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Razorbacks handle Missouri to snap losing skid behind Macon’s 17 points

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Behind a big night from junior guard Daryl Macon, Arkansas (13-4, 2-3 SEC) led wire to wire Saturday night, defeating Missouri (5-11, 0-4 SEC), 92-73, inside Bud Walton Arena.

The Razorbacks have defeated the Tigers for the fifth consecutive time and improve to 90-14 inside Bud Walton Arena during the Mike Anderson era. Arkansas is one of two programs in the country with 90 wins and fewer than 15 losses at home over the last six seasons.

The Razorbacks used a big first half to pull away from the Tigers. After missing its first two shots of the game, Arkansas proceeded to make nine of its next 12 to open it up to a 25-14 lead midway through the first half. The Razorbacks later put together a 14-0 run to extend the lead to 21 before going into the locker room with a 50-36 advantage.

The Razorbacks were able to create some havoc on the defensive end. Pushing the tempo to its liking, Arkansas forced eight first-half turnovers and scored 17 points in transition in the opening frame.

Jaylen Barford led all Razorbacks in the first half, scoring 11 points to make it three of the last four games that he has scored in double figures before halftime. Macon had five first-half assists, which tied his career-high.

The Razorbacks maintained their double-digit lead throughout the second half, finishing on a 7-0 run and holding the Tigers scoreless for the final two minutes and 40 seconds of the game to capture a 19-point victory. Arkansas finished with its best shooting performance of the season, sinking 33-of-59 shots (.559).

Macon finished with a game-high 17 points, career-high six assists and four rebounds. Dusty Hannahs had 16 points of his own to go along with three boards and three assists. Five Razorbacks finished in double figures as Moses Kingsley ended with 10 points, Barford with 13 and Anton Beard had 11.

UP NEXT
Texas A&M is next up for Arkansas. The Razorbacks travel to College Station on Tuesday, Jan. 17 to face the Aggies at 6 p.m. on SEC Network.

Lashlee leaves Auburn while Louisville, Mississippi State swap D-coordinators

Andy Hodges
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The musical chairs game of coaching in college football has now kicked into high gear.

It’s not just at Arkansas, where Robb Smith has gone to Minnesota, leaving the defensive coordinator position open. Secondary coach Paul Rhoads is reportedly the front-runner to replace Smith, but now there are some saying he may be a co-coordinator.

Some of the names in the mix at Arkansas include:

• Former Arkansas assistant Charlie Partridge, who was fired at Florida Atlantic.

• Mississippi State safeties coach Maurice Linguist.

• Central Florida defensive coordinator Erik Chinander.

The Hogs’ offensive coordinator, Dan Enos, has been mentioned as a replacement for P.J. Fleck at Western Michigan in addition to the offensive coordinator position at Pittsburgh after Matt Canada went to LSU.

One of the more interesting moves came about when Louisville forced defensive coordinator Todd Grantham out, then hired Mississippi State defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon to replace him after it surfaced Tuesday he was being forced out in Starkville.

So, MSU immediately hires Grantham. He will become the fourth defensive coordinator under Dan Mullen in the past four seasons. The other names were Geoff Collins and Manny Diaz before Sirmon.

Grantham may have traded one difficult coach to work for in Bobby Petrino for Mullen, who reportedly has similar issues with assistants.

But all of that pales to the drama going on down on The Plains at Auburn.

Gus Malzahn, despite getting the Tigers to the Sugar Bowl, had to dump his buddy, offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee. According to sources at Auburn, it was a move Malzahn had to make to keep his job.

Lashlee, with Malzahn’s help, got the offensive coordinator position at Connecticut with new coach Randy Edsall.

That immediately started the rumors about either former Baylor coach Art Briles or his son Kendall (who was the offensive coordinator for the Bears) replacing Lashlee.

All of that was squashed Thursday morning in a report from Auburn Undercover on 247Sports.com.

“No way on Art,” a high-level source told Auburn Undercover on Thursday. “Kendal lacks experience Gus (Malzahn) needs.”

That leaves the game of musical chairs going at warp speed. Considering Malzahn has to please the behind-the-scenes maneuvering by former coach Pat Dye along with a demanding fan base and boosters, it has to be a big name and somebody with a proven track record.

On the staff are offensive line coach Herb Hand, running backs coach Tim Horton or receivers coach Kodi Burns and they will be fallback candidates.

