Josh Robbins: The Wizards are scheduled to hold a group workout tomorrow for six players, all of them guards: Oklahoma’s Jordan Goldwire, Arkansas’ Chris Lykes, Kansas’ Remy Martin, Kansas State’s Mike McGuirl, Alabama’s Jaden Shackelford and Notre Dame’s Blake Wesley, the Wizards announced.
Tag: Chris Lykes
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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Next comes the real season: Arkansas falls to Tennessee in regular-season finale
Tennessee’s hot shooting snapped Arkansas’ five-game winning streak.
Better now than later.
Arkansas’ five-game winning streak came to an end Saturday to finish off the regular season as the No. 14 Razorbacks fell to No. 13 Tennessee, 78-74.
The win was a measure of revenge for the Volunteers who lost the initial game on Feb. 19 at Bud Walton Arena. Both teams will learn their official seeds for next week’s SEC Tournament by the end of the day when teams have concluded play.
Tennessee led by as many as 24 points, but Arkansas pulled within three with 14 seconds left and the ball. JD Notae attempted a 3-pointer from the win with about nine seconds left that went off the side of the rim and the Volunteers finished the game off from the line.
Arkansas (24-7, 13-5) will finish in the top four, at least, providing a first-round bye. The Hogs’ regular season was likely enough to give them a top-five- or six-seed when the NCAA Tournament is announced in eight days, too.
Tennessee (23-7, 14-4) didn’t lose at home all year and was on Arkansas from jump, leading 21 points at halftime. The Vols used the 3-ball best, knocking down 12 against the Razorbacks to break open the game. Kennedy Chandler went 5 of 6 from deep and finished with 15 points.
Chris Lykes had his best game of SEC play, finishing with 15 points before fouling out with 1:43 left. Notae had 20 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Gut-check time: Hogs ready to host Missouri with future in their hands
Arkansas is facing a must-win game against Missouri at Bud Walton Arena on Wednesday night.
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January 12 generally feels like it should be too early to talk about a must-win game in college basketball. But for Arkansas, a loss to Missouri in Fayetteville on Wednesday night would all but sink the Razorbacks’ NCAA Tournament chances.
Granted, that doesn’t account for a miracle. Arkansas could swim through the back-half of its schedule, though seven of the Hogs’ last eight games come against teams currently projected to make the Big Dance. Most of them currently have high (as in, quality) seeds, too.
That makes Wednesday’s 8 p.m. tip against the Tigers supremely important. Arkansas (10-5, 0-3) has lost its first three games in SEC play and five of its last six overall after a 9-0 start had the team ranked in the Top 10 in the nation. Missouri, the team picked 10th in the SEC poll in the preseason, sits at an even .500 (7-7, 1-1) heading to Bud Walton Arena.
One statistic that points in the direction of Arkansas snapping its skid is Missouri’s shooting. The Hogs have struggled all year in defending the 3-point shot as they’re 316th out of 350 Division I teams opponent’s 3-point percentage with teams making 36.6% of their shots from range. The Tigers, though, are even worse at actually shooting that shot, checking at 348th out of those 350 teams. They’re hitting on just 25% of their 3-pointers.
But Missouri is still a team coming off a win against Alabama, the preseason SEC favorites. The Tigers pulled the upset largely by outrebounding Alabama 43-31 and making 21 of their 27 shots from the free-throw line. To that end, Missouri will look toward Kobe Brown, who scored 30 points and grabbed 13 boards against the Crimson Tide.
Arkansas should be mostly healthy after guard Chris Lykes appeared to injure his adductor/groin in the waning minutes of the Texas A&M game last time out. But even still, Arkansas coach Eric Musselman isn’t taking anything for granted, not after the way his team has started conference play.
“Obviously Alabama is one of the best teams in the conference, one of the best teams in the country,” Musselman said. “Missouri played an incredible game. But nothing really is a surprise, I don’t think, in conference play.”
Arkansas guard Chris Lykes (lower-body injury) should be available for Missouri
Arkansas guard Chris Lykes appeared to have tweaked his groin or adductor in Saturday’s loss to Texas A&M.
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Arkansas guard Chris Lykes’ body took a bit of a beating in Saturday’s loss to Texas A&M, but coach Eric Musselman said Lykes should be available Wednesday against Missouri.
Lykes, a transfer from Miami (FL), came down hard after a collecting a rebound in the waning seconds against the Aggies. His legs split apart when he hit the ground and he appeared to injure his adductor or groin, even staying on the court for several seconds in the aftermath.
“He’s been doing rehab,” Musselman said. “He should be fine. I’ll hold him out of practice (Monday), but he should be fine for Wednesday.”
Lykes played 10 minutes against Texas A&M and scored just one point. He did the same minutes-wise and points-wise against Vanderbilt in the game before. They were his two lowest outputs of the season in minutes and points both as he had scored in double figures in five of his previous six games before that.
