Arkansas faces Gators, history in Gainesville
For an Arkansas team winless on the road in the Southeastern Conference and desperate to atone for a rare home conference loss two games ago, Florida is a tough place to start.
The Razorbacks (12-5, 2-3) head to Gainesville, Fla., tonight to face the Gators (12-5, 4-1) in the O’Connell Center, where Arkansas has not won since 1995, when Nolan Richardson led his team to the national championship game. Arkansas coach Mike Anderson said former Florida coach Billy Donovan and third-year Gators coach Mike White deserve credit for a 12-game winning streak at the O’Connell Center against teams coached by Richardson and Anderson, as well as Stan Heath and John Pelphrey.
“They’ve done what they’re supposed to do,” Anderson said. “They take care of their home. When Billy was there, he had some phenomenal teams. Of course, since we’ve been here, we’ve had some opportunities and just couldn’t finish it. Let’s hope this will be the time we can finish it. It’s all about hanging around and having a chance to finish.”
Though Florida did suffer its only SEC loss, 78-72 last Saturday at Ole Miss (10-7, 3-2), Anderson knows it will not be easy to hang around against White’s Gators, which had won six consecutive games.
“Mike White really has those kids starting to get back that edge,” Anderson said. “We can see in conference play, they are playing awfully well.”
Surprisingly, junior Gators guard KeVaughn Allen, has not shot statistically up to snuff in SEC games. The North Little Rock High School alum and high school teammate of Arkansas senior guard Anton Beard, scored 21 and 12 points as a catalyst for Florida in a sweep of Arkansas a year ago. Allen is only averaging 6.6 points in six SEC games with 5 of 17, 29.4 percent, shooting on 3-pointers, compared to his 5 of 9, 55.6 percent,
shooting at Bud Walton Arena last season.
“As a coach, I know that can turn like a switch,” Anderson said of Allen snapping his slump. “Let’s just hope it isn’t this game. He’s a very, very good basketball player.”
Arkansas has more to fret over than an Allen breakout game.
In SEC play, Egor Koulechov, the Gators’ 6-5 graduate transfer from Rice, averages a team-leading 18 points, including 16 of 27 treys,
59.2 percent, and 7.8 rebounds, while 6-8 forward Keith Stone averages 14 points, including
9 of 19 treys, 47.3 percent, and
6.6 rebounds. Point guard Chris Chiozza averages 11.8 points and sixth man Jalen Hudson, Florida’s leading scorer at 16.2 for all games, averages 11.6.
Chiozza not only scores but distributes, with 90 assists in
17 games. He and freshman reserve guard Mike Okaru,
12 of 25, 48 percent, on treys, are 3-point threats. About all of the Gators are, it seems, except for 6-9 blue-collar forward Kevarrius Hayes, who hurt Arkansas with 10 points and six rebounds in Fayetteville last season, as well as six points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots in Gainesville.
“What concerns me is they shoot the basketball from the perimeter really, really well,” Anderson said.
In SEC games, Tennessee
(12-4, 3-2), Missouri (12-5, 2-3) and Auburn (16-1, 4-0) all hit 11 threes against Arkansas. The Razorbacks earned a 65-63 victory over Missouri Saturday at Bud Walton to snap a threegame SEC skid.
The losing streak included road losses of 78-75 to Mississippi State (13-4, 1-3) and 88-77 to Auburn. They also lost 75-54 in a disastrous wipeout at Bud Walton administered by LSU (11-5, 2-2) with the Hogs lackluster on defense and seeming to forget the inside presence of 6-11 El Dorado freshman Daniel Gafford while firing up sprees of failed jump shots.
The intensity, defense and the shot selection improved against Missouri. Anderson shook up the recently slow-starting Hogs by giving freshman Darious Hall, of Little Rock Mills, his first start against Missouri.
The freshman scored 10 points and grabbed four rebounds in the first half. Star senior guard Daryl Macon came off of the bench and notched eight assists, including a lob to Gafford for the game-winning dunk with less than a minute on the clock. Anderson was asked this week if he would start Hall again with either Macon, Beard or scoring leader Jaylen Barford coming off of the bench.
“We’ll see how that goes,” Anderson said. “I’ve got seven or eight starters and we’ll see what takes place in practice. I think no matter where (Hall) comes from or where he plays from, he’s going to give us that kind of energy, and play with a sense of urgency. And that’s what I’m looking for.”