Now the candidates include:

• Jeff Scott, Clemson’s co-offensive coordinator.

• Jake Spavital, California’s offensive coordinator who is in limbo after Sonny Dykes was fired.

• Chip Lindsey, Arizona State’s offensive coordinator, who may be the frontrunner, according to some close to Auburn. He was a high school coach at Spain Park and knocked off legendary Hoover. His connections in Alabama high schools run deep, but his offense last year with the Sun Devils was only ranked 81st.

• Brandon Streeter, Clemson’s quarterback coach.

• Eliah Drinkwitz, North Carolina State’s offensive coordinator, who moved to offensive coordinator at Springdale High when Malzahn was hired by the Razorbacks. He later followed Malzahn to Auburn and Arkansas State.

And we haven’t even gotten to who’s coming and going at Alabama yet. Every year Nick Saban’s staff has at least one or two divorces, a couple of heart issues and four ulcers to deal with.

Bulldogs’ 3-point shooting sinks Razorbacks for second straight SEC loss

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Despite a season-high 19 points from senior Moses Kingsley, Arkansas (12-4, 1-3 SEC) fell, 84-78, on Tuesday night to Mississippi State (11-4, 2-1 SEC) in Bud Walton Arena.

Kingsley scored five early points to push Arkansas out in front to a 9-8 lead at the first media timeout.

Mississippi State later missed seven straight shots over a span of three minutes and 52 seconds, giving Arkansas the chance to go on an 11-1 run, with eight of those points by Anton Beard, as the Razorbacks took a 24-17 lead with 9:40 left in the first period.

The Bulldogs used three consecutive three-point baskets to recapture the lead 33-27 before going into the break with a 40-34 lead.

After forcing the Bulldogs into a shot clock violation and five second call on back-to-back possessions, Arkansas used a quick 6-0 run to open the second half to tie the game at 40.

The Razorbacks, however, could never regain the lead despite forcing Mississippi State into 16 turnovers during the game.

Three-point shooting by the Bulldogs damaged the Hogs as Mississippi State went 12-of-26 (.462) from behind the arc.

Kingsley finished with a season-high 19 points and four rebounds on 7-of-12 shooting, including sinking a bucket from behind the arc. Jaylen Barford put up 10 points and five rebounds for the Razorbacks.

Arkansas continues to get good production from its bench as Dusty Hannahs put up 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting and three rebounds. Hannahs has now scored in double-figures in every game this season that he has come off the bench.

Anton Beard recorded 11 points and has scored in double-figures in five of the last six games. Dustin Thomas finished with a team-high seven rebounds to go with eight points. The Razorbacks outscored the Bulldogs 36-21 in bench points.

UP NEXT
Arkansas will face the Missouri Tigers on Saturday, Jan. 14 in Bud Walton Arena. The game is set to tip-off at 5 p.m. on SEC Network.

Multiple sources reporting Smith now headed to Minnesota to join Fleck’s staff

Andy Hodges
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First, Arkansas’ defensive coordinator Robb Smith was headed to Wake Forest.

Now he’s apparently taken a turn and is headed to Minnesota to join the staff of newly-hired coach P.J. Fleck.

ESPN.com’s Adam Rittenberg reported the story first at 1:24 p.m. Monday:

Minnesota is hiring Arkansas defensive coordinator Robb Smith for the same position, a source tells ESPN.

An official announcement is expected shortly. New Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck is hoping to complete his staff by Thursday.

Per terms of his contract, Smith would owe Arkansas $250,000 to break his contract, which runs through the 2018 season.

It is not unusual when a coach is wanting to make a change the school will waive that so a coach the school wants to replace can leave without being fired.

Smith was in line to receive a $50,000 pay raise this month that would increase his annual compensation to $850,000.

The Gophers had fired Tracy Claeys after Fleck’s Western Michigan team lost to Wisconsin in the Cotton Bowl last week. They made in the coaching change in one week.

Smith’s defense at Arkansas improved in 2014, but has gone downhill since. With second-half collapses in the final two games of the season, it comes as no surprise Smith is leaving.

The leader in the clubhouse to replace Smith is secondary coach Paul Rhoads, who just completed his first season on the Arkansas staff.

Hogs keep it close for a half before falling to Kentucky on road

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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LEXINGTON, Ky. — Arkansas kept it close for a half.

