Tag: Au’Diese Toney

Anthony Black sets official signing date

Arkansas fans can breathe a sigh of relief. Anthony Black has set a date to sign with Eric Musselman’s program.

Since the beginning of the offseason, head coach [autotag]Eric Musselman[/autotag] has hit the recruiting trail hard and has seen positive results.

Despite losing talents such as [autotag]JD Notae[/autotag], [autotag]Stanley Umude[/autotag], and [autotag]Au’Diese Toney[/autotag], Arkansas Basketball has signed players from the Transfer Portal that have the skills to reload as the Razorbacks head into the 2022-23 season.

One of the key commitments that has not put pen to paper yet, is five-star guard from Duncanville, Texas, [autotag]Anthony Black[/autotag].

Black, who committed to Arkansas on March 28 during the week of the McDonald’s All-American game, joined Nick Smith and Jordan Walsh as fellow All-Americans and five-star pledges to commit to the program. The issue is that he has yet to sign.

Arkansas fans can now breathe a sigh of relief, as Black announces that he will sign his letter of intent on Wednesday, April 20, at his high school according to Richard Davenport of WholeHogSports.com.

Black is ranked as the No. 1 point guard in the nation, and the No. 2 overall prospect from the state of Texas. According to 247sports, Black received 21 offers, and took visits to six different programs.

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Another Razorback enters name into Transfer Portal

Connor Vanover, who started in 37 games for Arkansas in two seasons, has announced that he will enter his name into the Transfer Portal.

As the offseason rolls on, more changes continue to come to the Arkansas Men’s Basketball roster.

In somewhat expected news, junior forward [autotag]Connor Vanover[/autotag] announced Wednesday on his Instagram page that he has entered his name into the Transfer Portal, joining KK Robinson, who added his name to the portal on April 2.

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Vanover, a native of Little Rock, played two seasons for his home state’s flagship school after transferring from California at the conclusion of his freshman season in 2018-19.

In two seasons, Vanover appeared in 44 games for the Razorbacks, starting in 37 of those. The 7-3 forward averaged 5.1 points and 3.7 rebounds per game during his career at Arkansas. Vanover saw most of his playing time during his redshirt sophomore season in 2020-21, where he played an average of 17 minutes per game, starting in 27 games.

In the season-opener against Gardner-Webb on November 13, Vanover scored 19 points and pulled down seven rebounds in the 86-69 win over the Bulldogs. Vanover would go on to start in ten games at the five for the Razorbacks this season, but his playing time went down significantly due to the emergence of Stanley Umude’s production.

The announcement of Vanover to the Transfer Portal is the fifth revision to the 2021-22 roster for Arkansas Basketball. [autotag]JD Notae[/autotag] and [autotag]Au’Diese Toney[/autotag] announced earlier this week that they will enter their name into the NBA Draft after hiring an agent. [autotag]Jaylin Williams[/autotag] says that he will get more information about his NBA Draft stock before making the decision to leave, and [autotag]KK Robinson[/autotag] has entered his name into the Transfer Portal.

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Arkansas guard Au’Diese Toney has declared for NBA Draft

The guard from Huntsville, Ala. averaged 10.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per game in his only season playing for Arkansas

He only spent one season at Arkansas, but it was a memorable one.

Arkansas guard Au’Diese Toney announced Tuesday that he will be declaring for the NBA Draft, and will sign with The Familie, an agency out of California, meaning that he can not decide later to return to Arkansas. The announcement was made via Twitter.

In his one season at Arkansas after playing three seasons at Pittsburgh, Toney was one of four Razorbacks to average double-figures, scoring 10.5 points per game, which was 4th highest on the team behind[autotag] JD Notae[/autotag], [autotag]Stanley Umude[/autotag], and [autotag]Jaylin Williams[/autotag]. He was also second on the team in rebounds, pulling down 5.2 boards per contest.

The Huntsville, Ala. native is the third Razorback from the 2021-22 roster to either declare for the NBA Draft, or to test the waters. Sunday, fellow transfer JD Notae announced that he would be hiring an agent as well as declare for the NBA Draft.

