Daryl Macon named SEC Player of the Week
FAYETTEVILLE — Razorback senior guard Daryl Macon was named Southeastern Conference Player of the Week Monday by the SEC office in Birmingham, Ala., for his outstanding performance leading Arkansas to an 88-63 rout of the Troy Trojans last Saturday night at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock.
Macon becomes the second Razorback the SEC honored in consecutive weeks. Last week, Arkansas freshman forward Daniel Gafford, of El Dorado, was honored as the SEC Freshman of the Week.
A Little Rock Parkview grad who spent two years at Holmes (Miss.) Community College before transferring to Arkansas last season, Macon scored 25 points including 5 of 9 shots from distance. But he did more than just score, Arkansas coach Mike Anderson said Monday.
Macon also grabbed three rebounds, made three steals and dished five assists against zero turnovers last Saturday night. He is the Razorbacks’ second-leading scorer, averaging 15.4 points per game, and contributed five assists despite not scoring in the first half of Arkansas’ 95-79 win over Minnesota two weeks ago.
Senior guard Jaylen Barford is Arkansas’ leading scorer with an average of 18.6 points. He proved valuable against Troy with six rebounds, five assists and no turnovers despite shooting 2-for 11-to net seven points. Anderson said both are far more all-round players than when they reported to Arkansas as junior college transfers two years ago.
“I think we saw it on display in that game there,” Anderson said of Macon vs. Troy. “It’s just got to be a continuance. He was actually guarding, pressuring the ball. He was a one-man wrecking crew for about three plays where he just touched the ball and took it from the guy and went to the other end.
“I think in the last few games, we made it a point that our guards have got to rebound. He and Barford, they’ve got to get me three, four, five rebounds if they’re going to be out there on the floor. Barford had seven in that game.”
Anderson said the mutual Macon-Barford improvement comes with time.
“To me, that’s just getting familiar with what we’re doing,” Anderson said. “The first year you come in, and you were the do-itall kind of guy (in junior college). Now you’re playing with guys just as good as you.
“Well, I guess in Daryl’s mind, he’s better than anybody,” Anderson added. “But you’re playing with other good players, so you’ve got to trust them. And they trust you. I think that’s what we’re seeing now. I think now he’s learning how to assimilate himself into a true team. A team that hopefully will be one of the better teams in the country when it’s all said and done.”