Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: You're listening to the Hog Sports Network daily podcast.
Now here's your host, Matt Jones.
[00:00:09] Speaker B: Happy Wednesday to you. Hope that you had a pot of coffee this morning. If you stayed up to watch Arkansas basketball beat Vanderbilt 90 to 77 last night. The Razorbacks really one of their more complete performances of the year, especially in the second half. Just really kept their thumb down on Vanderbilt and didn't let up. It's their 18th win of the season, their seventh win in SEC play. We've heard John Calipari a number of times. If a team can win seven SEC games this year, he thinks they're worthy of the NCAA Tournament. Arkansas with one more game remaining against Mississippi State on Saturday at Bud Walton Arena. Anthony Christensen was there in Memorial Coliseum for us last night. Anthony, kind of paint the picture. What, what was it like there? I know as I was watching on TV I saw a lot of red in the crowd and I know that there's a lot of Arkansas fans there in and around the Central Tennessee area. But, but it felt like they made that maybe not so much of a home court advantage for Vanderbilt.
[00:01:07] Speaker C: Yeah, no, there was definitely a sizable Arkansas contingent there. It was, it was a fun game for sure. I mean it would have been better if it wasn't 9pm Tip. But I'll stop complaining about that now that it's over.
But, but no, it was a fun environment. The Vandy students showed out. It was a good time. And yeah, I mean they, they, like you said, there was, there was a very visible Arkansas contingent kind of right there behind the baseline bench, which, seeing those baseline benches in person, that, that's awesome. I, I, it's very unique. I loved it. I love, I love Memorial Gymnasium too. Just it, just in general. I did not expect to like it as much as I did, but that's obviously beside the point. But it was, it was a fun environment. It was a, you know, a much needed performance from Arkansas in that space. I mean, obviously Arkansas needed a, you know, a big time response from its, you know, quite frankly, horrible loss to, to South Carolina and I think they got that. So it was a, it was a good, good game, good environment. The Vandy students were, were lively and every time Vanderbilt kind of looked like it was going to get back into the game, Arkansas had a response and that was just kind of the, the story of the game from, from that vantage point.
[00:02:22] Speaker B: Arkansas shoots 51% in this game, 33% from three at the free throw line. Vanderbilt outscored him by five last night and Arkansas really able to Offset that and not make the free throws a big factor at all in this game. Nelly Davis, 21 points. Trevin Brazil 16 points, 14 rebounds. Probably the best game that we've seen him play as a Razorback. D.J. wagner scored 14, Avisa gave him 14. Carter Knox with 10 points. Jonas Hadu thought he had another nice game. 7 points and 8 rebounds off the bench. It just. Billy Richmond gave him eight points. It felt like the Texas game again in that if you get all seven of these guys who are going to give you a strong effort, you got a chance to win. But it's going to take all seven of them having, you know, a really strong game, I feel like for them to win these games and they got it last night. And Brazil in particular, the game that he had was just incredible.
[00:03:20] Speaker C: Yeah, Trevin Brazil was, was awesome. I mean he was, he was lively on both ends, got a lot of, you know, deflections and steals and had a couple blocks as well. And just offensively, obviously everybody's going to look at the, the dunks because they're very highlight worthy. They were very cool to see in person. You know, he, I mean he's, he's a remarkable athlete. Like he's, you know, got all the athletic ability in the world. I think everybody's just kind of been waiting to, to see it come to fruition and if I like it did in that game last night. And you know, he, I also thought obviously he had a couple of threes as well, but even when he didn't have the ball in his hands, I thought, I thought his spacing was really good. I thought he was really productive in setting screens and making, you know, the right moves to make space, you know, creating space for, for drivers like John L. Davis. Like, like you mentioned, obviously 21 points a game high and you know, Carter Knox, Billy Richmond, those guys. But yeah, it was obviously, you know, a big time performance from Trevor Brazil. And then also, you know, you mentioned the, the balanced effort. You know, that's a big, that's a big thing. I think in the last three wins, you know, all five starters have had, you know, at least 10 points and then they've gotten production off the bench and then you look at the losses, it just hasn't been anywhere near the same, particularly in that South Carolina game. But I mean, you look at all burns of honor, Vage didn't score in that game last night. I think he had, I think he had. I can't remember off the top of my head and I don't have the Stats in front of me. But he definitely had double figures. 14 points.
