Hogs feel sting of feeble finish

Arkansas head coach Mike Anderson is escorted away by a referee after getting a technical during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Stanford in the consolation round of the NIT Season Tip-Off tournament Friday, Nov. 27, 2015, in New York. Stanford won 69-66. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Arkansas head coach Mike Anderson is escorted away by a referee after getting a technical during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Stanford in the consolation round of the NIT Season Tip-Off tournament Friday, Nov. 27, 2015, in New York. Stanford won 69-66. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas will be back in the comfort of Walton Arena tonight to play Northwestern (La.) State after a Thanksgiving to forget in New York.

The Razorbacks went 0-2 in the Preseason NIT at the Barclays Center, losing to Georgia Tech 83-73 and Stanford 69-66.

"This team here is looking forward to getting back on the floor and hopefully proving to get better," Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. "We had a tough trip there up in New York."

The Stanford loss was especially tough for the Razorbacks as the Cardinal outscored them 21-1 the final 6:23 after Arkansas led 65-48.

Arkansas missed its final 12 shots from the field and committed three turnovers during Stanford's game-winning run.

"We just stopped being aggressive," said senior guard Anthlon Bell, who led the Razorbacks against Stanford with 17 points. "We saw that lead and we kind of played not to lose instead of staying aggressive and just putting the pedal to the metal."

Stanford hit 6 of 7 shots and 7 of 10 free throws to close the game.

"We didn't get stops at the end," Arkansas junior forward Moses Kingsley said. "We let them do whatever they wanted to do that last six minutes."

It didn't help the Razorbacks (2-3) that Bell fouled out, as did Kingsley, who had 12 points and 12 rebounds. Bell played 19 minutes and Kingsley 27.

Kingsley fouled on a charging call with 4:06 left and Arkansas leading 65-55 and Bell fouled out with 1:43 left with the Razorbacks ahead 66-62.

"First and foremost, I don't think our guys can put themselves in position to foul out," Anderson said. "Those guys have got to understand their impact on the team."

The Razorbacks shot 26.5 percent in the second half [9 of 34], Anderson said their biggest problem was defense, especially in the half court.

"They got the rebounds, they got the loose balls," Anderson said. "It just seemed like we played back on our heels.

"When you score one point in 6:38, that's a telling sign in itself that we're not being aggressive, not being assertive. So that's something that our guys will learn from."

Bell said the losses in New York haven't led the Razorbacks to lose confidence as they prepare to play Northwestern State (1-5), which lost at Auburn 119-81 last Friday night.

"If anything our confidence is going to boost going because we're ready to play," Bell said. "We've got a bad taste in our mouth.

"We just want to get out there and get that W."

Kingsley said the Razorbacks showed in spurts against Georgia Tech (4-2) and Stanford (3-3) how well they can play.

"We showed we can play with anybody," Kingsley said. "It doesn't matter what team it is, so that doesn't affect our confidence any.

"We just have to get better, learn from that and move forward."

Arkansas is 55-1 in its last 56 games in Walton Arena against unranked nonconference opponents, including 41-1 under Anderson. The Razorbacks' lone loss in that stretch was earlier this season to Akron 88-80.

"They'll be very aggressive and do all the things Coach Anderson wants them to do, because he's a really, really good basketball coach and has had tremendous success," Northwestern State Coach Mike McConathy said. "We all go through these struggles, but there's probably nothing better for them than playing back in Walton Arena to cure anything that's ailing them."

Anderson said the most important thing the Razorbacks need to do is keep improving and play aggressively.

"We've just got to do a better job of finishing," Anderson said. "You have to kill an ant with a sledgehammer.

"We've got to have that kind of mentality."

Sports on 12/01/2015

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