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Strong second half lifts Razorbacks over Texas in Lone Star Shootout

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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HOUSTON — Daryl Macon scored a career-high 23 points, and Arkansas fought off Texas for its sixth straight win, 77-74, on Saturday.

Macon, whose previous career high was 17 against Houston on Dec. 6, made all 14 of his free throws to lead the Razorbacks, who were 29 of 31 from the line.

Dusty Hannahs added 15 points and Jaylen Barford had 11 for Arkansas (9-1), which won nine of its first 10 games for the second time in the last seven years.

Tevin Mack had 20 points and 12 rebounds, Andrew Jones added 17 points and Kerwin Roach, Jr., had 12 points for the Longhorns (5-5), who shot 19 of 32 from the free-throw line. Jarrett Allen had 11 points and 10 rebounds for Texas.

Trailing by nine, the Longhorns used a 9-2 spurt to cut the lead to 73-71 with 41 seconds left on a Jones free throw. But Arlando Cook hit two free throws with 38 seconds remaining, and Roach missed a layup on the other end before Macon hit two free throws to push the lead to six.

Mack nailed a 3 with 16 seconds left to cut the Razorbacks’ lead to three, and Texas forced an Arkansas turnover on the inbounds, but Roach’s 3-pointer at the buzzer was short.

Texas took a 35-30 lead into halftime behind eight points each from Mack and Jones.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Arkansas: The Razorbacks overcame sluggish shooting in the first half, hitting 27 percent from the field, including 1 of 9 from behind the arc. Arkansas shot 46 percent in the second half. The Razorbacks got their first win over a Power 5 conference team this season.

Texas: The Longhorns continued to struggle on the road this season, falling to 0-4 away from Austin. Texas played good defense, forcing the Razorbacks into 36 percent shooting, but the Longhorns got four points from their bench.

UP NEXT

Arkansas: Hosts North Dakota State Tuesday and Sam Houston State Thursday before starting SEC play against Florida on Dec. 29.

Texas: Hosts UAB Wednesday and Kent State Dec. 27 before starting Big 12 play Dec. 30 at Kansas State.

Arkansas, Texas renew basketball rivalry Saturday in Houston

Andy Hodges
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No matter what happens Saturday, the basketball game between Arkansas and Texas will be tame.

Not that both sides won’t be trying hard, but compared to the late 1970’s, this one won’t have much flair at all.

While some have put out stories and press releases about the history of the series, they’ve all missed the mark. And, pretty much, missed the mark by a mile or so.

Nothing will top Eddie Sutton vs. Abe Lemons.

Over a six-year period from 1976-82, the two teams played 15 times with Arkansas dominating, 10-5. Sutton waxed philosophical, which was his nature, providing the intensity. Lemons took care of the entertainment.

“He should have won,” Lemons said in an interview in Oklahoma City, Okla., back in 1998. “He had better players.”

That was true as Arkansas started it’s climb to the top of the basketball world.

With its four leading scorers returning, Texas entered the 1978–79 season with a No. 6 ranking in The Associated Press poll and as the near-unanimous favorite to win the SWC championship.

Coming off its first Final Four appearance, Sutton, the Hogs and the Arkansas fans felt slighted.

It was made worse when the Longhorns came into Barnhill Arena and came away with a 3-point win over the Hogs, ranked 10th at the time.

But the intensity reached a red-hot intensity on Feb. 1 when the Razorbacks went to Austin and beat Texas by 10 points. At one point, Sutton reached out to Longhorns guard Johnny Moore and that infuriated Lemons.

“Eddie grabbed one of my players one time,” Lemons said. “I told him I was going to tear his Sunday clothes and liquidate his ass if he ever did it again. Eddie claims he never did it, but we’ve got it on film.”

From then, it was on.

In that postseason, it got worse. Arkansas won the conference tournament crown with a 39-38 win.

