Arkansas ready to host Georgia in home finale
FAYETTEVILLE - They are loathe to discuss it rather than stray their focus from the game at hand, but obviously Arkansas Razorbacks seniors Moses Kingsley, Manny Watkins and Dusty Hannahs crave their last scheduled game at Walton Arena opens their last beginning to the NCAA Tournament.
The Razorbacks, 22-8 overall and 11-7 in the SEC, and the Georgia Bulldogs, 18-12, 9-8, close their regular season in today’s 1 p.m. ESPN2 televised game at Walton Arena.
For Hannahs, redshirting as a transfer from Texas Tech two seasons ago when Watkins and Kingsley were sophomore reserves on the only Mike Anderson coached team to reach the NCAA Tournament when those 27-9 Hogs went two tunes deep into the 2015 Big Dance.
A five-game SEC winning streak that included victory at then No. 21 South Carolina appears to have put sixth-year Arkansas Coach Anderson’s Razorbacks in prime position for an at large even after losing 78-65 to Florida last Wednesday night.
After all the Gators were 10.5 points favored as the nation’s No. 12 team playing at home in Gainesville, Fla.
However if the Hogs follow a loss at Florida with a home loss to Georgia and a first-round SEC Tourney loss next Friday in Nashville, Tenn., they would significantly jeopardize their at large chances for the NCAA Tournament Big Dance.
In the meantime, Coach Mark Fox Bulldogs, winning 5 of their last 6 wax as hot as anybody in the SEC.
They sized even with center Yante Maten, the team’s leading scorer (18.7 average) missing the last three games with a severely sprained knee that also will sideline him against Georgia, the Bulldogs have reported.
Even most of the Bulldogs’ recent losses are impressive. They took SEC leader Kentucky to over-
time before losing 90-81 at Kentucky, an only lost the Kentucky rematch, 82-77 in Athens, Ga., and only lost, 77-75 at third-place South Carolina.
So with a victory over Arkansas and a deep run in the NCAA Tournament, it’s not inconceivable that the Bulldogs could mount a late NCAA Tournament bid.
“We are playing for something and Georgia is playing for something,” Anderson said. “Georgia’s a team that’s really trending up. They’ve won 5 out of 6 and that’s playing without the big kid, Maten. So that means they have got some other guys that are really stepping up for them and you start out with J.J. Frazier. I mean his numbers have been unbelievable: 31 28, 29 points… He’s kind of putting them on his back.”
With Maten out, Frazier, a 5-10 senior point guard, is Georgia’s leading scorer averaging 18.5 points. Nobody on the Bulldogs is close to Frazier’s team-leading 130 assists.
“He’s always been a problem on the offensive end,” Hannahs said. “He’s really crafty and can shoot it and is really quick. We have to be ready for him and it’s not just a one-man show. They have a good team and have always proven to have a good team.” Anderson concurs. “They have got a dynamite player in Frazier and they have some other guys that are really starting to play well,” Anderson said. “(Junior 6-4 guard Juwan) Parker is starting to play well for them. A very physical basketball team They are going to pay tremendous defense and I want to see us continue to play good defense.”
Derek Ogbeide, leads Georgia on the boards improved to a 7.6 average after grabbing 15 rebounds during Wednesday night’s 79-78 victory over Auburn on Georgia’s Senior Night in Athens, Ga.
Frazier alone seems formidable standing between the Razorbacks and the NCAA Tournament they covet even while not discussing it much. To beat him and his Georgia helpers, too, will take all the Hogs have got, Watkins said.
“We're going to need everybody on the team to get this one,” Manny Watkins said. “We've just got to stay and do what we do. If we just do that and keep our nose forward, everything else will fall into place. Give it everything we’ve got , and then when Selection Sunday comes if our name is called that’ll be good.”