Losing their groove: Hogs aim for traction after 2-game tumble

Arkansas coach Mike Anderson directs his team against Vanderbilt Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017, during the second half of play in Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.
Arkansas coach Mike Anderson directs his team against Vanderbilt Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017, during the second half of play in Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.

BATON ROUGE -- Arkansas basketball Coach Mike Anderson said he's not feeling extra pressure after back-to-back losses have jeopardized the Razorbacks' NCAA Tournament hopes.

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The Razorbacks (17-7, 6-5 SEC) have fallen from No. 28 to No. 50 in the NCAA's Ratings Percentage index -- which ranks teams based on their record and strength of schedule -- going into tonight's game at LSU (9-14, 1-10).

"You won't believe this, but to me, this is the fun time of the year," Anderson said Thursday when he met with the media. "As a coach, it's a challenge. It's a great opportunity.

"I know you guys probably see it as pressure, but to me, the pressure for coaches is every day."

Anderson said his goal every season is to take Arkansas to the NCAA Tournament and compete for a national championship.

The Razorbacks have gone to the NCAA Tournament once in Anderson's previous five seasons as coach (2015), which would seem to add to the pressure this season at least from the outside.

"We're in the hunt, I know that -- big-time," Anderson said. "It's not like we won 17 games and didn't do something right to do that."

Arkansas' two recent losses came after the Razorbacks had improved to 17-5 and seemed to making a run to the tournament.

The downswing started one week ago with a loss atMissouri (6-17, 1-10) and on Tuesday the Hogs lost by 13 to Vanderbilt (12-12, 5-6) at Walton Arena. The loss at Missouri ended a 13-game losing streak for the Tigers, and the Hogs were never in it against the Commodores.

"So we have to get back in the lab, as we call it in the gym, and let's find our groove," Anderson said.

Falling behind has been an issue for the Razorbacks since they began conference play, including their Big 12-SEC Challenge game at Oklahoma State.

Arkansas has trailed by 10 or more points in 9 of those 12 games with a 3-6 record when it happens.

The Razorbacks dug an extreme hole in the 72-59 loss to Vanderbilt Tuesday night as the Commodores jumped out to a 25-4 lead and were ahead by as many as 24 points in the second half.

There were also losses during which Arkansas trailed by 16 points against Florida and 10 against Mississippi State at home and by 26 at Kentucky, 30 at Oklahoma State and 15 at Missouri.

Rallying to win earlier in the season after trailing by 13 points at Tennessee, 12 at Texas A&M and 15 at Vanderbilt to start 16-4 may have given the Razorbacks a false sense of security about overcoming big deficits.

"I don't think we do it purposely," Anderson said, of the tendency to fall behind early. "That's not our intent. Our intent is to come out and play the first half as well as the second half.

"We always think that the games may go back and forth through the first 30 minutes, but we want those last 10 minutes. We showed the capability of doing that, but we're digging big holes and we can't do that."

Anderson said when the Razorbacks fall too far behind, they've tried to come back too fast at times.

"We may be six down or eight down and I think sometimes we try to make an 8-point play as opposed to coming out and executing," Anderson said. "Sometimes we hurry up and that makes the deficit a little bit deeper than it should be."

Shaking up the starting lineup is an option for Anderson tonight.

Senior guard Dusty Hannahs scored 24 points against Vanderbilt and senior center Moses Kingsley had 11, but the rest of the Razorbacks combined to shoot 11 of 37 from the field.

Starting junior guards Anton Beard (0 of 8 from the field) and Jaylen Barford (2 of 7) struggled offensively as did Daryl Macon (2 of 9) off the bench.

Junior forwards Dustin Thomas, Arlando Cook and Trey Thompson have split time alongside Kingsley all season, but they combined to play 14 minutes against Vanderbilt. Thomas -- who started -- and Cook didn't play in the second half when Arkansas primarily used a four-guard lineup.

Freshman forward Adrio Bailey had 4 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocked shots and 1 steal in 15 minutes off the bench, and Anderson said he's earned more playing time, possibly even his first career start.

"I think we need an injection of some energy, some new blood, and he's athletic," Anderson said. "He can do so many things for us. He can make some things happen. He just plays with a toughness."

Anderson said the Razorbacks need to show more energy and toughness to start games, especially on defense.

Vanderbilt's first seven baskets were on three-pointers as the Commodores opened 7 of 9 from beyond the arc.

"They made a couple of shots and before you know it, they're running an offense to perfection and we kind of played on our heels," Anderson said. "That's just not us."

Anderson said he believes adversity can help the Razorbacks play with more urgency and consistency.

"I'm looking forward to our guys really coming out and stepping up to the challenge," he said. "Sometimes you have setbacks to have great comebacks.

"That's how I see it with this group here."

Sports on 02/11/2017

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