“Sutton said that was one of the greatest games ever played,” Lemons said. “I said, ‘That was the lowlight of my whole 50 years of coaching.’ Oh, it was awful. Absolutely awful.”

In those years, when Arkansas and Texas played you got to the arena early. In Fayetteville, Sutton would usually pop in near the end of the Longhorns’ shoot-around and chat with Lemons.

Before the 1981 game, when Texas again upset the Hogs in Barnhill, Lemons basically threatened his players in the shoot-around.

“Here’s the deal,” he told his team gathered around after the shoot-around. “The guy who plays the worst has to stay in Fayetteville for a week. We’ll vote on it if it’s a close call. We’ll get you a hotel room, paid for in advance.”

Sutton heard this. He just put his head down, suddenly appearing to develop a keen interest in the floor at Barnhill.

Afterward, he went over to shake hands with Lemons.

“May the worst team win,” Lemons said.

Sutton told Lemons that Texas was the biggest game of the year for the Hogs. It wasn’t the same feeling for the Longhorns.

Lemons: “Look, if I had a choice of beating you or beating Rice, I’d rather beat Rice.”

Sutton: “What are you talking about?”

Lemons: “We’ve got to beat Rice. I’d get fired if I don’t beat Rice. Heck, you can beat us. We’re not good enough.”

Sutton: “You don’t really believe that.”

Lemons: “Yes, I do. Rice is a bigger game (to us) than Arkansas.”

“Eddie about lost his mind when I told him that,” Lemons said.

By that time Nike had done a special called “Abe and Eddie,” which highlighted the differences between the two coaches.

The biggest difference may have been that Lemons was never shy about how to play Arkansas.

“He has some weaknesses,” Lemons said during those years. “One thing is you never reverse-pivot on them, or they’ll just fall over dead. They’ll be flopping all over the place. We reverse-pivoted one game, and three of his guys hit the deck.

“When it got close at the end of a game, they’d just fall down. (Sutton’s teams) were the masters at that. You just look at one of them (and) they’ll faint.”

Lemons passed away in 2002 while Sutton was still coaching, winding down his career at Oklahoma State.

The two had pretty much patched things up by then.

“Ahh, I’m about over it now,” the 75-year-old Lemons admitted in 1998. “I’m too old to do anything about it.”

Sutton always had a spot for Lemons, though. Until he passed away, there was always a spot at the Oklahoma State games on press row marked for Lemons.

It was their rivalry that made Arkansas-Texas special.

For the Razorback fans it helped they won most of the games.

Razorbacks look ahead to North Florida

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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The Arkansas men’s basketball team will go for its fifth straight victory Saturday afternoon when the Ospreys of North Florida come to town for the second consecutive season. Tip-off slated for 4:30 p.m. on SEC Network.

The Rundown
Date: Saturday, Dec. 10
Tip-off: 4:30 p.m. CT
Tickets: Buy Here
TV: SEC Network
WatchESPN: Click Here
Live Stats: Click Here

The #Fastest40 Facts
• After Tuesday’s victory against Houston, Arkansas jumped up three spots to No. 16 in the latest NCAA daily RPI rankings. The Razorbacks have four top 100 wins and one top 50 victory.

• Dusty Hannahs is shooting 91.9 percent (34-37) from the charity stripe this season, ranking 27th in the nation. He has made 20 straight free throws over the last six games and is 50-of-54 (.926) from the free throw line over the last 11 games.

• Moses Kingsley is tied for 13th in the country with 3.1 blocks per game this season and has recorded at least one block in 38 of his last 41 contests.

• Manuale Watkins is tied for third in the country in assist/turnover ratio at 10.0 among players with 15-plus assists. He ranks second in the SEC and third among high-major players. He has two turnovers in 176 minutes of action.

• The Razorbacks have pulled down 10-plus offensive rebounds in nine straight games, tying the longest streak under Anderson. Arkansas is scoring 15.4 percent of its points on second chance opportunities, good for 13.0 points a game.