But in the second half, Kentucky caught fire and raced past the Razorbacks, 97-71, in Rupp Arena.

The loss dropped the Hogs to 1-2 in SEC play, 12-3 overall. The No. 6-ranked Wildcats are 13-2 overall, 3-0 in the league.

Kentucky built an early five-point lead before Arkansas went on a 9-0 run with the help of four straight Kentucky turnovers, giving the Razorbacks a 24-20 lead with 8:04 left in the first half. Jaylen Barford contributed seven of his 14 first half points during the run. The Wildcats responded with a 12-0 run of their own to take an eight-point lead, before Arkansas clawed back within three, taking it to half down 41-38.

Kentucky came out in the second half on fire, making seven of its first eight shots to pull to a 57-48 lead with 15:09 left in the game. The Razorbacks could not manufacture any sort of run to climb back as the Wildcats stretched their lead to double figures shortly after.

Three Razorbacks finished in double figures as Daryl Macon led the way with 15 points. Macon has scored 10 or more points in eight straight games, leading the team in scoring in five out of the last six contests.

Barford scored 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting off the bench, while Moses Kingsley also put up 14 points and pulled down seven rebounds. Manuale Watkins tied his season high with seven rebounds, tying Kingsley for a team-high in boards.

The Razorbacks were strong from the charity stripe once again, going 81 percent (17-21) from the line, led by a 5-of-5 performance by Kingsley. Trey Thompson made all four of his attempts from the free throw line, finishing with four points and four rebounds.

UP NEXT
Arkansas will return home on Tuesday, Jan. 10 as the Razorbacks are set to square off against the Mississippi State Bulldogs in Bud Walton Arena at 8 p.m. on SEC Network.

Nearly all of Hogs’ second-half meltdowns simply boil down to coaching

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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In a more in-depth autopsy of Arkansas’ 2016 season, it is clear this is a team that could have finished with nine wins.

At least.

No, it wasn’t a team that is ready to challenge Alabama for a title. But the excuses and pulling out bits and pieces here and there to justify losses are getting tiresome.

At times Bret Bielema sounds like a 6-year-old just scolded for not cleaning up his room.

“But I cleaned it up last week,” is the reply.

If you have kids, you get the idea.

Arkansas’ season is just another example of what has become a habit for Bielema’s teams — they can’t finish.

When a team turns a halftime lead into a loss, it’s for one of two reasons:

• The other team simply has much better players that become motivated or they wear down the opponent.

• Coaching blunders.

Looking back over Bret Bielema’s four years at Arkansas, the signs really started to show themselves in that first season. We should have seen the signs then.

Before Robb Smith, Dan Enos, this offensive line, these players.

Remember 2013? Bielema basically had a pass on all the losses that year. In stepping back and looking at the overall picture it should have been better than 3-9.

Below we look at all 14 losses that could have been wins and the reason for the loss at the end:

2013 Blown Chances

• Leading Rutgers 24-7 and watch it all go by the wayside in a 28-24 loss. That should have been the first clue that 24 is not a good number for Bielema. Coaching

• Against Mississippi State, the Hogs had a 10-0 lead, then a 17-10 edge going into the fourth quarter and lost it in overtime. Remember, this was Dak Prescott’s rookie year and he wasn’t even the starting quarterback all year. Coaching

• Against all odds, the Hogs were leading LSU 27-21 in the fourth quarter, and had knocked starting quarterback Zach Mettenberger out of the game. Backup Anthony Jennings came in and took the Tigers 99 yards in a hurry for a 31-27 win. This one gets a combo-grade because there were some questionable decisions at the end that should have been the third set of red flags for what was coming. Talent-Coaching

2014 Blown Chances

• We discovered that Texas A&M has gained a steady hold on Bielema and the Hogs. Arkansas led the Aggies 28-14 entering the fourth quarter and lost the game in a one-possession overtime, looking horrendous being stopped without a first down. Coaching

• Shockingly, the Hogs found themselves ahead of Alabama 13-7 going into the fourth quarter, but then the Crimson Tide put enough together for a touchdown drive and a 14-13 win. Talent

• Again, finding themselves with a 10-7 lead in Starkville against No. 1-ranked Mississippi State, Prescott brought the Bulldogs back to get a 17-10 win in a game the Hogs could have won, but we’ll give Bielema a half-out on this one. Talent-Coaching

