Tag: Arkansas Auburn

Hello, WNIT…maybe: Arkansas falls to Auburn in SEC Tournament

Arkansas isn’t making the NCAAs, but another bid to the WNIT is possible, though not necessarily likely.

The Arkansas women’s basketball team will probably play in the postseason. Maybe.

Unfortunately for the Razorbacks, it won’t be in the NCAA Tournament.

Arkansas, the 10-seed in the SEC Tournament, fell to 7-seed Auburn in the second round Thursday night, 67-48. The Tigers went on a 10-0 run in the fourth quarter, ultimately outscoring the Hogs by 10 in the frame to break away late.

The Razorbacks shot just 32% from the field and were held 22 points below their season average. JaMya Mingo-Young caused Arkansas problems the whole game, finishing with 11 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

The loss leaves the Razorbacks with questions. They won’t be invited to the NCAA Tournament – they aren’t even listed as a bubble team in any bracketology – but with an 18-14 record, a spot in the Women’s NIT seems likely, though it isn’t a guarantee. Last year, Arkansas made the final eight in the WNIT, but entered that tournament with a 21-13 record, clearly superior to this year’s mark.

The women’s NCAA Tournament bracket is set to be revealed March 17 and Arkansas should know its fate shortly after the announcement.

How warm is Mike Neighbors’ seat? Arkansas coach feeling pressure

The Arkansas women’s basketball team was trending up when Donald Trump was president. Coincidence? Well, yes, but still.

Mike Neighbors’ tenure at Arkansas looks a lot like a Bell curve.

The Arkansas women’s basketball coach, now nearing the end of his seventh season running the program, has his work cut out for him this week. The Razorbacks are not in the current picture when it comes to the NCAA Tournament and the WNIT is questionable, too, after the Razorbacks lost to Auburn in the SEC Tournament on Thursday.

The Hogs closed their season on a five-game losing streak, not exaclty the stuff that makes for an appealing resume for an invitational tournament.

Such tenuous circumstances have been the standard for the Razorbacks in recent years. After a slow start at Arkansas – a 13th-place finish in Neighbors’ first season – the team increased its win total for those first three years, from 13 to 22 to 24. In SEC play, the total went from 3 to 6 to 10. Coming out of COVID, even, Arkansas still looked sharp, finishing 19-9 overall and 9-6 in the SEC. That season earned the Hogs a No. 4-seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Its crashed ever since. Arkansas lost to Wright State in the first round and followed the next season with a 23-point loss as a 10-seed to Utah in the first. Last year, Arkansas made the WNIT. A nice run gave hope that 2023-24 would be a turnaround.

It wasn’t. For whatever reason – and theories run the gamut from ‘sure, that makes to sense’ to ‘whatever, you’re insane’ – Neighbors has been unable to recapture whatever it was that made the Razorbacks stalwarts in the late Donald Trump era.

The Hogs don’t lack talent. Taliah Scott is the best scorer in the league and she’s just a freshman. Yes, she was out a lot down the stretch, which is part of the reason for Arkansas’ struggles, then, but the Razorbacks weren’t exactly blowing the doors off of people when she was healthy. Samara Spencer and MiKayla Daniels are established SEC starters. Saylor Poffenbarger, too.

Depth has been a big problem for the team in recent years. Arkansas’ recruiting classes have left a bit to be desired, leading to a team this year that saw only two reserves average double-digit minutes a game. Sasha Goforth’s illness certainly didn’t help Arkansas’ depth, either.

The question is how much longer the school is willing to roll with it. Arkansas is by no means a bad team. On the verge of the NCAA Tournament is a reasonable place to be a sport that is notoriously harder to crack than on the men’s side. But treading ground is only justifiable for so long.

Anything less than that? Let’s just say things are precarious, even if this particular writer thinks they shouldn’t be.

Yet.

Arkansas gets 10-seed, will play Auburn in SEC Tournament

Arkansas will have to beat Auburn then LSU just to have a sniff at the NCAA Tournament. It isn’t likely.

The Arkansas women’s basketball has one final shot to make the NCAA Tournament and it starts with beating Auburn.