• Arkansas has yet to trail this season in fast break points and holds a commanding 138-46 (+92) edge in the transition game. The Razorbacks have scored 20-plus fast break points in four of the eight games this year.

• In the second half of the last four games, Arkansas has combined to commit just 15 turnovers, averaging one per five minutes of action.

• The Razorbacks have single-digit turnovers in two of the last four games and limited Austin Peay to just one steal last Saturday, marking the eighth time in the last 10 years an Arkansas opponent only had one steal in a game.

• Arkansas is second in the SEC in scoring offense, averaging 84.2 points per game. The Razorbacks are also second in field goal percentage at 48.4 percent.

• The Razorbacks are looking to win eight of their first nine games for the second time in the last seven years and just the 10th time since joining the SEC for the 1991-92 season. Arkansas has started at least 8-1 in 19 of the last 42 years dating back to the start of the Eddie Sutton era in 1974-75.

• In those 19 times starting 8-1 since the beginning of Eddie Sutton’s tenure, Arkansas has made 14 NCAA Tournament appearances, eight Sweet Sixteen’s, six Elite Eight’s, four Final Four’s, two Championship Games and captured one National Title.

Ticket Packages
Mini plans, mobile passes and single-game tickets for the 2016-17 season are available now at the Razorback Ticket Center by calling at 1-800-982-HOGS (4647) and online by clicking here.

For more information on Arkansas men’s basketball, follow @RazorbackMBB on Twitter.

Hannahs, Macon pace Razorbacks past pesky North Florida

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Arkansas improved to 8-1 on the season Saturday night as the Razorbacks knocked off North Florida, 91-76, in Bud Walton Arena.

The Razorbacks have now won at least eight of their first nine games for just the second time in the last seven years and the 10th time since joining the Southeastern Conference.

The Hogs and Ospreys went into the half tied at 44 after trading buckets for nearly the entire first period. Arkansas was able to manufacture a 10-0 run midway through the first but North Florida climbed back in with the help of its three point shooting, making seven of its 12 three pointers in the opening frame.

For the second straight game, Dusty Hannahs scored 10 points in the first half, improving his streak of double figure scoring games to 16 straight. Hannahs finished the night with a team-high 17 points to go along with three assists and his first career block.

After trading baskets for the first part of the second half, Arkansas made an 11-0 run, largely in part to back-to-back three point baskets by Daryl Macon, to give the Razorbacks a 73-63 lead. Arkansas turned up the defensive pressure in the second half, forcing 11 of its 19 turnovers in the final period.

With a 21 assist performance Saturday night, Arkansas is one of six teams in the nation with 5 games of 20-plus assists this year. The Razorbacks are now 37-3 under head coach Mike Anderson when Arkansas reaches 20 assists and 5-0 this season.

Moses Kingsley continues to be a force in the paint. The SEC’s active leader in double-doubles picked up the 19th of his career on Saturday night with a 13 point and 10 rebound performance. Kingsley had another block, which makes it 39 of the last 42 games that he has recorded a swat.

Arkansas’ bench came up big once again, outscoring North Florida 36-6. The Razorbacks also outscored the Ospreys in fast break points, improving Arkansas’ margin over opponents to 148-48 this season. The Hogs have yet to trail in fast break points this season.

UP NEXT
The Razorbacks will travel to Houston, Texas next week to participate in the Lone Star Shootout on Saturday, Dec. 17 at the Toyota Center. Arkansas will tip it up against the Texas Longhorns at 1:30 p.m. on ESPNU.

Hogs put together rally in final minutes to down Coogs, 84-72

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Behind a 14-3 run in the final minutes, Arkansas picked up its fourth straight victory Tuesday night, knocking off Houston, 84-72, in Bud Walton Arena.

The Razorbacks (7-1) have won at least seven of their first eight games for the eighth time in the last 13 years and just the 10th time since joining the SEC.

Arkansas improved to 22-17 all-time over its old Southwest Conference rival, moving to 14-2 against Houston (6-2) in Fayetteville.

