Hogs travel to red- hot Commodores
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas comes into today’s 3 p. m. SEC TV- televised Southeastern Conference game at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tenn., with the hottest player, but the hosting Vanderbilt Commodores unquestionably field the hottest team.
And Vandy’s hottest time out, too.
While 6- 10 forward Bobby Portis set a Razorbacks freshman record with 35 points in breaking Arkansas’ two- game SEC losing streak with Wednesday night’s 65- 58 victory over Alabama at Walton Arena, Vandy 6- 9 senior forward Rod Odom scored a career- high 26 points in the Commodores’ 64- 60 victory over Tennessee at Memorial Gym.
For coach Kevin Stallings’ Commodores, 138, 5- 4 in the SEC, Wednesday’s win marked the fourth consecutive triumph including a home win over Mississippi State and road wins over Texas A& M and Georgia.
Arkansas, 14- 8, 3- 6, lost road games to Texas A& M, Georgia and Tennessee. Coach Mike Anderson’s Hogs are 0- 4 on this year’s SEC road and in the SEC road games the previous two years won only at Auburn, a team the Hogs beat this season at Walton without a return game in Auburn, Ala.
At least after being embarrassed 69- 53 at A& M in the SEC opener, the Hogs played Georgia, an overtime loss, and Tennessee tough, holding leads late in the game and despite the since fulfilled one- game disciplinary suspensions of guard Michael Qualls and forward Alandise Harris, they rallied from a horrendous to down 15 first half to rally down six at LSU before eventually losing 88- 74.
“We want to have an opportunity to go and steal one,” Anderson said. “We haven’t done it this year. It seems like we have gotten close in some games and hopefully we’ll play better in this game.”
Pardon Stallings if he doesn’t sympathize about Arkansas playing shorthanded at LSU.
Injuries have reduced his team to seven scholarship players this SEC season with three starters, Odom, center Damian Jones and guards Kyle
player sizzled his last Fuller and Dai- Jan Parker averaging from 37 to 39 minutes per league game while forward James Siakam and center Damian Jones average nearly 26 and 28 minutes.
Point guard Fuller scored 12 points and dished 12 assists against Tennessee despite reporting from the infirmary with a stomach virus that he couldn’t entirely stomach during one timeout yet played through Wednesday night.
“They’re just finding ways to win,” Anderson said. “A team that’s playing well.”
Odom, a freshman and sophomore on Vandy teams that won 23 and 25 games in three and two years ago, has grasped the leadership baton, Anderson said.
“He has been around a long time and played with some tremendous players and now it is his time,” Anderson said. “So I think he is playing with a lot of confidence. He is shooting the ball at a pretty good clip.”
While the fan focus no doubt rests on Portis vs. Odom, the key to this game, Anderson said, is which defense dictates tempo and if Arkansas’ numbers can wear down the seven Commodores.
“They’ve slowed the game down,” Anderson said. “They’re averaging 61 points ( on scoring defense) and any time you play that type of game, that favors them.”
Anderson was asked if he had talked to freshmen Portis and Moses Kingsley and junior transfer Harris about the uniquely configured Memorial Gym with the benches at opposite baselines rather than alongside the court.
“They will see it tomorrow,” Anderson said Thursday of Friday’s shootaround in Nashville. “The communication between those guys out on the floor - that’s where leadership comes in. They have to be able to talk and offensively execute and defensively be talking as well.”