The Razorbacks are the 10-seed in the SEC Tournament after falling to Ole Miss in the regular-season finale Sunday and will play the Tigers on Thursday in Greenville, South Carolina. Arkansas beat Auburn when, 84-82, when the two teams met February 4 in Fayetteville.

Arkansas needs probably three wins in the SEC Tournament to get back in the NCAA conversation. Even then, the going will likely be tough as the team finished just 6-10 in conference play, struggling late, especially, without guard Taliah Scott, who hasn’t played since February 12. The Razorbacks went just 1-4 down the stretch without her and finished the regular season on a four-game skid.

The winner of the Auburn and Arkansas game gets the misfortune of playing LSU in the next round. The Tigers are considered Tier-2 contenders for the national title after unbeaten No. 1-seed South Carolina.

Thursday’s game against Auburn tips at 5 p.m. on SEC Network.

Beyond the Box: Tigers dominated Hogs in every phase on Saturday

Auburn came into Fayetteville and outclassed Arkansas basketball in every phase of the game. Here’s a closer look at key numbers and factors.

Pure domination.

That’s the most appropriate description for Arkansas’ 83-51 loss to No. 25 Auburn on Saturday. It was the worst Razorback defeat in Bud Walton Arena’s 31-year history.

“This team has not resembled what we built the last four years from a competitive standpoint, from a defensive standpoint, from a loose-ball-getting standpoint,” [autotag]Eric Musselman[/autotag] said after the game. “So, what are we going to do? We’ve got to try to figure it out as much as we can.”

There’s a lot to figure out for Musselman and his coaching staff, and it’s a little overwhelming deciding which area needs the most work – offense, defense or the intangibles – because everything is bad.

The Hogs still have 18 guaranteed games left on their schedule, but it’s going to be a long three months if they continue to have performances like they did on Saturday.

Let’s take a closer look at Saturday’s loss and discover some of the most glaring issues with this Razorback team.

Photo gallery: Auburn 83, Arkansas 51

Here are the best photos from a forgettable SEC opener in Bud Walton Arena.

Arkansas suffered the worst loss in the 30-year history of Bud Walton Arena on Saturday in the SEC opener.

Auburn is a talented team, but it is not 32 points better than the Razorbacks on their home floor.

Or at least, shouldn’t be.

But the Tigers earned the victory thanks to 49 percent shooting from the field and a healthy 46-32 advantage on the glass.

Bruce Pearl improved his record to 5-3 in Bud Walton Arena lifetime and now Arkansas has to regroup for two road games this coming week.

Georgia welcomes the Razorbacks to Stegeman Coliseum on Wednesday night and then Arkansas will travel to Gainesville, Fla. on Saturday to face the Gators, who narrowly lost to Kentucky on Saturday.

Here are the best photos from the disappointing loss.

Arkansas has never lost in Bud Walton Arena as bad as Auburn pasted them Saturday

Arkansas’ worst performance in arena history came Saturday against Auburn.

Arkansas was not an NCAA Tournament-projected team entering Saturday.

The Razorbacks definitely aren’t one after Saturday, either.

Arkansas was absolutely demolished by No. 25 Auburn, 83-51. The loss is the worst in the history of the series, which has been played every year since 1992 – sometimes twice a year – and the 51 points marked the fewest scored in coach Eric Musselman’s tenure.

Most historically, the 32-point margin is the worst defeat Arkansas has had in the history of Bud Walton Arena.

Auburn sucked the life out of the Hogs just about as soon as the second half started. The Tigers went on a 13-2 run to start the final 20 minutes and Arkansas never responded, being outscored, 46-21.

Arkansas shot just 31% from the field and allowed Auburn to shoot 49%.

Arkansas had 32 rebounds. Auburn had 46.

Arkansas had nine bench points. Auburn had 46.

Arkansas had 18 points in the paint. Auburn 48.

Auburn beat the Razorbacks in every solitary aspect of the game, making Arkansas’ path to the Big Dance even harder. The Hogs were already projected as out by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi in his latest Bracketology update earlier in the week.

Keyon Menifield led Arkansas with 14 points, but did so on 5 of 14 shooting. Chad Baker-Mazara led Auburn with 16 points.

 

Arkansas vs. No. 25 Auburn: How to watch, stream, listen, key players and more

Arkansas basketball hosts No. 25 Auburn to open SEC play later today. Here’s how you can watch, listen, stream info, key players and more.

