AUBURN, Ala. — Sanchez delivers for Hogs
Forward Michael Sanchez has saved his two best games for Arkansas’ two road victories this season.
Sanchez, a 6-8 redshirt junior from Springdale, helped the Razorbacks win at Auburn 57-55 on Saturday with 7 points and 2 rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench. Three weeks earlier, he had a career-high20 points while playing 33 minutes in Arkansas’ 89-78 victory at Vanderbilt.
Arkansas’ starting big men, senior Delvon Johnson and Marshawn Powell, werein foul trouble in both games, requiring Sanchez to play a key role.
Sanchez hit 2 of 4 fieldgoal attempts and 3 of 3 free throws. He also set plenty of tough screens.
“He’s a very physical player,” Auburn forward Kenny Gabriel said.
Sanchez came into the game averaging 3.4 points and 13.4 minutes in 16 games since coming back from foot injuries that caused him to miss 28 games last season and 11 games this season.
“We needed it,” Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey said of Sanchez’s contribution.
“You’ve always got to be ready because you never know when your name’s going to be called.”
Peterson injured
Arkansas starting guard Jeff Peterson left the game with 8:37 remaining and didn’t return after limping to the bench.
Coach John Pelphrey said Peterson told him it was a groin injury. Pelphrey said he didn’t have a medicalreport on Peterson yet, but Pelphrey anticipated Peterson would be able to play against Mississippi State on Wednesday night.
Good miss
It’s not often a missed dunk turns out well, but it did for Arkansas.
After Marshawn Powell missed a dunk on a rebound, the ball came off the rim with such force that it flew back to Rotnei Clarke behind the three-point line.
The Razorbacks then worked the ball around and Marcus Britt hit a threepointer, which stretched Arkansas’ lead to 30-20 with 18:36 left.
On the road
Arkansas improved to 2-6 on the road this season.
Its two SEC victories match the Razorbacks’ most in John Pelphrey’s four seasons as coach. They also won two SEC road games (Auburn and LSU) in 2008.
The Razorbacks are 7-29 in all road games under Pelphrey, including 6-25 in SEC play.
Get the broom
Arkansas, which also beat Auburn 73-64 in Fayetteville on Jan. 25, swept the Tigers for the eighth time in the 20 years since the Razorbacks joined the SEC. Auburn has swept Arkansas three times, and the teams have split nine times.
Bad end to half
Arkansas was leading27-17 and running down the clock for presumably the last shot of the first half when Julysses Nobles drove the lane and lost the ball with four seconds left before halftime.
The Tigers rushed the ball up the court, and Josh Wallace let a shot go from about 25 feet at the buzzer.
Arkansas’ Marcus Britt, a 6-3 guard, jumped up and blocked the shot but was called for goaltending, and the three-pointer was awarded to Auburn, cutting the Razorbacks’ lead to 27-20.
Gus in the house
Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, the Arkansas native and former Razorbacks offensive coordinator who won the 2010 Broyles Award as the nation’s top football assistant, was among the crowd in Auburn Arena.
“I always enjoy watching the Razorbacks play basketball,” said Malzahn, a Fort Smith native. “This is a great place to watch a game.” Tough week
Auburn went 0-2 this week with two-point losses at Alabama and against Arkansas when those teams scored on their final possessions. Alabama beat Auburn 51-49 Wednesday night on a tip-in by JaMychal Green with 0.3 seconds left.
“It’s draining,” Auburn forward Kenny Gabriel said.
“You want to win, and to fight so hard and come so close and lose, it hurts.”
Sports, Pages 31 on 02/27/2011