Razorbacks leaning on tourney veterans
FAYETTEVILLE - Manny Watkins relished the question.
What advice did the NCAA Tournament seasoned senior have to impart to the two Big Dance rookies beside him Tuesday regarding Arkansas' firstround game against Seton Hall on Friday?
Watkins, a senior, along with senior center Moses Kingsley, junior guard Anton Beard and junior forward Trey Thompson are the only active Razorbacks part of Arkansas’ last NCAA Tournament team that beat Wofford in the NCAA Tournament’s first round then was eliminated in round two by top-seed North Carolina in 2015.
So obviously Dusty Hannahs and Daryl Macon, the fellow guards flanking Watkins on the dais as Arkansas’ media available players at Walton Arena, had not danced at the Big Dance.
Though with a year on Watkins, Hannahs played for two losing teams at Texas Tech before sitting out a year due to transferring and leading last sea-
son’s 16-16 squad and this season’s team in scoring.
Macon, the junior guard from Little Rock Parkview, transferred this season from Holmes Community College to the Razorbacks.
“Yeah, these guys have no experience whatsoever in the NCAA Tournament and I’ve got to show them the way,” Watkins said, smiling with tongue in cheek. “No, the main thing I say is just stay focused and don’t get overhyped for the game.
"Prepare for the game like you would any other game because when you get too emotional for certain games, that can be bad for you.
"So the practices we have before the game, just take them like any other practice and go into this game like any other game and just do what you do and you’ll be fine.”
Since losing to Kentucky in last Sunday’s championship game of the SEC Tournament, Macon said coach Mike Anderson kept them on the same practice routine they had from closing the SEC regular season between Georgia on March 4 at Walton through opening the SEC Tournament with victories over Ole Miss and Vanderbilt last Friday and Saturday in Nashville.
“I think it’s the same game plan,” Macon said. “We try to focus on getting better each and every day as we practice this week.”
Watkins and Hannahs both lauded the difference that junior college transfer guards Jaylen Barford and Macon have made in this 25-9 Arkansas team over last season’s 16-16 squad.
“It’s huge,” Watkins said. “They just brought so much to this team, the toughness, obviously scoring and just pure talent. They brought so much more.
“They brought leadership, they brought just that grit, the intangible things that you need just to win games at a high level.
“That’s what they brought and they are going to continue to bring it for the rest of the season. I’m really glad that when they decided to pick a school they picked the Razorbacks.”
Asked particularly about Barford, Hannahs said, "Jaylen’s just an exceptional athlete, as you can see. He’s a great player. He brings a toughness to the game and he’s not backing down from anybody. I’ve always liked that to have in a teammate. He brings that to the table. He’s a great slashing guard. If he’s getting a head of steam, you’re not going to be able to much with him.”
The Pirates feature Angel Delgado, the nation’s leading rebounder at 13.1 boards per game, and that is Seton Hall’s forte.
These Hogs have taken their share of beatings on the boards.
However, after they were outrebounded 41-29 in an upset home loss to a Mississippi State team that had been badly outrebounded by Texas A&M, the Razorbacks resolved to do better on the boards and actually outrebounded A&M, 36-32 while beating the Aggies 62-60 in College Station, Texas.
“We’ve played really good rebounding teams,” Hannahs said. “You just have to come ready. We know that’s their style. Kinda typical to Texas A&Mtype team in the case of offensive rebounding. We know how those teams are coming to the glass, we just have to execute to box them out."
Macon knows mixing pressure defenses rather than rebounding is considered Arkansas M.O.
“I think one thing people say about us is we’re not a good rebounding team,” Macon said.
“But over the past few games, we’ve been getting better, getting our guards rebounding. When you’ve got your guards rebounding, it kind of helps the bigs stay out of foul trouble. That’s one thing we’re going to try to do this Friday.”
North Carolina, the No. 1 seed in the South Regional and a prohibitive favorite Friday in Greenville over 16-seeded Texas Southern, likely looms in Sunday’s second round against the Arkansas vs. Seton Hall winner.
Nobody mentioned the Tar Heels.
“We are focusing on Seton Hall,” Macon said. “The next and biggest game on our schedule.”