Arkansas, Butler play in NCAA Tournament.
FAYETTEVILLE - Other than one long term reference vowing to take these Razorbacks at least a step further than he’s taken them his previous six Arkansas head coaching seasons, Mike Anderson volunteers nothing beyond today’s first round NCAA Tournament East Regional Tournament game with the Big East’s Butler Bulldogs at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
Ditto for LaVall Jordan, the first-year coach of the Indianapolis-based Bulldogs, even with the prospects looming of a Sunday second-round matchup against an instate rival, the Big Ten’s Purdue Boilermakers of West Lafayette, Ind.
After second-seeded Purdue (28-6) and 15th-seeded Cal State Fullerton (21-10) meet at 11:40 a.m. on tru-TV at Little Caesars, the seventh-seeded Razorbacks (23-11) of the SEC, and 10th-seeded Bulldogs (2013) clash at 2:10 p.m. on tru-TV.
The winners advance to Sunday’s second round, the round it ended previously for Anderson’s Razorbacks against top-seeded North Carolina in both the 2015 and 2017 NCAA Tournaments they played in following first-round victories in 2015 over Wofford and last season over Seton Hall.
“We’re not just going to the dance,” Anderson said Sunday upon announcement of the NCAA Tournament pairings. “I don’t want to be just one-stepping and two-stepping.”
Then he stepped back to the only step from which he can take, Step Two.
“The first game is the most important game and we’ve got to get prepared to go against a really good Butler basketball team,” Anderson said.
To a media question if the fan bases at Butler and Purdue were looking forward to a rematch Sunday (Purdue won 82-67 back on Dec. 16), Jordan replied nothing crosses his mind beyond the first round and he presumed that goes for Purdue coach Matt Painter, too.
“I think we’re both probably looking at the first matchup,” Jordan, a former Michigan assistant and one-year head coach at the University of Milwaukee. “I know coach Painter is probably focused on the same thing. We've got to worry about Arkansas. They're a really good, really tal-
ented team. We're worried about that one, and that one only. And then whatever comes after that, we'll be prepared for when the time comes.”
Both have tournament-tested teams with star personnel and quality depth and tradition to keep either from looking beyond today’s first round.
Both play in premier leagues.
The SEC has eight NCAA Tournament qualifiers. The Big East has six, including two No. 1 seeds in Villanova and Xavier.
Both have premier players.
Arkansas sports arguably the best guard tandem in the SEC and one of the best in the country with All-SEC seniors Jaylen Barford and Daryl Macon, averaging 18.0 and 16.9 points with Macon the put-the-game-away free-throw shooter when the Razorbacks (40-0 over two seasons when leading at half) lead late.
They are complemented in a starting guard triumvirate by 6-0 senior Anton Beard, a North Little Rock High grad and fouryear letterman.
Up front, Arkansas starts 6-11 freshman sensation Daniel Gafford of El Dorado, vaulting towards one-and-done NBA projections for his ability to run the floor and block shots (73) while averaging 11.9 points and 6.2 rebounds.
For star power, Butler counters with All-Big East 6-7 senior forward Kelan Martin, who averages 20.8 points per game and an even more impressive 23.6 for Butler’s Big East games, including a career-high 37 points scoring inside and outside against Marquette.
Anderson compares Martin to Admiral Schofield, an outstanding forward for SEC co-champion Tennessee.
“He can create his own shot,” Anderson said.
“He’s 6-7 and really, really crafty with the basketball.
“He shoots the 3-point shot and he’s automatic from the free-throw line.
“You have to be attentive wherever he is because he can go inside or outside.”
Arkansas must get plenty of help from the guards and alternating big men Gafford and 6-9 senior Forrest City High grad Trey Thompson on Martin, but the principal responsibilities befall Arkansas’ largely anonymous rotating forwards, starting with 6-7 sophomore Adrio Bailey and including 6-8 senior Arlando Cook and 6-8 freshman Gabe Osabuohien and sometimes possibly 6-6 freshman guard Darious Hall.
However, Martin is far from a one-man team.
Starting forwards Tyler Wideman, the bulkiest Bulldog (6-8, 240), and 6-6 Sean McDermott play understated but important roles up front while guards Kamar Baldwin, starting with a 15.5 average, and Paul Jorgensen (10.5 off the bench), are scorers.
Freshman Aaron Thompson (107 assists against 52 turnovers) is the ball-handling glue.
Anderson likes calling his bench, also aided by sophomore shooting guard C.J. Jones with Hall in the backup backcourt, as the team’s strength.
But Jordan brings some of his best 3-point shooters, Jorgensen and guard Henry Baddley, off the bench.
The Razorbacks also like to think their pressure defense is uniquely difficult for tournament teams not accustomed to it, but these Bulldogs like to run almost as much Anderson’s Razorbacks do.
They have stood withstood pressure.
If unwisely foul-prone, the Bulldogs have made opponents pay for sending them to the charity stripe by sinking 239 of their 301 freebies for 18 Big East games.