14.
[00:04:54] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:04:55] Speaker C: Yeah. So, I mean, he was productive. I mean, everybody on the floor was productive. And I mean, you look at. I mean, nobody was productive against South Carolina. You didn't get the production from the front court against Auburn and, you know, other games where you're not all seven have contributed as much as they did last night. I think that's kind of the recipe for this Arkansas team, you know, if it is going to, you know, continue this, you know, build on this win is I think it needs to, you know, get that production. And that's not, you know, a secret. I mean, John, Cal Perry has talked about it a lot throughout the season that, you know, everybody needs to do. You know, everybody needs to chip in, everybody needs to do their part. But I think especially, you know, down the stretch, which, you know, we've seen with Boogie Fland and A. Duthiro both out, you know, for however long they're going to be out. You know, that's just kind of the. The recipe that. That it needs to be, especially with these seven guys.
[00:05:50] Speaker B: So Arkansas is down 29 to 20 in this game, and they outscore Vanderbilt 23 to 6 over the next, you know, extended stretch of play. I give John Sunvold a lot of credit on the SEC Network broadcast. You know, there was a point where Arkansas's down, I don't know, seven, nine points somewhere in there. And he said, I know Vanderbilt's making shots. He said, but this feels like the pace that Arkansas wants to play this game at. And that turned out to be true. What did you see during that stretch, though, to. To end the first half that really turned the game in Arkansas's favor.
[00:06:23] Speaker C: I think some of it came down to Vanderbilt being a little uncharacteristic. There were a lot of unforced turnovers. I think at that stage of the game, Vanderbilt had nine turnovers and five of them were unforced. So, I mean, that's part of it. But also, I thought Arkansas did a really nice job defensively, forced Vanderbilt into bad shots, and Vanderbilt, you know, just didn't really get the same looks that it's typically going to get like. I think it was Vanderbilt finished the first half on a stretch of 1 of 16, shooting from the field, and a lot of that was down to Arkansas's defense. It was, you know, Trevin Brazil getting in the passing lanes or there's a lot of mirror visage coming up with a block and stuff like that. So, you know, guys getting steals and, you know, whatever it may be. So it's a little bit of a combination of, you know, Vanderbilt wasn't playing to the, to the extent that I think we've kind of come to expect this Vanderbilt team to, to play at. But also a lot of that was, you know, Arkansas playing really, really well defensively. I thought it was that that stretch in particular was some of the best defense we've seen from Arkansas, you know, all season, you know, given the competition and, and of course, given the, the, the weight of the game. So I think that's the big thing is, you know, Arkansas was getting in the passing lanes, forcing turnovers. It wasn't, you know, I don't want to make it sound like it was just Vanderbilt playing poorly because Arkansas was forcing them into some of those spots.
So I, I thought it was, it was, it was a lot of that. And I think, you know, Arkansas obviously took advantage of that, you know, on the, on the other end as well. So I, I was, I was very much impressed with Arkansas's defense in that stretch.
[00:07:55] Speaker B: What do you think this does for Arkansas's tournament hopes?
[00:07:58] Speaker C: Well, I looked at Torvik this morning, which we've seen how much that can fluctuate, and I guess that's just life on the bubble because after the Texas win, Arkansas had a 77 chance of getting in. Then after the South Carolina game, it dropped to 44. And then if I remember correctly, Torvick has it at 79 chance of getting in. So, I mean, if Arkansas is to beat Mississippi State on, on Saturday, if I remember my dates correctly, which all the days kind of run together in my head at this point of the year. But yeah, I think that would, you know, I don't want to say a lock because they're obviously on the bubble. They have a lot of losses and we saw last year just how many bid stealers there can be. But it would be pretty close to, if nothing else, going to Dayton if they were, if they were to win on Saturday. If they lose on Saturday, I think it's, you probably have to win one, at least one game in the SEC tournament to feel really good. But if they, if they're lose set on Saturday, I think you can realistically feel good about at least getting into Dayton.
