Tag: Mike Neighbors

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.

Poffenbarger’s career night leads Hogs past Missouri on the road

Behind Saylor Poffenbarger’s career shooting performance, Arkansas women’s basketball picked up a valiant road win over Missouri on Sunday.

[autotag]Arkansas women’s basketball[/autotag] (16-6, 4-3 SEC) was able to grind out another conference road win on Sunday night, this time over the Missouri Tigers (11-10, 2-6 SEC), 67-58.

The Hogs were once again without leading scorer [autotag]Taliah Scott[/autotag], who missed her sixth straight game while rehabbing a back injury. Sans Scott, the Razorbacks struggled to pull away from the Tigers until the fourth quarter. They entered the fourth clinging to a one-point lead, but used a 12-4 midway through the period to seal the victory.

The story of the game was, without a doubt, the gutsy performance of guard [autotag]Saylor Poffenbarger[/autotag]. After missing Thursday night’s win over Kentucky due to a nagging foot injury, Poffenbarger returned to the lineup and made an immediate impact.

She finished with 24 points (8-11 3PT), 9 rebounds, a pair of assists and a steal. Her eight made 3-pointers were a new career-high and just one away from tying the program record. Three of her eight buckets from deep came in the final frame, which helped spur the Razorbacks’ game-clinching run.

One cool aspect of Poffenbarger’s career performance was that it took place on the same night as her mother, Amy, was being honored at Missouri with her Alumni Night.

[autotag]Makayla Daniels[/autotag] and [autotag]Samara Spencer[/autotag] were the only other Hogs in double figures, each finishing the night with 13 points. Maryam Dauda also had a solid night, as she tallied 7 points, 4 rebounds, 4 blocks and a steal.

Next up for the Hogs is a date with Alabama on Thursday night in Bud Walton Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. and will be televised on SEC Network.

Arkansas freshman sensation Scott returns after four-game absence

After missing four straight games with a back injury, Arkansas super freshman Taliah Scott returned to practice for the Razorbacks on Tuesday.

After missing the past four games with a back injury, freshman sensation Taliah Scott returned to practice for the Arkansas women’s basketball team on Tuesday.

The 5-foot-9 guard, who leads the SEC in scoring with a 22.3 points-per-game average, took the court for the first time since suffering the injury Jan. 4, during a 73-63 loss in the conference opener at Kentucky.

“She’s eager to get back, she’s excited to get back, but a back injury at that age is something you have got to watch really carefully,” Head Coach Mike Neighbors said.

Arkansas (14-6, 2-3 SEC) went 2-2 with Scott sidelined, including a rough 99-68 loss at LSU on Sunday. Not only have the Lady Razorbacks missed her ability to score, but they have also missed her presence with defensive pressure, as well as the affect it has had on the team’s depth.

“It’s affected practice probably more than games, because we have to be very, very cautious with our energy and our reps, but I think our kids have rallied,” Neighbors said. “It’s changed some things we’ve had to do, offensively and defensively, We’ve had to change a few tactics, but the kids have responded great.

Neighbors received word early Tuesday that Scott was cleared to return. She will likely see the court when Kentucky comes to town Thursday night, but it’s unknown how much she will play

“She will return to activity today,” Neighbors said, prior to practice. “We hope this is that ramp-up period (after) you’re out for a period of time. You don’t ever want to bring anybody, especially a freshman, back too fast. But she will be in activity today.”

The Lady Razorbacks and Lady Wildcats will tip off at 7 p.m. Thursday inside Bud Walton Arena, and will be televised on SEC Network-Plus.

Twitter reacts: Arkansas fans’ patience running short with Mike Neighbors

Arkansas fans aren’t happy with coach Mike Neighbors right now as the Hogs look to be headed to another NIT.

Arkansas women’s basketball doesn’t have the same expectations as men’s basketball.

Not right now, anyway.

Not with where Arkansas has been over the last year-and-a-half.

The Razorbacks lost their SEC opener to league cellar-dweller Kentucky on Thursday after scoring just 14 points in the first half.

The game and result is hardly a back-breaker, but NCAA Tournament-bound teams beat the teams they’re supposed to beat. Arkansas was supposed to beat Kentucky, road game or not.

Coach Mike Neighbors has taken the Hogs to the postseason each of the last four years that the postseason has been held, starting with an NIT bid 2018-19. In 2019-20, Arkansas was in the midst of its best regular season with Neighbors at the helm, but the NCAA Tournament was canceled. Three years ago, Arkansas made it, but was ousted in the first round as a 4-seed. Two years ago, the Hogs lost in the first round as a 10-seed. And last year, it was back to the NIT.

