Arkansas aiming to put disappointing loss behind them
FAYETTEVILLE Unless they get a postseason opportunity against them in the SEC Tournament or NCAA Tournament, Arkansas senior elder statesmen Anton Beard and Trey Thompson are lifetime doomed acknowledging they never beat the Kentucky Wildcats.
Beard, the North Little Rock High grad starting point guard, and Thompson, the Forrest City High grad backup power forward of Madison are the only two four-year seniors among the six-man senior class that include second-year transfer Dustin Thomas of Texarkana, Texas, via the University of Colorado and second-year junior college transfer star guards Daryl Macon and Jaylen Barford and reserve forward Arlando Cook.
Obviously, it hurts them in the aftermath of Tuesday’s 87-72 loss to the Wildcats at Walton Arena after starting with an 11-0 lead and 43-43 first half, as Arkansans never to have beaten Kentucky.
The 2013-2014 Razorbacks led by Bobby Portis and Michael Qualls last accomplished Arkansas supremacy in a home-and-home sweep at Fayetteville and Lexington, Ky.
It hurts Macon’s home state pride, too, as an alum of Little Rock Parkview.
It showed with Macon (26 points Tuesday night) and Beard (13 points with five assists) as the media available
Razorbacks postgame.
More importantly to this team’s future, both showed what the Razorbacks (19-9 overall, 8-7 in the SEC) team must do, forget Kentucky and concentrate on the Alabama Crimson Tide looming Saturday in Tuscaloosa, Ala., as Arkansas’ next opponent in these final three SEC regular-season games, including SEC leader Auburn Tuesday night in the home finale at Walton and the following Saturday against Missouri in Columbia, Mo.
“Keep working,” Macon said. “It’s a loss. You can’t win them all. Yeah, this one hurts because it was at home and some (actually none as noted) of my teammates have never beaten Kentucky, so this one hurts. But it’s only going to hurt until midnight.
“Tomorrow, or Thursday (the Razorbacks have one NCAA mandated off day), whenever practice is, we just have to get back and work hard and see what we can do the next game to come out with a win.”
Beard gave coach John Calipari’s Wildcats their due then asserted what the Hogs must do.
“Hats off to them,” Beard said. “They played well tonight. They came in and executed the plan well.
“They broke our press down, outrebounded us, outsmarted us tonight, so we just have to get back in the gym and get our minds right. It’s just one game.
“We have to get focused on the next game and take one day at a time.”
They certainly looked focused on the Wildcats at the outset.
“We’re down 11-0 on the road to a team that was so hyped to play this game it was crazy,” Calipari said. Macon was asked if the Hogs were too hyped. “I don’t get the hyped part,” Macon said. “I mean, if you guys watch, that’s how we play every home game. We play with emotion.
“We didn’t do that because they were Kentucky. I’ll do that if it was UALR. We play with emotion every game.”
Still, the Razorbacks came out too hot not to cool down.
“Obviously, our guys came out and they were fired up with emotions,” Arkansas coach Mike Anderson said. “But emotions only take you so long and so far. That’s why you’ve got to play basketball.”
And rebound it.
An Arkansas team that in last Saturday’s 94-75 win at Walton badly outrebounded the tall Texas A&M Aggies team that badly outrebounded and beat Arkansas back on Jan. 30 in College Station, got erased 23-12 Tuesday on the second-half boards by the long, tall Wildcats, who outscored Arkansas 44-29 in the second half.
Anderson knows what needs correcting, but he also knows the heights his 19-9 Hogs have reached in a tough schedule and can still attain.
“This game's over with and we'll move on to the next game,” Anderson said. “I know we're a very, very good basketball team. One of the better teams in the country.
“We just had a game where we didn't play as good as we've been playing. But our focus is going to be on that next practice and next game. If we do what we're supposed to do, we'll be where we're supposed to be.”