Arkansas hosts No. 12 LSU

Arkansas guard Samara Spencer (2) against South Carolina during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Sunday, Jan. 16, 2022, in Fayetteville, Ark. (AP Photo/Michael Woods)
Arkansas guard Samara Spencer (2) against South Carolina during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Sunday, Jan. 16, 2022, in Fayetteville, Ark. (AP Photo/Michael Woods)


FAYETTEVILLE -- Mike Neighbors said there's no doubt his Arkansas women's basketball team has more confidence after back-to-back SEC wins.

He also acknowledged the Razorbacks (13-6, 3-3 SEC) will need it heading into a challenging stretch of games beginning tonight when they host No. 12 LSU at Walton Arena. Tip-off time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Arkansas is coming off two straight strong all-around efforts that resulted in convincing victories. Guard Samara Spencer had a season-high 18 points against Alabama on Thursday and bettered that with 19 against Mississippi State just 48 hours later.

Spencer earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors for the second time this season for her efforts. The 5-7 guard made 13 of 25 shots from the floor and 9 of 16 from three-point range, after struggling to the tune of 7 of 27 from the floor in her first four league games combined.

Spencer credited associate head coach Todd Schaefer with helping her work through her slump. But Neighbors said she didn't do anything differently.

"I think the key for us, nobody ever got down on her or said anything," Neighbors said. "There was no change in the starting lineup. There was no change in minutes. 'Hey, you've been great. Be great again.' As a result, she gets confident and that just oozes it from everybody else."

However, Neighbors did come up with something he called "push-up stats" where the coaching staff does push-ups if the team meets certain statistical goals. But the players do push-ups if the opponent hits certain thresholds.

It's something he's done before, but not often.

"I call these things Olympic moments because you can only do them once every four years," Neighbors quipped.

The coaches and staff did 50 push-ups at practice on Tuesday after the Razorbacks' 74-54 win over Mississippi State. And it provided some levity, too.

"We did sets of 10 because none of us are doing 50 in a row except for our strength coach Tyler," Neighbors said. "They cackled at me on set five when my arms were literally shaking because I can't do 50 straight push-ups. But I did it. I did 50 in sets. But those last five, they were dying laughing.

"But it felt good to hear them laugh."

Neighbors makes no bones about good mental health being a priority for players and coaches.

"We're still in a pandemic, " Neighbors said. "Mental health these last two years have become more important to me than our offensive and defensive efficiencies and wins and losses.

"I know that sounds not competitive -- please don't mistake me for that. But it is just where we are at."

Neighbors said LSU looks similar to another team that came to Walton Arena a year ago that was coached by Kim Mulkey.

"I do think we will draw some positives away that it's a lot like the Baylor team from last year in a different color uniform," Neighbors said. "The style is the same and their approach is the same."

Mulkey, who is sitting on 649 career wins, has the Tigers (17-3, 5-2) off to a good start in her first season in Baton Rouge. But the Tigers slipped from No. 11 to No. 12 in the AP poll this week after losing at Florida.

LSU guard Khayla Pointer averages a league-leading 22.4 points per game in conference games only. She poured in a career-high 35 points at Florida on Sunday.

Pointer, who also leads the nation in minutes played, went the entire game for the eighth time this season and fifth time in seven conference games on Sunday.

Arkansas will also try to keep up its normal fast pace to try to negate an LSU size advantage, Neighbors said.

"It's something we did to Baylor," Neighbors said. "We made it problematic for them to play two bigs at the same time. The pace at which we've played our last 2 1/2 games, I hope they're looking at as something they [LSU] will have to focus on.

"To do that, you've got to rebound and come up with some stops. If you're constantly having to take it out of the basket, it's hard to play like that."

More News

None

No. 12 LSU at Arkansas

WHEN 7:30 p.m. today

WHERE Walton Arena, Fayetteville

RECORDS LSU 17-3, 5-2 SEC; Arkansas 13-6, 3-3

SERIES LSU leads 33-18

TV SEC Network

RADIO Razorback Sports Network

PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS

LSU

POS. NAME, HT, YR;PPG;RPG

C Faustine Aifuwa, 6-5, Sr.;10.3;6.0

F Autumn Newby, 6-2, Sr.;5.7;7.9

G Jailin Cherry 5-8, Sr.;8.8;4.9

G Alexis Morris, 5-6, Sr.;14.3;4.2

G Khayla Pointer, 5-7, Sr.;19.9;6.4

COACH Kim Mulkey (17-3 in first season as coach at LSU, 649-107 career record)

ARKANSAS

POS. NAME, HT, YR;PPG;RPG

G Samara Spencer, 5-7, Fr.;10.2;3.1

G Sasha Goforth, 6-1, So.;11.6;5.4

G Amber Ramirez, 5-9, Sr.;13.1;4.2

G Makayla Daniels, 5-9, Jr.;14.7;5.4

F Jersey Wolfenbarger, 6-5,Fr.;6.9;3.3

COACH Mike Neighbors (91-56 in fifth season at Arkansas, 189-97 in ninth season overall)

TEAM COMPARISON

LSU;;Arkansas

76.4;Points for;76.1

58.3 Points against;61.4

9.8;Rebound margin;-0.9

4.4;Turnover margin;5.8

46.7;FG pct.;41.6

31.1;3-pt pct.;34.1

63.2;FT pct.;69.8

CHALK TALK The Tigers have dominated the series, but Arkansas has won the last two, including 74-64 in Baton Rouge last season. … The Razorbacks’ 75-71 win in Fayetteville in 2020 snapped a four-game skid.

— Paul Boyd

 


Upcoming Events