Right now, through 16 games, Arkansas is looking at another NIT-type of season, leaving Razorbacks fans frustrated at Neighbors and where the program is headed.

Arkansas women’s basketball closes out 2023 with victory

Arkansas finished off 2023 with a 19-point victory over Incarnate Word. SEC play begins Thursday at Kentucky.

The final day of 2023 saw the Arkansas women get a victory over Incarnate Word at Bud Walton Arena, 67-48.

Taliah Scott continued her torrid scoring stretch, dropping 24 on the visiting Cardinals, while tallying a career high four assists and grabbed three rebounds.

Arkansas outrebounded UIW, 42-35, and logged 16 points off of turnovers compared to UIW’s nine.

“It wasn’t going to be pretty, for lots of reasons,” Arkansas head coach Mike Neighbors said. “We set them up for adversity with a really long break. They (UIW) had played some other teams close and we knew when we scheduled this game, it would be great to challenge our kids and see how they respond.”

Arkansas (12-3) will take a four-game winning streak into Thursday’s SEC opener at Kentucky.

Dauda’s buzzer-beater ends epic 60-59 win over Illinois

Bentonville’s Maryam Dauda sank a layup just before the buzzer Wednesday to lift the Arkansas women to victory.

Sophomore Maryam Dauda hit a layup with less than a second left on the clock Wednesday to propel the Arkansas women’s basketball team to a thrilling 60-59 win over Illinois in the first of two games being played at the West Palm Beach Classic in Florida.

Down by a point, the Razorbacks got the ball to junior playmaker Samara Spencer with nine seconds to play. The savvy guard then found Dauda open under the basket for the winning score.

Spencer and SEC scoring leader Taliah Scott each netted 17 points to pace Arkansas. Dauda, a 6-foot-4 Bentonville product, was 4 of 5 from the field and finished with nine points, four rebounds and two blocked shots.

Ironically, Spencer and Scott are both Florida natives and got to shine back in their home state.

“Happy for our Florida kids to come home again,” head coach Mike Neighbors said. “And with Sam making the right basketball play, and Maryam being ready, with her hands up ready to catch it and lay that thing in at the buzzer. It was really exciting.”

Arkansas jumped out to a 7-0 lead to start the game, but went on a three-minute drought, allowing Illinois to respond with a 6-0 run.

The teams then traded the lead throughout the first half. Graduate guard Makayla Daniels scored on a layup, then hit one of two free throws late in the half to send the Razorbacks to the locker room with a 31-28 lead.

“Faced a lot of adversity with foul trouble early, and not being able to knock down free throws when we needed them,” Neighbors said. “But we really battled. I though defensively we really locked in when we needed to.”

After Illinois opened the second half with five straight points, Arkansas reclaimed a 43-40 advantage midway through the third quarter, on back-to-back threes from Spencer and sophomore Saylor Poffenbarger. But the Fighting Illini bounced back with a 7-0 run to retake the lead once again.

Illinois actually outscored Arkansas 23-17 in the third quarter, taking a three point lead into the final stanza.

Scott converted on a driving layup to put the Hogs back ahead, until Illinois tied the game again with a jumper. The score was knotted at 55-55 with 4:12 remaining.

The Hogs held Illinois to 0-for-8 from the three-point line throughout the contest, but only converted 4-of-23 themselves.

Arkansas trailed 59-56 with three minutes to play, but got two free throws from Poffenbarger and a key block from Dauda down the stretch.

Poffenbarger got the final defensive rebound with nine seconds left and passed to Spencer, who made her way right to the basket and found Dauda for the game-winner.

Poffenbarger scored eight points, while pulling down a game-high 19 rebounds, in addition to two assists and two blocks. The 19 boards was her third most this season.

Arkansas will play Illinois-Chicago Thursday at 10 a.m. (CT) to wrap up the West Palm Beach Classic. The game will be streamed on FloHoops.

Arkansas dominates Lousiana Tech 100-60 on Wednesday night

Taliah Scott’s 29 points highlights offensive onslaught from Hogs, as they rolled over Louisiana Tech 100-60 on Wednesday night.

It was fun Wednesday night inside Bud Walton Arena if you were a Razorback fan. Five Hogs scored in double figures as Arkansas (8-2) cruised to a 100-60 win over Louisiana Tech (2-7).