Forward Jaylin Williams announced Monday that he would test the NBA Draft waters, but has not hired an agent, meaning that the door is open for him to return to the team this fall.

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ESPN shows little faith in Arkansas ahead of Sweet 16 matchup with Gonzaga

The Basketball Power Index gives the Razorbacks very little chance in this one.

Arkansas, the No. 4 seed from the West region, survived another scare on Saturday by being heavily reliant on defensive production in a 53-48 win over No. 12 seed New Mexico State.

Next up on the Razorbacks’ path to a championship is No. 1 seed Gonzaga, who they will meet on Thursday in San Francisco, Calif. In an early matchup prediction, ESPN has given Arkansas very little chance to defeat the Bulldogs.

In their latest Basketball Power Index Matchup Predictor, ESPN is giving Gonzaga an 85.8% chance to defeat Arkansas on Thursday to advance to the Elite Eight.

Gonzaga has played well enough to be considered one of the nation’s best all season long with victories over Texas Tech, UCLA, and Texas, and finishing 13-1 in West Coast Conference play. ‘

The Bulldogs recently defeated Memphis in the round of 32 on Saturday, 82-78. Gonzaga trailed Memphis, 41-31 at halftime. That was when freshman Drew Timme put his teammates on his back and led them to a win. Timme led the Gonzaga comeback effort by scoring 21 of his 25 points in the second half.

For the second game in a row, Arkansas needed late free throws to pull away and establish the win. In the first-round game against Vermont, JD Notae was successful on both free throw attempts with 0:09 remaining in the contest to give Arkansas the 75-71 win over the Catamounts. In Saturday’s win over New Mexico State, Chris Lykes was fouled following a dunk by New Mexico Stare to cut the Razorback lead to 50-48 with 0:02 remaining. Lykes would succeed on both attempts, with Au’Diese Toney getting a chance at the line following a personal foul as time expired.

The Razorbacks look to shock the world on Thursday night. Tipoff time has yet to be announced.

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Beyond the Box: Ugly Never Looked More Beautiful

No one said it was going to be easy. Or pretty. But the Arkansas Razorbacks are once again in the Sweet 16 after a grueling, gritty second round victory of 12-seed New Mexico State. The Hogs used lockdown defense and their trademark free-throw prowess to eke out a 53-48 win on Saturday night. 

No one said it was going to be easy. Or pretty. But the Arkansas Razorbacks are once again in the Sweet 16 after a grueling, gritty second round victory of 12-seed New Mexico State. The Hogs used lockdown defense and their trademark free-throw prowess to eke out a 53-48 win on Saturday night.

The Hogs are back in Fayetteville before heading out to San Francisco for a West Region Semifinal matchup against overall #1 seed Gonzaga. Last year’s national runner-up used a late rally to pull away from 9-seed Memphis late Saturday. This will be the second ever meeting between the two side. Gonzaga won their previous matchup 91-81 in the 2013 Maui Classic.

The Saturday night slugfest in Buffalo was something the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres – current tenants of KeyBank Center – would have loved. The first half in particular featured physical play that was largely uncalled, with the refs only blowing the whistle 8 times for fouls between the two teams. That translated into a meager 28.8% combined field goal percentage.

New Mexico State rallied from a nine-point halftime deficit to take a lead in the second half, but Arkansas locked down defensively and hit their free throws en route to the prettiest ugly win in recent memory.

Let’s take a look at some things you may not find in the typical box score.

Arkansas basketball vs. Texas A&M: How to watch, stream, listen for Saturday

Arkansas and Texas A&M split the season series, one win apiece.

Arkansas and Texas A&M will play for a spot in the SEC Championship when they meet in Tampa at noon on Saturday.

The Razorbacks and Aggies split the season series with each team winning at home. Arkansas was the better team during the regular season overall, however, finishing with the four-seed for the tournament. Texas A&M is the eight-seed.

