UA must do better on boards

Arkansas sophomore Bobby Portis grabs a rebound against Texas A&M in the second half Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2015, at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.
Arkansas sophomore Bobby Portis grabs a rebound against Texas A&M in the second half Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2015, at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.

Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson isn't asking his players to outrebound Kentucky on Saturday when the No. 18 Razorbacks play the No. 1 Wildcats in Rupp Arena, but he knows a repeat of what happened against Texas A&M could be disastrous.

Arkansas held on to beat the Aggies 81-75 on Tuesday night in Walton Arena, but Texas A&M had a 44-23 rebounding edge that helped it cut a 25-point deficit in the first half to 74-72 with 1:30 left before Arkansas finally clinched the game by making free throws.

The minus-21 rebounding margin was the worst for Arkansas this season, surpassing a minus-15 margin when the Razorbacks won 79-74 at Georgia in the SEC opener.

Texas A&M outrebounded the Razorbacks 28-11 in the second half -- including 16-4 on the offensive end -- and outscored them 14-5 on second-chance points.

Bobby Portis and Ky Madden led Arkansas with five rebounds each.

"We just didn't pay attention to details," Anderson said. "If we go in there with the same mind-set at Kentucky, it won't even be a contest."

Arkansas has stayed in the ballpark on the boards with opponents much of the season with a minus-0.9 margin and minus-4.1 margin in SEC games, but the Aggies repeatedly beat the Razorbacks to the ball.

Anderson said the Aggies were more physical and played more aggressively in the second half.

"A&M went into attack mode and we didn't," Anderson said. "It's very concerning as we get ready to go up to Kentucky, because that's what they do. They throw it up there and go get it.

"We've got to be in position not to let them annihilate us on the glass."

The Razorbacks had 12 blocked shots against Texas A&M -- including four by 6-6 Alandise Harris and three each by the 6-11 Portis and 6-10 Moses Kingsley -- but that resulted in their big men being out of position to rebound at times.

The Aggies' 6-9 Kourtney Roberson and 6-7 Jalen Jones combined for 11 offensive rebounds to beat the Razorbacks' team total of 10.

"Our guys did a good job of protecting the rim, but then it's up to the other four guys to get in there and put bodies on people," Anderson said. "We didn't do a good job of that."

Anderson said the Razorbacks looked at the big margin going into the second half -- when they led 49-26 -- and didn't have a sense of urgency as they let the Aggies get second, third and even fourth shots on some possessions.

"That's a recipe for disaster there," Anderson said. "They're either going to score on those second-chance points or they're going to get to the free-throw line, and that's what A&M did in order to get back into that game."

Kentucky has a plus-7.8 rebound margin -- led by 6-11 senior Karl Anthony-Townes (6.6 rebounds per game) and 7-0 junior Willie Cauley-Stein (6.4) -- and has attempted 191 more free throws than its opponents.

The Razorbacks benefited from the Aggies shooting 61.9 percent on free throws (13 of 21) and missing several shots around the basket as Texas A&M's 22 offensive rebounds netted 18 second-chance points.

"A number of times we went up and didn't get anything from it," Texas A&M Coach Billy Kennedy said. "We didn't get a foul, didn't get a basket. When you get those opportunities, you've got to finish."

Anderson said the Razorbacks must make rebounding a team effort at Kentucky and not rely just on Portis, who is averaging 8.5 rebounds, including 9.1 in SEC games.

"We can't be on the outside looking in," Anderson said. "We've got to be in there. We're going to get hit sometimes and we're going to hit somebody sometimes, but we've got to be in the mix."

Sports on 02/27/2015

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