[autotag]Taliah Scott[/autotag] led the Hogs in scoring, once again, pouring in 29 points on 12-16 (75%) shooting from the floor, including 5-8 (62.5%) from three. While Scott’s offensive performance may get most of the spotlight, [autotag]Mike Neighbors[/autotag] credited three veterans – [autotag]Makayla Daniels[/autotag], [autotag]Saylor Poffenbarger[/autotag] and [autotag]Samara Spencer[/autotag] – for their poise and focus entering the game.

“We don’t want to be that team that only plays to a certain standard based on what your opponent is ranked or something,” said Neighbors. “I also don’t try to fool our kids. I try to be as honest with them as I can. I knew that there was a potential for a letdown, but those three (Daniels, Poffenbarger and Spencer) had them ready to go at practice.”

The trio of Daniels, Poffenbarger and Spencer were able to bring that focus right into the game as they combined for 44 points – each scoring in double figures. Jenna Lawrence was the other Razorback with a double-digit scoring performance, adding 10 points of her own.

Arkansas will be back in action on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. as they host Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Coverage of that game can be found on the SEC Network.

Arkansas women defeat UCA 81-67, remain undefeated on season

Behind a balanced attack, Arkansas made easy work of UCA on Monday to stay undefeated. With the win, Mike Neighbors also made some history.

The Arkansas women’s basketball team is still undefeated after an 81-67 win over Central Arkansas on Monday.

It took the Razorbacks just three seconds to score, on a Maryam Dauda layup, and they didn’t look back. Arkansas led the rest of the way, all 38:57, en route to their fifth-straight win of the season.

Arkansas was able to win using a balanced attack, as all five starters were able to score in double figures. [autotag]Taliah Scott[/autotag] and [autotag]Saylor Poffenbarger[/autotag] led the way with 17 points each. [autotag]Samara Spencer[/autotag] chipped in 16 points of her own, while Dauda and [autotag]Makayla Daniels[/autotag] recorded 14 and 11 points, respectively.

“The balance is when we’re at our best, obviously,” said head coach [autotag]Mike Neighbors[/autotag] following the game. “I know that we’ve got that, but to see it on display in one of these first five (games)…was really good.”

With the win, it marks the third time in Neighbors’ tenure in which the Hogs have began the year 5-0. That ties Neighbors with Tom Collen and Gary Blair for most in program history.

Next up for the Razorback women is a trip to  Fort Myers, Fla. to play in the Elevance Health Women’s Fort Myers Tip-Off this weekend. They’ll play Wisconsin on Friday at 1:00 p.m. CT and either Marquette or Boston College on Saturday evening.

Both games will be streamed on FSWBucs.com and the Women’s Sports Network.

UALR the first of three in-state opponents for Razorback women tonight

Arkansas hosts UA-Little Rock at 7 p.m. this evening in Bud Walton Arena, the first of three straight against in-state opponents.

Arkansas will entertain UA-Little Rock at Bud Walton Arena this evening, the first of three in-state opponents in a row that the ladies will play.

The Razorbacks are seeking their fourth 3-0 start of Mike Neighbors’ seven-year tenure as the head coach.

After UA-Little Rock, Arkansas will head to Jonesboro on Friday and face Arkansas State, then return home next Monday and host Central Arkansas.

Taliah Scott has led the Razorbacks in scoring in both of their first two victories over Louisiana-Monroe and Murray State, compiling 54 points combined.

Saylor Poffenbarger has pulled down double digit rebound totals in each game as well.

Tipoff is at 7 p.m. and can be viewed on SEC Network-Plus.

Neighbors adds Dutch guard during early signing period Wednesday

Arkansas went into the Netherlands and poached guard Phoenix Stotijn from the country for the class of 2024.

The day after opening the season with a five-point win over Louisiana-Monroe, Mike Neighbors turned his focus to recruiting.

Netherlands guard Phoenix Stotijn, 5-9, signed her letter of intent to be a Razorback on Wednesday.

She originally committed to Neighbors back in August when the team was in Greece during its European tour.

Neighbors said a lot of hard work and determination by the coaching staff ultimately landed her.

A series of Zooms with our staff, a virtual tour online across multiple time zones and a lot of chats, we were able to secure an official visit with her and some family.

They made the long trip to visit Arkansas, West Virginia and UCF. She fit right into what we do and how we do it. She made great connections to her future teammates, all of whom were ecstatic when she gave her commitment to be a Razorback.

Stotijn was actually a member of the 2023 class at one point, but reclassified thanks to the pandemic.