SEC Tournament report

Selection show gets makeover

ST. LOUIS — Today’s NCAA Tournament selection show has a new channel and format.

If college basketball fans tune into CBS they’ll miss the show, which for the first time is on TBS.

The show will start at 5 p.m. as usual, but rather than announce the matchups region by region, the entire 68-team field will be revealed in the first 10 minutes.

Then bracket pairings will be revealed over the next 30 minutes.

The Arkansas Razorbacks (23-11) are assured of being in the NCAA Tournament field after winning 8 of their last 11 games, but who and where will they play?

CBS projects the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville playing in Dallas and ESPN projects the Razorbacks playing in Wichita, Kan.

Either site would be within reasonable driving distance for Arkansas fans, as would Nashville, Tenn.

“I just want to be in it,” Razorbacks Coach Mike Anderson said when asked whether he has a site preference. “That’s all. I always keep it pretty simple.

“Obviously, it would be nice to get to an area where our fans could really get there because I think our fans, they love this team. They follow this team, and we saw it here with the people that came to watch us play.”

Arkansas will make its third NCAA Tournament appearance in four years.

“It’s one of the greatest sporting events there is,” Anderson said. “We look forward to hopefully our name being called and being part of it.”

Fox out

Georgia fired Mark Fox as its coach Saturday. He had a 163-133 record in nine years, including 18-15 this season.

“Sorry to hear that,” Anderson said when asked about Fox’s dismissal. “Mark is a very good friend, he and his wife. I wish him the best.

“He’s a great coach and he’ll be coaching somewhere.”

Several media outlets have reported Tom Crean, the former Indiana and Marquette coach, is a leading candidate for the Georgia vacancy.

“Georgia’s in the SEC in a state that’s loaded with players,” Anderson said. “It’s a good job.”

With Fox being fired and Andy Kennedy stepping down three weeks ago during his 12th season as Ole Miss’ coach, Anderson is now second in tenure among SEC coaches behind Kentucky’s John Calipari.

Calipari is in his ninth season at Kentucky and Anderson is in his seventh season at Arkansas.

Hall helps

Arkansas forward Darious Hall, a freshman from Little Rock, had a strong showing in the SEC Tournament after struggling to end the regular season.

After having 14 points and 11 rebounds at Ole Miss, Hall averaged 1.6 points and 2.0 rebounds and shot 3 of 13 in the five games leading into the SEC Tournament.

Hall broke out of his slump in the Razorbacks’ 69-64 victory over South Carolina on Thursday night with 9 points on 4-of-5 shooting. He had 6 points on 2-of-4 shooting Friday night when the Razorbacks beat Florida 80-72, and had 11 points and 7 rebounds against Tennessee when he hit 3 of 8 shots and 5 of 6 free throws.

“I think Darious is playing a lot more instinctive,” Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. “I think he’s playing with a lot more confidence.

“His defense, his toughness, his athletic ability is what stands out about him, and just his mindset. He plays to win.”

Breaking through

Rick Barnes went 2-1 against Arkansas when he was Texas’ coach, but Saturday’s game marked his first victory over the Razorbacks in five tries since being hired at Tennessee.

Arkansas swept homeand-home games from the Vols in 2016, won at Tennessee last season and beat the Vols 95-93 in Walton Arena in this season’s SEC opener.

“We have so much respect for Arkansas,” Barnes said. “That’s one of the teams we hadn’t beaten since we’ve been at Tennessee.

“We had a great game up there to start the season. The respect level for them is tremendous.”

Thomas at game

Former Arkansas starting forward Dustin Thomas, a senior who was dismissed from the team Monday by Coach Mike Anderson for an undisclosed violation of team rules, sat behind the Razorbacks’ bench during Saturday’s game.

Big Blue back

Kentucky wasn’t its usual dominating self in SEC play during the regular season, going 10-8 to tie Arkansas and Missouri for third.

But the Wildcats looked like themselves in the SEC Tournament after beating Georgia 62-49 and Alabama 86-63 to improve to 131-25 in the event all-time.

Kentucky will go for its 32nd SEC Tournament championship — and fourth in a row — today against Tennessee, which swept the Wildcats in the regular season.

“They’re a totally different team than they were then,” Vols Coach Rick Barnes said of when Tennessee beat the Wildcats. “It looks like they’ve made a commitment to really play big, strong basketball inside.”

Kentucky plays primarily freshmen who will be headed to the NBA after this season.

“These guys are growing up,” Barnes said. “They picked a good time of year to do it.”

Watch party

Arkansas will host an NCAA Tournament selection show watch party today at Walton Arena.

The event is free and open to the public, with doors opening at 4:30 p.m. Fans can enter the arena at the south entrance and watch the show live on the overhead scoreboard.

The facility’s standard clear bag policy will be in effect for the event.