FAYETTEVILLE -- Alternative facts have crossed from politics into sports.
Alabama basketball Coach Avery Johnson put them there. Johnson didn't specifically apply the "alternative facts" that the Trump administration's Kellyanne Conway introduced to the national vocabulary, but he did utter an alternative facts disconnect.
He said statistics documenting the Arkansas Razorbacks' 99-71 loss in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge last Saturday at Oklahoma State didn't compute with what he saw during the Razorbacks in Wednesday night's 87-68 swamping of Johnson's Crimson Tide at Walton Arena.
Furthermore, he said Alabama's Wednesday Waterloo against the Razorbacks did not correlate to Alabama winning four of its past five SEC games.
"This game was not really indicative of our team or our season," Johnson said. "So give Mike [Anderson] credit. They definitely bounced back because this was a different team than the one we saw on Saturday. They're a sound basketball team and I was trying to convince my team that their last game in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge wasn't indicative of how good their team is."
He specifically cited Arkansas guard Daryl Macon.
Against Oklahoma State, Macon's scoreless line read 0 of 8 from the field, including 0 of 6 on three-pointers. He did not get to the free-throw line and dished out only one assist.
Against Alabama, Macon's first three-pointer was the game's first points. Macon scored 12 on 4 of 8 from the field, including 3 of 4 on three-pointers, and contributed 4 of Arkansas' 18 assists.
"Again, the stat sheet from their last game didn't tell the truth," Johnson said. "So what was he, 0 of 8 from the field and 0 for 6 from three? That wasn't accurate. That wasn't a fact. I guess now we talk about in the world of fact checking that wasn't a fact. You know what I mean?"
Johnson told his team that ignoring the Stillwater figures meant facing facts on Macon and the Hogs.
"As a coach, I'm trying to sell my guys, 'Hey, this guy is pretty good,' " Johnson said. "He can shoot the basketball. Now we'll watch the film, and they'll believe the facts I was telling them about this team."
Now it's Mike Anderson digging for alternative facts.
At 5 p.m. today on the SEC Network in Columbia, Mo., Anderson's Razorbacks (17-5, 6-3 SEC) face Missouri (5-16, 0-9), which last won Dec. 6. Missouri has lost 13 consecutive games, including 92-73 to Arkansas on Jan. 14 at Walton.
Anderson cites that Missouri was outscored by only five points in the second half at Walton, hit nine threes and got to the free-throw line 32 times.
If his Hogs seem overconfident, he'll even display those Stillwater alternative facts as actual facts.
"All we have to do is put the tape in -- I think I threw it away -- of Oklahoma State," Anderson said. "There should be no overconfidence."
Sports on 02/04/2017