• Leading what had become the best team in the East for two seasons, Arkansas had a 14-6 lead on the Tigers going into the fourth quarter. Then Missouri scored twice and shut down the Hogs’ offense for a 21-14 win. Coaching

2015 Blown Chances

• After losing to Toledo the week before (which everyone pretty much wrote off as one of those things), the Razorbacks found themselves tied at 21-21 with Texas Tech. The Red Raiders and their spread attack, which Bielema said the previous summer was the type he would “kick your ass.” The Hogs were outscored in the second half 14-3 and lost by double digits. Coaching

• Texas A&M again saw the Hogs lead 21-13 in the fourth quarter. The Aggies, again, got it to overtime and held Arkansas scoreless there for another win. Coaching

• Facing another Alabama team headed for a national championship, the Razorbacks took advantage of the Tide’s sleepwalking in the first half for a 7-3 lead, but then lost the game by double digits. Talent

• Mississippi State came to Fayetteville and on a bitterly cold night, a track meet broke out as Prescott showed flashes of what Dallas Cowboys faithful are cheering for now. He led the Bulldogs down the field at will. In the end, though, a blocking snafu on a field goal got the Hogs’ game-winning shot blocked. Coaching

2016 Blown Chances

• After a hard-fought opening win over Louisiana Tech and an overtime win against a sub-par TCU team, it was the Aggies again. The Hogs were tied at halftime and ended up losing by 21 points. Coaching

• In the season finale, the Hogs led hapless Missouri 24-7 at halftime and lost. The Tigers were the worst team in the SEC East and Arkansas had just blown out the top team in the East, Florida. Coaching

• Fans were thinking the Missouri game was a simple snafu at halftime of the Belk Bowl with Arkansas leading Virginia Tech 24-0. That changed as the Hokies came back to win by double digits as the offense completely disappeared for the Hogs. Coaching

Over four seasons, that’s 14 games. Split the difference and give Arkansas wins in just half of those games and Bielema’s record is 32-19. The water might be a little warm, but it’s nowhere near boiling.

The total is 10 losses that can be chalked up to coaching while two are strictly talent (Alabama) and two are a combination of the two.

In today’s world of college football, you know what you have in a coach in four years. Colorado discovered they made the right choice with Mike MacIntyre, who just finished his fourth year leading the Buffaloes to a 10-4 record and an appearance in the Pac 12 title game.

Even looking back now, can you say Colorado in December 2012 was a better job than Arkansas then?

Yes, they aren’t in the SEC West. UA officials were pretty much aware that Arkansas was in the toughest division in the toughest conference in the country.

A division that has won six of the last nine national championships. Yes, if Alabama beats Clemson on Monday night it will be seven-of-10.

Firing Bielema now isn’t going to happen.

But what has to happen is some changes in the expectations, culture and approach in Arkansas football.

There are no more excuses acceptable. Those really should have expired at the end of 2015, but some — fans and media alike — prefer to continue to not step back and look at the big picture.

When you look at that, blowing games in the second half comes down to not taking care of the details.

Bielema has tried it his way for four years.

Now we see if he can change.

Clutch free throws down stretch lift Razorbacks past Tennessee

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Mike Anderson finally got what he wanted to see Tuesday night.

“The effort tonight was unbelievable,” he told his players after Arkansas had beaten Tennessee 82-78. “That’s the team I’ve been waiting for.”

Anton Beard scored 16 points and the Razorbacks hit their free throws down the stretch to erase an early 13-point deficit and outlast the Volunteers, 82-78.

Arkansas (12-2, 1-1 SEC) has beaten Tennessee (8-6, 1-1) five straight times for the longest winning streak by either team in the 38-game history of this series.

The Volunteers trailed 71-64 with 2:52 left when Arkansas’ Moses Kingsley missed the front end of a one-and-one to set the stage for a Tennessee rally. Tennessee got to within 71-70 with 1:50 remaining when Robert Hubbs dunked on a fast break after Grant Williams blocked a Kingsley shot on the other end of the floor.

Tennessee cut the lead to one again on Detrick Mostella’s 3-point play with 24.7 seconds left, but Daryl Macon went 6 of 6 on free throws the rest of the way to seal the victory.

Arkansas shot 11 of 12 from the line over the final 1:31 of the game.

