Arkansas must refine for SEC success

As the two four-year seniors in Arkansas’ six-man senior class, North Little Rock High School grad Anton Beard and Forrest City High School grad Trey Thompson have played for Razorbacks teams that struggled on the road like this one.

They also played for the

2015 and 2017 teams who finished 5-4 and 6-3 in the Southeastern Conference and

27-9 and 26-10 overall. This year’s team includes four other seniors, led by second-year junior college transfer star guards Jaylen Barford and Daryl Macon. The Razorbacks (12-5, 2-3) also have two sophomores returning from the 26-10 team and 6-11 freshman Daniel Gafford, of El Dorado, among the rookie additions.

So, why are these Hogs 0-3 in true road games, blown out

91-65 by Houston (14-3, 4-1) in Houston and in the SEC? They lost 78-75 at Mississippi State (13-4, 1-3) and trailed by

17 at the half at Auburn (16-1,

4-0) and lost 88-77? Arkansas eked out a defensive-oriented SEC victory against Missouri at Bud Walton Arena on Saturday.

“I just feel like, sometimes, we come out with an offensive mindset on the road and start going back to things that led us to losing,” Beard said. “If we just play together, play for each other and play defense, we’ll be all right.”

Thompson, the 6-9 big man alternating with Gafford on the low post, concurred.

“I think if we come out and play together, just stay together whether we’re up or down, keep our poise and play good defense, I think we’ll be all right,” Thompson said.

Coach Mike Anderson always stresses defense and encouraged by Arkansas’ defense coming back late against Missouri. The Hogs prevailed after losing an

18-point lead accumulated during the Razorbacks’ 36-28 first half, contrasting with the dreadful first half in the previous SEC game at Bud Walton when they trailed LSU (11-5, 2-2), 41-21, at intermission and lost 75-54.

“I thought the Missouri game we came out with great energy defensively and it got us into some offense transition wise,” Anderson said. “And then I thought the last two or three minutes and 30 some odd some seconds was some of our better defense.

“We didn’t let them score. Missouri had a couple of shots but they were contested shots. I just thought our energy one defense was totally different. You are going to need that on the road.”

However, Anderson asserted even stout defense cannot prevail if they cannot put the ball in the hole. The Razorbacks are on the road again tonight against Florida (12-5, 4-1) at the Gators’ O’Connell Center in Gainesville, where the Hogs have not won since Nolan Richardson’s 1995 national runners-up won 94-85. Tonight’s game will be broadcast on

ESPN2 (Resort Channel 29) at 6 p.m.

“Even moreso on the road, you’ve got to be able to make shots,” Anderson said. “You’ve got to make shots and you’ve got to withstand their runs. They are a team that shoots the basketball well.”

Making shots doesn’t just mean making twos and threes but capitalizing on about every free throw, given the home generally draws more freebie opportunities. At Mississippi State, Arkansas only got to the line 12 times to Mississippi State’s 40. Arkansas compounded its woes in a 3-point loss by only sinking five of its dozen, 41.6 percent.

At Auburn, the Hogs shot

13 of 19, 68.4 percent, to Au-

burn’s 17 of 22, 77 percent. Back at home against Bud Walton, they shot 21-for-33,

63.6 percent, to Tennessee’s 18-for-26,

69 percent, in their overtime 95-93 win over the Volunteers (12-4, 3-2) to open SEC play on Dec. 30.

Arkansas made 12 of 20, 60 percent, to LSU’s 13 of 19, 68.4 percent, on Jan. 10. The Hogs could have put Missouri away instead of just eking by the Tigers had they not shot an abysmal 14 of 25 free throws, 56 percent, to the Tigers’ 10 of

14, 71.4 percent.

Even Macon and Barford, 85 percent and 77 percent free throw shooters for Arkansas’ 18 SEC games last season, are down this season. Macon has made

20 of 25 for 80 percent and Barford has made 15 of 21 for 71 percent. Beard was

56 of 75 for 74.7 percent last season, but has been to the line just five times in five SEC games, making three for 60 percent.

Why are things not so fine on the line?

“We just have to keep working on them,” Anderson said, noting the fine line of emphasizing them yet not creating a bigger mental block. “You don’t want to harp on them, but you have to put time in on them and we do. But free throws are personal.

“You have to get in there and really work on it, do some things on their own as well. We put them in different situations and different scenarios so they can work on it, but they have to go out there and just have the calmness to go and make them.”