A&M might have more to play for in the game, though. Not only would the Aggies clinch a spot in the SEC Championship, but their NCAA Tournament – which is very much real – could become more firm.

Arkansas beat LSU for the third time this season, in the quarterfinals, to get to this point. Texas A&M upset top-seeded Auburn to do the same.

See ya, Tigers! Arkansas eliminates LSU from SEC Tournament

A huge run to start the second half was more than enough to allow Arkansas to eliminate LSU from the SEC Tournament.

The SEC Tournament No. 4-seed Arkansas used a 13-0 run to start the second half and dispatched fifth-seeded LSU, 79-67, in the quarterfinal round Friday afternoon.

With the win, Arkansas advances to play No. 8 Texas A&M on Saturday noon. The Aggies upset top-seeded Auburn just before the Razorbacks beat LSU, 67-62. Arkansas split with A&M during the regular season.

The Hogs led LSU by three at halftime but all five starters scored during the first 3:20 of the second half to open a 16-point lead. Au’Diese Toney, who was questionable for the game with a lower-body injury, scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in his first game since March 2.

LSU had an opportunity to pull within single digits in the final five minutes, but Arkansas guard Chris Lykes scored seven straight Razorbacks points to stop any chance of a Tigers comeback. He ended with 18 points.

Arkansas’ defense carried the day, though. LSU shot just 35% from the floor and 4 of 19 from 3-point range.

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Streak snapped: Arkansas beats Florida in Gainesville for first time since 1995

Arkansas beat Florida in Gainesville for the second time in school history for its 12th win in its last 13 games.

Eric Musselman chose not to sit his best forward, Jaylin Williams, when the big man picked up his fourth foul with 7:57 left. He needed him on the court.

He was right.

Williams sank a 3-pointer three possessions to move Arkansas ahead after that foul and hit a lay-up to give Arkansas a five-point lead with 2:57 left and the Razorbacks never trailed again, beating Florida, 82-74, and snapping a 14-game losing streak in Gainesville in the process.

Florida pulled back within a point with 1:27 left when Colin Castleton set a career high with his 27th point with a bucket in the paint. On the next possession, JD Notae buried a 3 from the wing to all but ice the game as Arkansas finished things off from the free-throw line.

Castleton led all scorers with 29 points and he grabbed six rebounds. Notae led Arkansas with 22 points. Williams had 15 points and 10 rebounds and Devo Davis (18), Au’Diese Toney (12) and Stanley Umude (11) also scored in double figures.

Arkansas hadn’t beaten Florida in Gainesville since 1995, the year the Razorbacks played in the national title game against UCLA.

The win is Arkansas’ 12th in its last 13 games. The Hogs have three regular-season games remaining with the next coming on Saturday at home against Kentucky.

Arkansas shows bark and bite in win over Georgia

Arkansas has zero trouble with Georgia on the road in seventh straight win.

By the end of Arkansas’ 99-73 win over Georgia, a casual box score observer likely couldn’t tell the game was ever close.

The Razorbacks (17-5, 6-3) almost doubled up the home team in the second half, 46-26, en route to a seventh straight win. In the first half, the Hogs never led by more than six points.

Stanley Umude was the biggest reason for the outburst. He had 15 points in the first half, but scored eight of the team’s first 10 points within three minutes of coming out of the locker room. By the end he had a season-high 31 on 12 of 20 shooting, including a 6-of-8 night from 3-point range.

JD Notae, Jaylin Williams and Au’Diese Toney joined him in double figures, scoring 23, 14 and 10, respectively. Williams just missed his sixth double-double of the year with eight rebounds, but he was also limited to just six minutes in the first half because of foul trouble.

Kario Oquendo led Georgia with 17e points.

The Razorbacks next play Saturday when Mississippi State, the team that beat Arkansas to open the SEC portion of the schedule, travels to Bud Walton Arena. That game is followed by another home game Tuesday against No. 1 Auburn. The Tigers will have been coming off a visit to Georgia on that date.