The bench came up big for the Hogs once again, outscoring the Cougars 34-14, led by Dusty Hannahs who finished with a team-high 17 points. Hannahs scored 10 of his 17 in the first half, extending his streak to double figure scoring games to 16 straight contests. Dating back to last season, Hannahs has made 50 of his last 54 (.926) free throws including 20 straight over the last six games.

Down one with 14:29 left in the first half, Arkansas went on a 17-2 run to take a 25-11 lead. After missing eight straight shots, the Cougars slowly clawed back into the game and ended the first half by making nine of their last 12 attempts to head into the break leading 35-34.

Both teams traded baskets early to start the second half as Arkansas regained the lead heading into the first media timeout 45-43 and never looked back. The Razorbacks sank seven of their last 10 shots to put the game away down the stretch.

Daryl Macon finished with a career-high 17 points to go along with three rebounds and three assists. Moses Kingsley made his presence felt inside, finishing with 14 points, nine rebounds and two blocks. Kingsley has now finished with multiple swats in six of the eight games this season.

QUOTABLES
“I thought our energy level was a big factor in winning this game. I thought we had some guys in there to finish. If you noticed, Manuale Watkins had seven rebounds. He and Moses (Kingsley) were in there getting rebounds down the stretch. I thought they were fresher, moving defensively, getting to places and covering people. I thought the bench play allowed me to rest those guys, so when they came in, I thought they were fresh to finish the game and they finished it up well. It was a lot of contributions by a lot of guys.” – Coach Mike Anderson

“Our defense was the difference maker for us. We were starting to communicate, and tell our teammates when people were cutting through. Talking on defense was something we weren’t doing in the first half. Communication in the second half was much better.” – junior guard Daryl Macon

UP NEXT
The Razorbacks will complete their five-game homestand on Saturday, Dec. 10 when the North Florida Ospreys visit Bud Walton Arena. UNF has won the Atlantic Sun Conference regular season title each of the last two seasons. Tip-off is set for 4:30 p.m. on SEC Network.

Comparing Arkansas, Wisconsin since Bielema hired in Fayetteville

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Anderson recaps Hogs’ win over Stephen F. Austin

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Video from WholeHogSports.com

Hannahs, Kingsley talking about win over Lumberjacks

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Video from WholeHogSports.com

Arkansas stays perfect at home with big victory over SFA

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Arkansas used a 78-62 victory over Stephen F. Austin Thursday evening in Bud Walton Arena to improve to 5-1 on the season.

The victory marks the 16th time since joining the SEC that Arkansas has won at least five of its first six games to open the year.

Down a bucket early, Arkansas went on a 21-5 run to go up 23-9 with 9:15 left in the first half. The Razorbacks forced eight turnovers on SFA’s first 14 possessions, but the Lumberjacks were able to chop the Razorback lead to 34-28 before the break.

The Razorbacks forced 11 second-half turnovers and a season-high 21 miscues in the game to move to 27-2 under head coach Mike Anderson when forcing 20-plus turnovers. Arkansas’ pressure has forced 17-plus turnovers in three of the six games this season, after only doing so seven times a year ago.

SFA finished with 18 made field goals, making it the 20th time Arkansas has forced more turnovers than field goals allowed under Anderson.

The Hogs were led by senior Dusty Hannahs who finished with 15 points and two assists. Hannahs has scored in double figures in 14 straight contests and led the team in scoring in four of six games this season. Moses Kingsley put up 12 points to along with six boards and two assists.

Manuale Watkins pulled down a team-best seven rebounds and added eight points, while Anton Beard chipped in three assists, four steals and nine points.

Arkansas outscored SFA 20-4 on fast break points and has outscored its opponents in transition this season by a combined 98-27 margin.

