SEC Tournament report
Barford conquers home turf
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Arkansas Razorbacks guard Jaylen Barford keeps winning homecoming games.
Barford, a junior from Jackson, Tenn., improved to 4-0 in the state of Tennessee — including 3-0 in Nashville — with the Razorbacks’ 7662 victory over Vanderbilt on Saturday in the SEC Tournament semifinals at Bridgestone Arena.
Barford led the Razorbacks with 18 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals. He scored 14 points in the Razorbacks’ 82-78 victory at Tennessee, 15 in their 7170 victory at Vanderbilt, and 13 in their 73-72 victory over Ole Miss on Friday night in their SEC Tournament semifinal game.
“It’s a great feeling to be back home,” Barford said. “Or close to home at least.”
This is Barford’s first season playing for the Razorbacks after he transferred from Motlow State (Tenn.) Community College.
As a senior at South Side High School in Jackson — about a two-hour drive from Nashville on Interstate 40 — he led his team to the Tennessee Class 4A state championship.
1,000 for Dusty
Dusty Hannahs, a fifthyear senior from Little Rock, became the 41st player to score 1,000 points for the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.
Hannahs scored 16 points Saturday to give him 1,011 for his two seasons at Arkansas after he transferred from Texas Tech. He’s now 38th on the Razorbacks’ career list. He moved ahead of Clint McDaniel (1,007 points) and Robert McKenzie (1,006) on Saturday.
“It’s an honor to be on that small list of people, and doing it for the Razorbacks is the best part,” Hannahs said. “It’s taken a lot of hard work to get to there.”
Including the 447 points Hannahs scored as a freshman and sophomore for the Red Raiders, has 1,458 for his college career.
Hannahs became the second Razorback to join the 1,000-point club this season. Senior center Moses Kingsley had 12 points Saturday and now has 1,160 to rank 26th on Arkansas’ career list.
“That’s good to see Dusty play so well coming back to his home state from Texas Tech,” Kingsley said. “I’m very happy for him.”
Happy anniversary?
Arkansas will play in the SEC Tournament championship game against Kentucky exactly 17 years after the Razorbacks beat Auburn 75-67 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on March 12, 2000. That remains Arkansas’ only SEC Tournament title.
More for Watkins
Arkansas senior guard Manny Watkins, who was 0 of 8 on three-point attempts the previous three seasons, is 2 of 2 in the SEC Tournament to improve to 12 of 24 on the season.
Watkins went 1 of 1 in the Razorbacks’ 73-72 victory over Ole Miss on Friday night and against Vanderbilt on Saturday.
“If it’s a good look, it’s going in the air,” Watkins said with a smile. “And a lot of times it’s going to go in because I’ve worked on it so much.”
’Cats and Hogs
Arkansas will play Kentucky for the 40th time today, including the teams’ 10th SEC Tournament matchup.
The Wildcats, who beat the Razorbacks 97-71 at Rupp Arena on Jan. 7 in the teams’ only previous meeting this season, have a 29-11 series lead.
Kentucky is 8-1 against Arkansas in SEC Tournament games with a 3-0 advantage in the final.
The Razorbacks’ only SEC Tournament victory over the Wildcats was 8672 in 2000 when Arkansas beat Georgia, Kentucky, LSU and Auburn for its only SEC Tournament title.
Arkansas and Kentucky most recently played in the SEC Tournament in 2015 when the No. 1 Wildcats beat the Razorbacks 78-63 in the championship game.
Monk rebounds
Kentucky guard Malik Monk, a freshman from Lepanto who played at Bentonville High School, scored 20 points against Alabama on Saturday after combining for eight points in his previous two games at Texas A&M and in the Wildcats’ SEC Tournament opener against Georgia.
Monk hit 6 of 14 shots, including 2 of 5 threepointers, and 6 of 10 free throws against the Crimson Tide.
That may not sound like hot shooting, but he was a combined 3 of 17 from the field against the Aggies and Bulldogs.
Kentucky Coach John Calipari said it was “really special” that Monk went to the arena early Saturday to do extra shooting with teammate Wenyen Gabriel and one of the Wildcats’ assistant coaches.
“I got up early,” Monk said. “Early. I knew I had to get up and execute for the team.”
All even
The Razorbacks improved to 24-24 in SEC Tournament games with their victories over Ole Miss and Vanderbilt. They’re 7-6 in semifinal games and have won four in a row.
Willis struggles
It was a tough game for Vanderbilt freshman guard Payton Willis (Fayetteville) against the Razorbacks on Saturday.
Willis shot 1 of 6 from the field, including 0 of 4 on three-pointers, and had 2 turnovers in 19 minutes off the bench.