Macon scored 15 points, as he made only one basket but was 12 of 13 on free throws. Jaylen Barford scored 14 points and Dusty Hannahs added 13.

Robert Hubbs III scored 21 points and Mostella had 16 for Tennessee. Williams added 15 points and 11 rebounds.

The first half alone featured seven lead changes and two major momentum swings.

Tennessee grabbed a 39-26 lead late in the first half by going on a 14-0 run as Arkansas went scoreless for a stretch of 5 minutes, 20 seconds. Arkansas responded by reeling off 15 straight points in a spurt that began in the last three minutes of the first half and carried over to the opening minute of the second half.

THE BIG PICTURE

Arkansas: The 15-0 run that allowed Arkansas to take control of this game shouldn’t have come as a surprise. The Razorbacks have thrived on these kinds of spurts all season. Arkansas entered this game having scored at least 10 straight points on 13 different occasions this year.

Tennessee: The Vols held Kingsley in check, as the SEC preseason player of the year had just seven points to go along with 10 rebounds and shot 3 of 10 from the floor. But a balanced Arkansas attack proved too much for the Vols to handle.

NEXT UP

Arkansas visits No. 6 Kentucky on Saturday.

Tennessee is at No. 24 Florida on Saturday.

Is there really a winning culture in place with Razorbacks from the top?

Andy Hodges
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Athletics director Jeff Long’s tweet has gotten a lot of attention, but maybe the deeper impact is lost in the autopsy of a football season that careened wildly into a ditch.

Just how deep the ditch is won’t be known for at least another year, maybe two.

Long’s tweet sounded more like a plea to ticket-buyers and financial boosters than anything else.

Razorback Nation I reject notion the sky is falling! We are strong & will make changes to become stronger! We will fight we will !

The first thought a media person at another state in the SEC said upon seeing it was, “the College Football Playoff is in trouble if that’s the level of knowledge deciding who should be in the playoffs.”

More fans would have been happier with a tweet that seven wins in a season is not acceptable at Arkansas.

And it shouldn’t be.

Hearing that it’s a rebuilding project worked fine in 2013 and maybe 2014. There were a couple of wins in that latter season that, in retrospect, should be viewed more as what the other team didn’t do as opposed to what the Hogs did.

The bigger problem is that we have a four-year body of work and there are some trouble trends that if Long isn’t looking at, then he’s the one that’s going to have the problem.

Under Bielema, the Hogs can’t close out games.

In four years, there have been 14 games where Arkansas was leading at halftime they’ve ended up losing. In six of those games the Hogs were leading in the fourth quarter.

Winning half of those games and Bielema’s record is 32-19 and we’re having an entirely different conversation.

Getting beat from the start, but keeping it close is a sign you just need a few more players. Blowing leads in the second half — particularly the fourth quarter — falls squarely on the coaches.

You have to wonder if it’s a cultural thing.

Has Arkansas’ expectations from within the university’s athletic department changed?

Many former Razorbacks are baffled that not even being in the chase for a championship every year is not the mandate from the highest places in the athletic department.

Don’t believe the hype, either, which often gives you a false sense of achievement. Some could say that in 2015 the Hogs were in the SEC West race late, but that required a sense of hopefulness not even the most rabid fan could muster.

Again, if the expectations at the top aren’t clearly defined, everybody is in total confusion. There are examples in the last couple of decades where not having expectations at the top to match the fan base has led to the ouster of athletic directors and, in a couple of cases, the presidents of universities.

That’s how you build a winning culture.

Long has said wins and losses aren’t the measure of how a program should be judged.

Sounds good.

Unless you’re in the SEC where it makes you sound like an idiot.

Or a Vanderbilt fan.

 

Anderson talks about loss to Florida, matchup with Vols on Tuesday

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Video from WholeHogSports.com

Saban confident Kiffin leaving will help Tide or he wouldn’t be going

Andy Hodges
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Despite all of the unreported drama around Alabama and Lane Kiffin for the past few weeks, there’s really only one reason he’s headed for Florida Atlantic a week ahead of schedule: Nick Saban thinks he can win that way.

“We made the decision because it was in the best interest of our players, our program and for Lane for him to assume his duties at Florida Atlantic,” Saban told ESPN on Monday. “We mutually agreed that this was best for both programs.”

Steve Sarkisian, named a couple of weeks ago to replace Kiffin, will take over for Monday night’s national championship game against Clemson.