QUOTABLES
“I thought our defense was the difference in this game, especially in the second half.  We always have a motto of getting multiple stops. When you get stops, it gives you a cushion. In the second half, we went up and down but we had some plays that were momentum changers. What we have to learn how to do is when we get a team down, to keep them down, no matter who we put in the game.  We need to get more guys playing at a high level.” – head coach Mike Anderson

“He is taking what the defense gives him. They are playing him hard so he’s getting to the free throw line, and I think that shows his versatility. He is scoring in a different way. He got some baskets in transitions and some nice assists as well. Those kind of plays do not go unnoticed. If you look at his development since he has been here I think he has become a more versatile scorer.” – head coach Mike Anderson on Dusty Hannahs

UP NEXT
The Razorbacks will have a day off before returning to Bud Walton Arena on Saturday, Dec. 3 to face Austin Peay at 7 p.m.

SFA’s Kyle Keller talks about loss to Razorbacks

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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We thought it would be multiple SEC teams complaining about CFP snubs

Andy Hodges
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Somewhere along the way the Big 10 (hereinafter referred to as B1G, mainly because it looks cool) kinda figured out this whole national championship thing.

Oh, we all know Ohio State won the first one back in 2014. But, in fairness, there wasn’t all this grinding of teeth and hand-wringing we have now.

You know Jeff Long is happy he’s not having to be the front man for the College Football Playoff. We know Arkansas’ not involved, but does he excuse himself during any discussion of Louisville?

After all, when Cardinals coach Bobby Petrino was canned by Long, there was some anger on both sides of that deal. It could be argued that would be a bigger conflict than discussing his current team affiliation.

But we digress.

When this whole CFP thing came about in 2014, those of us in in the Southeast Conference couldn’t remotely think of a situation where anybody else could be arguing over getting two teams in.

The SEC Network was starting up and many of us wags in the media thought any other conference should even be allowed beyond maybe a token appearance to at least give everybody else a chance.

Now we have the B1G with at least an argument that they could argue for at least three teams to be in. Yeah, three teams from one conference in the top six teams headed into the final weekend.

Didn’t see that one coming back in 2014.

Oh, it was relatively easy to picture something with three or four SEC teams all clamoring to be included. It was in 2011 when going into the final week of the regular season Arkansas was in the top three with Alabama and LSU.

That fell apart with the Tigers dismantling the Razorbacks, but it was a similar situation to this year, but the Hogs dropped to fifth in the polls and sixth in the BCS rankings.

We would have had the same argument we’re having now except, of course, it would have been the SEC doing the bragging while the B1G was yelling

When the CFP came into being, the head of the whole deal, Bill Hancock, was making the rounds at SEC Media Days in Hoover, Ala.

“Bill, what happens when you have two or three teams from one conference better than anybody else at the end?” he was asked.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we have to,” he said with a smile.

The bridge is now directly in front of the CFP voters and the SEC isn’t part of the argument. Now that is due, in part, to the rather startling fact that the SEC flat-lined behind the Crimson Tide.

Also, the B1G has the best collection of coaches in college football and they’re all ganged up in that one conference. Colin Cowherd on Fox Sports pointed that out earlier in the week. After the initial shock, reality set in and that’s exactly what has happened.

The SEC has Nick Saban and, well, there’s a long, long dropoff to whoever is second. There are some decent coaches all throughout the league, but some that have been exposed as being over-rated and others who are proving to be middle-of-the-pack right now.

And right now the B1G has passed the SEC, at least from this viewpoint. Oh, probably not if you want to take the top-to-bottom approach, but at the top they have, just in sheer numbers if nothing else.

Arkansas, for example, would do well playing the teams in the bottom half of the league. Against Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin, Penn State, well, not so much. It could be uglier than some of the games they played this year.

All the SEC has this year is Alabama to throw at the B1G.

In fact, that could be the best thing of all come to think of it. The CFP can go ahead and put three teams from the B1G in there (and it could happen if Clemson and Washington stumble this weekend).

That way when the Crimson Tide beats them, the world can return to normal.

After all, the only thing that really matters is who wins that last game, right?

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