Lke It Is

Arkansas faces no-loss, must-win situation

Moses Kinglsey (33) of Arkansas speaks with Anton Beard against LSU Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017, during the second half of play in Bud Walton Arena. Visit nwadg.com/photos to see more photographs from the game.
Moses Kinglsey (33) of Arkansas speaks with Anton Beard against LSU Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017, during the second half of play in Bud Walton Arena. Visit nwadg.com/photos to see more photographs from the game.

The circumstances surrounding Arkansas' basketball game Saturday night against LSU mirror much of the Hogs' remaining schedule.

Arkansas has four more chances to hurt itself with a loss and only two chances where a victory significantly helps its NCAA Tournament hopes.

For a half against the Tigers, it looked as if the Razorbacks had done everything but turn in their uniforms, that the season might as well be finished.

The Hogs went into Maravich Assembly Center in desperate need of stopping the bleeding after losing to miserable Missouri and vulnerable Vanderbilt.

At the half, it didn't look good.

Arkansas trailed the Tigers 40-31 and were getting killed on rebounding and by second-chance points.

More than 20 of the Tigers' first-half 34 shots were in the paint.

Anderson changed everything at halftime. He went to a zone defense that kept the athletic Tigers out of the paint where they had dominated.

A few other things contributed heavily as the Hogs outscored the Tigers 47-30 in the second half to get their fourth road victory in SEC play. Dusty Hannahs kick-started the comeback when he scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half and Daryl Macon 11 of his 17.

Anton Beard had three assists in the second half that left the thought if he spent more time finding the higher percentage shot he could be All-SEC point guard. At times it seems as if Hannahs, Macon, Beard and Jaylen Barford are all playing the same position.

This definitely isn't pointed exclusively at Beard, but Moses Kingsley needs to be more involved in the offense. Against Missouri Kingsley took three shots and responded with two rebounds. Most big men have to be involved in the offense to stay tuned-in on defense.

Not saying that's why the Hogs have only three SEC home victories this season, but winning in Bud Walton used to be as common as sinus problems in the South.

Losing to Florida at home wasn't too bad in the ratings game, but Mississippi State and Vanderbilt hurt the Hogs.

Six regular-season games remain for the Razorbacks, and half of them are in Bud Walton: Ole Miss, Texas A&M and Georgia. And those are three of the four games they can't afford to lose if they want to have any chance at a very at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The three road games are at South Carolina (Wednesday night), Auburn and Florida; a loss to Auburn would not be just a stumble, it could be a fall off the mountain of hope.

A victory over the Gamecocks and/or Gators could push the Razorbacks back onto the NCAA Tournament radar.

Florida is a top-10 team in the four major ranking groups, and South Carolina is top 25. Want to move up in the rankings? All a team has to do is beat a team with a better ranking, and doing it on the road provides bonus points.

Four of Arkansas' six remaining opponents are ranked lower than the Razorbacks, so again, you can't afford to lose those and you won't get much help with a victory.

Arkansas has another issue standing between it and March Madness. That would be Tennessee.

Not sure how it would play out with the selection committee if Arkansas and Tennessee ended up tying for fourth place, but the Volunteers, mostly on the strength of a victory over Kentucky, is rated higher than the Razorbacks in three of the four rankings, despite the fact that Hogs won in Knoxville.

The Vols, with Kentucky and South Carolina left on the schedule, could help themselves.

Arkansas faces a challenge to reach the NCAA Tournament, but it got itself in this position. Now the Hogs get a chance to prove they have fixed things, and it all starts on Wednesday night in Columbia, S.C.

Sports on 02/14/2017

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