RAZORBACKS
Arkansas looks to avenge 2016 loss at Minnesota
FAYETTEVILLE — Coach Mike Anderson’s 6-2 Razorbacks hope to avenge last year’s loss to the now No. 14 Minnesota Golden Gophers in the same fashion as the Houston Cougars did a week ago.
The Cougars avenged their
2016 loss in Fayetteville by annihilating the Hogs in Houston. The Razorbacks look to do the same tonight against the Golden Gophers of the Big 10 in a clash scheduled for 5:45 p.m. at Bud Walton Arena and televised on the SEC Network (Resort Channel 79).
In Arkansas’ third game last season, Richard Pitino, the son of now former Louisville coach and former Kentucky national champion coach Rick Pitino, directed the Gophers to digging Arkansas an early deficit from which the Razorbacks never recovered in an
85-71 defeat.
“I tell you what: they really took us to the woodshed, and they got most of those guys back,” Anderson said.
Minnesota’s Eric Curry, an alum of Southwest Christian Academy in Little Rock, suffered a season-ending injury to his left knee in late August. He scored 12 points off the bench and grabbed four rebounds in their contest a year ago, but the Gophers return starting guards Nate Mason, Amir Coffey and Dupree McBreyer, as well as big men Jordan Murphy and Reggie Lynch.
Coffey, Mason, Murphy and Lynch devastated the Hogs a year ago in Minneapolis. Coffey scored 19 points, Mason had 13 points and seven assists, and Murphy and Lynch each had 10 points and seven rebounds while combining for five blocked shots. Murphy now averages a double-double at 19.9 points and 12.8 rebounds.
“Mason was leading the charge,” Anderson recalled. “Murphy is an outstanding player. He’s got 56 offensive rebounds, and as a team we’ve got 73. And you’ve got the shot-blocking presence of Lynch, and the Coffey kid is outstanding. You look at their team, they’ve got three, possibly four, all-conference players.”
The four sure looked the part last season “rattling” the Hogs, Anderson recalled, in Arkansas’ first road game last season.
“Last year, the first 10 minutes, it was back and forth, and then it seemed like we hit a wall, and we couldn’t score” Anderson said. “And they really started spreading the floor and getting second shots and dunks,
and their crowd got into it.”
The bench, Anderson’s usual antidote for struggling starts, got its chance last season in Minneapolis but didn’t come through.
“We had some subs come in, and they had an explosion in scoring, and we made turnovers that led to easy buckets for them,” Anderson said. “Once we got down, I felt we started to play what I call ‘hero ball.’”
Arkansas committed 21 turnovers in the game. Anderson said the Golden Gophers took the momentum and “ran with it.”
Off Arkansas’ 92-66 home win Tuesday over Colorado State, Anderson feels great about his bench. An all-senior starting five started down 13-4 before freshman forwards Daniel Gafford and Darious Hall and sophomore guard C.J. Jones fueled a 19-0 run that ignited senior guards Jaylen Barford and Daryl Macon back to form.
Anderson said it’s imperative that Arkansas’ depth forces Minnesota extensively to play beyond its starting five and to “take care of the ball” as close as it can to Arkansas’ turnover-free first half against Colorado State. Gafford will be giving 20 pounds to Murphy and 35 to Lynch. He’ll likely need some physical help from 6-9 starting senior and Forrest City alum Trey Thompson and 6-8 seniors Dustin Thomas and Arlando Cook.
“Minnesota is a really physical basketball team,” Anderson said. “Especially Lynch and Murphy and Coffey.”