After a week away, [autotag]Arkansas basketball[/autotag] is back in action this afternoon as they open conference play against the No. 25 Auburn Tigers.

The Hogs enter Saturday with a 9-4 overall record and are sitting outside of the NCAA Tournament picture. A win over Auburn would do wonders for the team’s March aspirations and start conference play with some positive momentum.

History favors the Razorbacks in this one, as they own a 23-5 record all-time over the Tigers in games played in Fayetteville. In fact, recent history is even kinder to Arkansas, as they’ve won 14 out of the last 19 meetings against Auburn on the hardwood.

The last time the Tigers visited Bud Walton Arena, they were ranked No. 1 in the country before the Razorbacks toppled them in a thrilling 80-76 overtime win.

Could we be in store for another instant classic on Saturday afternoon? Here’s how you can catch all of the action from Fayetteville, key players to watch and much more.

Khalif Battle returns to practice as Hogs get ready for No. 25 Auburn

Arkansas’ second-leading scorer appears to be back healthy as Hogs gear up for tough SEC opener vs. No. 25 Auburn.

Arkansas guard [autotag]Khalif Battle[/autotag] returned to practice this week after tweaking his ankle in last Saturday’s 106-90 win over UNC-Wilmington.

With 4:53 left in the first half of the team’s final non-conference contest last week, Battle exited the game after landing awkwardly during a fast break. He did not return to the game and missed practice on Monday.

However, Battle was able to go through both of the team’s practice sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to [autotag]Eric Musselman[/autotag].

“Yeah, so, (Khalif) did not practice on Monday,” said Musselman on Wednesday afternoon. “We did go two practices yesterday, we went two practices today – although the format was a little bit different today than what it was yesterday and what it was last week. He did go through both practices yesterday and today.”

So far this season, Battle has averaged 14.3 points of the bench, which is second on the team. He’s also shooting an efficient 40.2% from the field and 42.1% from three.

Having a healthy Battle in the lineup is crucial as Arkansas opens SEC play with 25th-ranked Auburn visiting Bud Walton Arena.

Tip-off is scheduled for Saturday at 1:00 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN2.

Polarizing Express: Redshirt players watching TV during the game is irrelevant

If you want Sam Pittman out of a job, fine. But what redshirt young men are doing when they’re not going to play has nothing to do with it.

Don’t tell me you have never been on social media during company time.

No, seriously.

We all know someone who watches movies and/or TV shows at their desk. Do you wear a pair of headphones (what are the kids calling them nowadays, anyway? Airbuds? Like the dog? Whatever) and listen to music or podcasts while typing your reports?

Of course you do!

And you’re, what, pushing 60 now?

Yet you’re all bothered that a bunch of teenagers who aren’t going to play football games this year have a television on in the locker room.

Oh, that’s right. You’re not actually bothered by it. If you were, you wouldn’t do what you do at work.

Sam Pittman was disappointed, but not angry, about his players watching TV during halftime of the Auburn game Saturday. Why? Because the players watching it were not playing in the game.

Getting mad at them for doing that is like getting mad at the freshman high-school basketball team for playing on their phones during the varsity game. In other words, that’s just kind of what young people do.

Pittman handled it like he should have. He used it as a learning lesson for the player who shared the video that spread on social media, another sign that Pittman is a leader of men.

He may not be the leader you want at Arkansas. But, don’t kid yourself, especially if you’ve ever ducked out early.

Everything Sam Pittman said Monday after Auburn game

“I’m not worried about my job security at all and I think I’m the guy for the university and I want to stay here for a long time.”

Sam Pittman sat Monday around lunchtime and took questions from the media the same way he does every Monday after a game.

The Arkansas coach was forthright.

Questions about his job security are constant in the social-media sphere, but as Pittman said Monday, social media isn’t real life. He isn’t, for his part, concerned about job security.

Pittman is worried about Florida International. If Arkansas were to lose to the Panthers, though, social media inches closer to real life. The Razorbacks are already out of bowl contention after falling to Auburn on Saturday and a loss to a lower-tier FBS team would be a stake through the heart of the program.

Here’s what all Pittman had to say in full Monday.