Razorbacks basketball report

Hogs get Tar Heels rematch

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Two-hundred fifty-one days later and 2,678 miles away, Arkansas will get its rematch with North Carolina.

The Razorbacks' 92-83 victory over Oklahoma and North Carolina's 102-78 victory over Portland on Thursday in the opening round of the Phil Knight Invitational set the stage for a Victory Bracket semifinal showdown between two teams that met in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Greenville, S.C., in March.

North Carolina rallied late in that meeting, scoring the final 12 points in a 72-65 victory on its way to winning the national title. Arkansas will have its chance for some Portland payback, but downplayed that narrative after beating OU.

"This game has nothing to do with what took place last year," Coach Mike Anderson said. "They're the national championship team. That's what they are. There won't be (another) crowned until at the end of the year, so it's a tremendous opportunity for us.

"We know the challenge, but it's a great opportunity and it's one I'm sure our guys are looking forward to."

Arkansas senior guards Daryl Macon, Anton Beard and Jaylen Barford combined for 38 points in the matchup a year ago. The Razorbacks have released videos featuring the loss and stressing the resulting motivation on social media for the last few months, but Macon was reserved when asked about the rematch after the victory over the Sooners.

"We're just going to take it as another game," Macon said. "Yeah, we played them last year. We lost to them. But we also have to give them their respect. They're national champions. So we're just going to go out there tomorrow and just play with the same intensity we played with tonight."

Thomas returns

Arkansas senior forward Dustin Thomas made his season debut after missing the first three games of the season for a violation of team rules.

Thomas came off the bench and played 23 minutes, scoring 5 points, grabbing 9 rebounds and coming up with a steal.

"First half, I thought he was a little rusty, but in the second half you could see his impact on this team, doing all the little dirty, blue-collar kind of stuff," Anderson said.

The 6-foot-8, 225-pounder started 27 games last year and averaged 5.3 points and 3.8 rebounds in 18 minutes per game. He turned the ball over twice in his first three minutes Thursday, but later had several key offensive boards and made positive contributions as part of Arkansas' crunch-time lineup.

"He was a little shaky to start," Macon said. "I knew it was going to be like that, I mean he missed three or four games. But once he got the butterflies out, he was just like the old Dustin Thomas."

Huskie on air

Bob Joyce has called six national championships as the radio play-by-play voice of the Connecticut Huskies' women's basketball team over the last 16 years.

This week, he's serving as the play-by-play voice for the Connecticut and Arkansas men's teams at the Phil Knight Invitational.

With regular Razorback play-by-play man Chuck Barrett back in Fayetteville for Friday's Arkansas-Missouri football game, Joyce is working the Phil Knight tournament alongside color commentator Matt Zimmerman. Both UConn and Arkansas' radio broadcasts are IMG properties.

Joyce watched the first half of Arkansas' victory over Fresno State and showed up at the Arkansas-OU game with extensive handwritten, color-coded notes about both teams.

"The multi-colored BIC pen is my friend, drives my wife crazy," Joyce said. "It keeps me busy."

The tournament is part of a nine-game road trip for Joyce, who will also call the UConn women's Saturday matchup with Michigan State in Eugene, Ore., on the the Phil Knight Invitational off day.

"There will be very little downtime this weekend for me," Joyce said.

Fast-paced affair

Both Oklahoma and Arkansas operated at break-neck speed most of the afternoon.

Oklahoma finished with 89 possessions and Arkansas 88. Entering the day, Nicholls State led the nation in pace, averaging 88.1 possessions per game.

Both teams consistently pushed the ball, often operating in transition or semi-transition instead of halfcourt sets. Oklahoma averaged just 12 seconds per offensive possession, a number that would rank second nationally for the season. Arkansas took an average of 15 seconds on its trips down the floor, in line with its 14.8 season average, which ranks 34th in the country.

No time to rest

For the second consecutive game, Arkansas' senior guards played a lot of minutes in a game decided by single digits.

Anton Beard played a game-high 35 minutes, while Macon and Barford each played 34. The Razorbacks' other two options on the wing, sophomore C.J. Jones and freshman Darious Hall, played just 10 and seven minutes, respectively.

That came on the heels of Barford (35), Macon (34) and Beard (30) all playing extended minutes in the 83-75 victory over Fresno State last Friday.

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Sports on 11/24/2017

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