Barford leads Razorbacks over No. 21 Gamecocks
Jaylen Barford tied his career high with 23 points and Arkansas got its first road win over a ranked opponent in almost three years with an 83-76 victory over No. 21 South Carolina on Wednesday night.
Dusty Hannahs added 20 points for the Razorbacks (19-7, 8-5 Southeastern Conference) including nine straight after the Gamecocks had cut a 10-point deficit to 55-54 with less than 11 minutes remaining to restore the margin. South Carolina (20-6, 10-3) closed to 77-76 on PJ Dozier’s layin with 1:04 to go. But Manuale Watkins hit a running jumper that rattled home with 29.3 seconds left as the shot clock sounded.
Moses Kingsley blocked Sindarius Thornwell’s shot and Arkansas held on.
Thornwell had another monster game for South Carolina with 27 points. But like his 44-point, 21-rebound effort last week in a four-overtime home loss to Alabama, it was not enough. The Gamecocks dropped a game behind SEC leaders No. 13 Kentucky and No. 15 Florida in the race for a league title.
Kingsley had 16 points and Daryl Macon added 13 for Arkansas, which had not beaten a Top 25 opponent on the road since topping Kentucky, then 17th, on Feb. 27, 2014.
Barford matched his career best set against Missouri two weeks ago.
Kevin Johnson scored 14 points and Gary Clark had 13 points and 14 rebounds as No. 18 Cincinnati bounced back from its first loss in two months. The Bearcats (23-2, 12-1 American) shrugged off last Sunday’s
Big 12 Men’s Standings
nine-point loss to SMU and surpassed their victory total for last season. Kyle Washington had 13 points and nine rebounds, while Jacob Evans overcame early foul trouble to finish with 10 points. USF (7-18, 1-13) snapped a 12-game losing streak last weekend and found a way to keep it relatively close until Cincinnati began the second half on an 11-2 run to build its lead to 41-24. Geno Thorpe led the Bulls with 19 points. Cincinnati never trailed and limited USF to 36 percent shooting, while blocking eight shots and forcing 21 turnovers. The Bearcats led 30-22 at halftime and by as many as 24 points after the break.
Melo Trimble scored a careerhigh 32 points on 12-for-17 shooting, and No. 23 Maryland strengthened its position in the Big Ten with a victory over Northwestern. Trimble repeatedly came up with big plays for the Terrapins (22-4, 10-3), driving inside for layups or connecting from long range. The junior guard made four of Maryland’s eight 3-pointers and also contributed four rebounds.
The first signal that Adam Silver was more enlightened than the average commissioner came just months into his reign when he broke ranks with other sports leagues by calling for the legalization of sports betting. Not only that, the NBA commissioner suggested later, but the league wouldn’t mind joining in the profits that nationwide legalized betting might bring.
Bold stuff, considering the NBA had for decades been in lockstep with Major League Baseball and the NFL in the belief that sports betting could destroy their empires. While baseball is now coming in line with a new way of thinking, Roger Goodell notably continues to rant about the evils of sports betting.
That Silver is not afraid to tackle social issues is also reflected in the decision to move this weekend’s AllStar Game out of Charlotte because of the North Carolina law limiting protections for lesbian, gay and transgender people. Agree with him or not, it’s hard to imagine the NFL taking such a stand — especially when it might lose some money because of it.
Three years into his tenure, Silver is on a roll. The NBA Finals last year were the most watched in nearly 20 years, the league has a new national television deal that is ridiculously lucrative, and there is a new agreement with players that guarantees labor peace for at least six years.
Owners are happily counting their growing profits. Players are ecstatic over contracts that could pay them more than $40 million a year.
To top it off, Silver even managed — at least temporarily — to keep Knicks owner James Dolan from making even more of a fool of himself than he has already in his dustup with former player Charles Oakley.
Good times indeed, as the best players in the league prepare to gather in New Orleans for the AllStar Game that was taken from Charlotte. There’s a lot to celebrate for both players and owners in a league that is not only healthy but thriving.
Some of that came about because both players and owners realized only they can kill the golden goose that continues to provide well for both. The new labor agreement signed a few weeks ago ensures that players will continue to get about half of each team’s basketball revenue in salaries, while the owners will see their franchises go up in value.
Assuming it runs for the full seven-year length, the NBA will go for at least 13 years without any real labor issues. Revenues keep going up, and both owners and players seem to be satisfied with their share of a pie that keeps getting bigger.
Meanwhile, the NBA is not haunted by concussions like the NFL. It’s not tainted by steroids, like baseball. And the entertainment value on the court is at a level probably not seen since Magic Johnson and Larry Bird squared off against each other three decades ago.
Yes, there are still issues to address. Officiating is one of them, in a league where it’s difficult to know just what a foul is despite efforts to be more transparent about calls late in games.
Too many teams have no shot year after year at making the playoffs, which themselves have become somewhat predictable. Ticket prices are scary high, and it remains to be seen whether the $2.6 billion a year television package is sustainable in an era of cord cutting.
It’s also hard to give Silver a pat on the back for changing the name of the development league to the NBA Gatorade League and for allowing ads to creep onto uniform fronts.
And while Silver wants to be out front on the sports betting issue, there is still no one outside of Nevada legally betting on NBA games and no indication that will happen anytime soon.