Arkansas (10-4, 0-3 in SEC) tips against Missouri at 8 p.m. on Wednesday. The 0-3 start is Arkansas’ worst in more than a decade.
Trouble in paradise: Arkansas falls to Vandy at Bud Walton Arena
Arkansas missed two shots in the final seconds and fell to Vanderbilt, 75-74.
Myles Stute blocked Stanley Umude’s potential go-ahead lay-up with two seconds left and JD Notae’s last-ditch 3-pointer rimmed off as Vanderbilt escaped Bud Walton Arena with a 75-74 win over Arkansas on Tuesday night.
Umude had his best game in an Arkansas uniform, scoring 28 points on 11 of 20 shooting. As he drove down the left side with seconds remaining, he had a clean look until Stute, Vanderbilt’s center, slid over to help and blocked the ball out of bounds.
The ensuing inbounds pass came from the corner and Notae had a contested look from the wing just before the buzzer sounded.
Only five Razorbacks players joined him in scoring as coach Eric Musselman tightened his rotations against the Commodores.
Notae returned from illness after missing the team’s SEC opener against Mississippi State last week and had 16 points in 37 minutes. Au’Diese Toney (20 points), Jaylin Williams (six points) and Jaxson Robinson (three points) joined him cracking 30-plus minutes. The Arkansas player with the next most minutes was Chris Lykes, who made a single free throw in 10 minutes.
Arkansas loss starts the team 0-2 in league play. It’s the first time the Razorbacks have started the SEC with losses in their first two games since 2013-14.
Scottie Pippen Jr. led Vanderbilt with 22 points.
Why Arkansas basketball can still make the NCAA Tournament
Arkansas basketball has the talent and the coaching to turn its season around and make the Big Dance.
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December was a cruel, cold month for the Arkansas basketball team. Spring, however, to steal and modify a phrase, is coming.
ESPN’s Bracketology dropped the Razorbacks from the predicted teams to make the NCAA Tournament with its latest update on Friday. And per the network’s Basketball Power Index, Arkansas faces long odds to return. Of 18 games the Hogs have remaining, 10 come against teams ranked inside the Top 30. Seven are against teams inside the Top 20.
By no means, though, is Arkansas out of it.
Coach Eric Musselman is known for taking lemons and turning them into lemonade. And it’s not as though Arkansas’ team in 2021-22 is actually that much of a lemon. They started the year 9-0 and were ranked inside the Top 10. Weaknesses were evident through those nine victories and Musselman even said as much. But what allowed nine straight wins was talent.
Arkansas has the talent. Even if it has yet to gel, more than half the season remains.
Guard JD Notae is still the second leading scorer in the SEC. Stanley Umude, Au’Diese Toney and Chris Lykes are still players who averaged double figures at their previous schools of South Dakota, Pittsburgh and Miami (FL). Devo Davis is still the player who broke out in last year’s NCAA Tournament. Jaylin Williams is still one of the best point-forwards in the sport.
And Musselman is still a coach who led a mish-mash collection of Razorbacks to the Elite Eight in 2020-21.
The margin for error is slim. Arkansas cannot afford to drop games against teams it is better than. Starting Tuesday when Vanderbilt visits Bud Walton Arena, the Razorbacks have to win. They don’t have to make a statement in that win, necessarily, but they must come out on top. The road is too tough to hoe going forward.
Follow that with a road victory at Texas A&M, an Aggies team, by the way, nipping at the heels of the Hogs in the power index. Beat a bad Missouri team back in Fayetteville after that and suddenly the Razorbacks are 3-1 in the SEC with a chance to visit Baton Rouge and knock off an LSU team that’s all but a lock for the Dance.
That sort of stretch is all that’s required to get the Hogs back into the hunt. Sure, it ignores the last month of the season and all the difficulty it will bring. But winning begets winning and if Arkansas can string together some in the early weeks of the new year, then things are far from over.
Behind the box score: Giveaways and glass haunt Arkansas in loss
Mississippi State outplayed Arkansas in nearly every statistic on Wednesday.
Teams that are short-handed don’t have a lot of room for error.
Arkansas was both short-handed and error-prone against Mississippi State in both teams’ SEC opener on Wednesday, falling 81-68.
The Razorbacks were without leading scorer JD Notae and forward Kamani Johnson. The school announced before the game that Notae would miss because of illness and Johnson was indefinitely suspended because of an undisclosed reason.
The game against the Bulldogs likely would have been a bit different with them.
Instead, Arkansas struggled on the glass, where Johnson would have helped, and struggled with turnovers and getting to the free-throw line, where Notae would have helped.
Mississippi State’s win was its seventh in its last eight games against Arkansas. The Razorbacks return to Bud Walton Arena on Tuesday to host Vanderbilt.
Here are five reasons behind the box score for Arkansas’ loss on Wednesday.