Saban said Sarkisian, who had already been named Kiffin’s successor, will be in charge of Alabama’s game plan for the championship game.

Kiffin said he expects an easy transition for Sarkisian, noting how Sarkisian’s personality should mesh better with Saban’s than his did.

“I’m not saying it’s bad with him at all,” Kiffin said earlier about the change. “I would say Sark manages people better than I do.”

“This wasn’t an easy decision and we appreciate the way Lane handled this in terms of doing what is best for our team,” Saban said in a statement from Alabama. “At the end of the day, both of us wanted to put our players in the best position to be successful.

“Obviously, we are in a unique situation here where we have our next offensive coordinator already on staff. We have full confidence that Sark will step in right away and make this a smooth transition.”

Kiffin this is the best move for everyone.

“After going through these last couple of weeks, trying to serve the best interests of two universities as an offensive coordinator and a head coach, it became apparent that both programs would be better served by me giving all my time and efforts to being the head coach at FAU,” Kiffin said in the statement. “After meeting with Coach Saban during preparations last night and this morning, we mutually decided that it was in everyone’s best interests for the players and the program for Coach Sarkisian to take over all responsibilities as offensive coordinator for the championship game.

“This was a very difficult decision, but it’s a decision made in the best interests of the program. I look forward to helping Alabama win another championship, and would like to thank Coach Saban, the staff, and all the players and fans for the past three years at UA for an unforgettable time and championship run. Roll Tide!”

In the semifinal game against Washington,

Saban could be seen on the sideline yelling at Kiffin during the first quarter after a three-and-out on the opening series.

Against Washington, the Crimson Tide’s offense struggled as quarterback Jalen Hurts had a season-low 57 yards passing.

Make no mistake about it, Saban felt something wasn’t right.

And making the change gives Alabama the best chance to win the game.

In an unprecedented move, Saban will add another notch to his coaching lore if it works by making the coordinator change at a time most wouldn’t dare.

But that’s only if it works.

Which Saban feels it will.

Hogs go on road to face Tennessee in second SEC game

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Arkansas opens the calendar year on the road Tuesday evening, traveling to Knoxville, Tenn., to face the Volunteers at 5:30 p.m. in Thompson-Boling Arena.

The Rundown
Date: Tuesday, Jan. 3
Tip-off: 5:30 p.m. CT
TV: SEC Network
WatchESPN: Click Here

The #Fastest40 Facts
• Arkansas has equaled its best 13-game start in the Mike Anderson era with an 11-2 record. The 2014-15 team opened the year 13-2.

• After Thursday’s loss to Florida, Arkansas checks in at No. 41 in the latest NCAA RPI. The Razorbacks are one of 10 league teams with a top 100 RPI, with Tennessee moving up 37 spots to No. 65 after a road win at Texas A&M.

• Arkansas is looking for its third straight SEC road win after ending last year with victories at Tennessee and Alabama.

• Arkansas’ eight-game winning streak entering SEC play was its longest under head coach Mike Anderson in the last six years. The program’s previous eight-game winning streak came in the 2008-09 season with 10 straight victories.

• Arkansas has recorded runs of at least 10-0 on 13 different occasions this year, including a season-high 21-0 run against Austin Peay on Dec. 3. The Razorbacks have multiple 10-0 runs in five of 13 games this year.

• The Razorbacks have held opponents scoreless for three-plus minutes 22 times this year, including at least once in 10 of 13 games this season. Arkansas held UT Arlington scoreless for a season-best 7:11 during the second half, going on a 15-0 run.

• The Razorbacks have pulled down 10-plus offensive rebounds in 14 straight games, the longest streak under Anderson. Arkansas is scoring 16.1 percent of its points on second chance opportunities this season, good for 13.3 points a game.

The Rocky Top Series
• Arkansas is 18-19 all-time against Tennessee, including four straight victories against the Volunteers. A win Tuesday would mark the longest win-streak by either team in the series.

• Mike Anderson is 5-2 all-time against Rick Barnes, with five of the seven meetings taking place when both coaches were in the Big 12 Conference. Anderson is 2-0 since Barnes moved to the SEC.

• The Razorbacks have road wins over 10 different SEC opponents in the last three-plus years, joining Florida (11) and Kentucky (13) as the only schools to accomplish the feat.

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