbacks, who shot 47 percent against a defense that had been holding teams to around 43 percent.
Carrington had 22 points to lead the Pirates (21-12), who shot just 38 percent and couldn’t hold onto their late lead.
BIG PICTURE
Seton Hall: The Pirates had a 15-3 run to take a 64-56 lead with 8:41 left, but their mistakes down the stretch hurt. They had 15 turnovers — including two straight around Barford’s layup — to deny their pursuit of a first NCAA Tournament win since 2004.
Arkansas: The Razorbacks survived being soundly beaten on the boards (46-32) but they did just enough to speed the Pirates up and get the game closer to their preferred pace. They also made 18 of 23 free throws to help prolong their late-season surge.
UP NEXT
Arkansas advanced to Sunday’s second round to face the Texas Southern-North Carolina winner.
Hogs host annual Pro Day with 17 former players participating
FAYETTEVILLE — A total of 17 former Razorbacks showcased their abilities to 30 NFL teams on Wednesday afternoon during Arkansas’ Pro Day held inside Walker Pavilion at the Fred W. Smith Center.
The players took part in individual tests before breaking into positional work.
He did what?
None of the more than 300 a
hletes at this year’s NFL Combine ran a sub-4.4 40-yard dash, broad jumped 11 feet and had a vertical of 40 or more inches. On Wednesday, wide receiver Dominique Reed did all of those things.
Reed opened the day with a 40-yard dash clocked in the 4.37-4.40 range and then made his way to the vertical jump where he leaped 40 inches.
Reed continued to impress in the first hour of Pro Day when he made his way to the broad jump where he delivered a leap of 11-foot-4, which would have been the second-best mark at this year’s NFL Combine.
Morgan Improves
Dominique Reed wasn’t the only wide receiver that clocked some impressive times, as Drew Morgan improved on his times from the NFL Combine in the 40, 3-Cone Drill and 60-yard Shuttle.
Morgan trimmed a tenth of a second off his 40 with a time that ranged from 4.59-4.64.
The Greenwood product showed his quickness with a 6.63 3-cone time and a 11.07 60-yard shuttle time, which would have landed him second among wide receivers in both tests at the NFL Combine.
Combine Comparisons
Below is a look at where some of the Razorbacks’ Pro Day results would have ranked at this year’s NFL Combine.
• One of 10 tight ends to run a sub-4.70 (4.69) 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine, Jeremy Sprinkle improved in the 4.61-4.65 range.
• LB Brooks Ellis finished third at his positon in the 3-Cone Drill at the NFL Combine and slightly improved. Ellis was also second in the 60-yard Shuttle (11.28) at the combine.
• DJ Dean’s 20 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press would have ranked tied for third-most among defensive backs.
• Jared Collins’ broad jump of 131 inches (10-9) would have ranked fifth among defensive backs and his 4.44-4.46 40-yard dash 11th.
• WR Cody Hollister only benched due to having foot surgery in December. Hollister was able pound out 29 reps of 225 pounds, which would have been six more than any other wide receiver at the NFL Combine.
Notables
• DL Deatrich Wise Jr. only participated in positional workouts after testing at the NFL Combine.
• DL Jeremiah Ledbetter improved his 40 time by a tenth of a second to 4.75-4.79. He also increased his broad jump by seven inches to 10 feet.
• WR Keon Hatcher did not participate at all but was in attendance. He also attended the NFL Combine.
• P Toby Baker and PK Adam McFain did positional work outdoors for the scouts.
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