So I think that's kind of where it stands just because of, I mean, a lot of bubble teams ended up losing yesterday. I mean, Indiana lost, Nebraska lost, obviously, Ohio State won because it beat Nebraska, but, you know, a lot. Some bubble teams lost, which obviously is going to help Arkansas's case. And, yeah, I think. I think right now the tournament outlook is looking obviously better than it did and is looking pretty good. But I. I think as we've seen, you know, that can change really, really quickly.
[00:09:35] Speaker B: Quickly, Anthony, good stuff. We'll see you in studio tomorrow.
[00:09:39] Speaker C: Yes, sir. Absolutely. I will see you.
[00:09:41] Speaker B: All right. Anthony Christensen heading back from Nashville this morning after Arkansas wins that game 90 to 77 over Vanderbilt. When we come back, Ethan Westerman is going to join me in studio. But first word from our sponsors at Kindle King.
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[00:10:28] Speaker B: Hey, welcome back. I want to tell you about our friends at Bentonville Glass. They've been serving their community since 1971. Committed, professional, and versatile. If you're looking for a quality leader in northwest Arkansas or looking for skilled craftsmanship, look no further than Bentonville Glass for all your glass market needs with the highest quality products. You can come by and see them now at 507 South Main in Bentonville or online at bentonvilleglass.com Ethan Westerman is in studio with me now as we continue to talk about last night's 90 to 77 victory over Vanderbilt. How much sleep did you get?
[00:11:02] Speaker D: I'm a zombie right now.
[00:11:03] Speaker B: Yeah. So I mean, over. Under five hours.
[00:11:06] Speaker D: Slightly over.
[00:11:07] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:11:08] Speaker D: Which is surprising that I normally wake up in the middle of the night for something, but my body, I guess it needed all continuous sleep, so I got it.
[00:11:18] Speaker B: I don't remember going to sleep last night, and I don't remember getting up this morning.
[00:11:21] Speaker D: I know. I texted you right before I went to bed. I said, let's never do this again, as in a 9pm tip.
[00:11:26] Speaker B: Who made bedtime tip time? That's what I want to know. Last night for this game, it was horrible. But, you know, they get a big win. And, you know, I'm at a point with the SEC that there are a number of teams between say, like seven wins where Arkansas is in conference play and 10 wins where Missouri is where, you know, and there's a lot of teams that fall into that. Vanderbilt falls into that category. I think Texas does now Mississippi State. And it just feels like with that group of teams, they just Beat the snot out of each other. And you don't know what to expect from one game to the next because say, like with Arkansas, think about how much things change from, okay, well, they played pretty good against Texas to they played terribly against South Carolina to all of a sudden they look good again last night.
[00:12:19] Speaker D: Yeah, exactly. And I think that you have that group of teams that they're all feeling the urgency right now. I mean, every bubble team that really needed one needed a win last night and the SEC got one. I think you're looking at it right now. And Georgia's kind of coming on really strong late in the year. They've probably pushed themselves, feeling pretty safe about being in. And then it comes down to Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma and who's going to kind of emerge from that group. But yeah, it's, it's a bunch of teams right now that I think feel that their season is on the line and they're having to go out and win some games to make it happen. I think I said last week before the South Carolina game that I thought that they'd pick off one of either Arkansas or Georgia. Georgia handled them last night.
So it's, I think Georgia's that team that, that right now might be trending up at the right time. Arkansas, if it could get it done against Mississippi State on Saturday, of course would be huge because I, like you said, I throw Mississippi State in that same kind of tier right now. I know they have the ranking next to their name, but they haven't looked, They've kind of played like one of these bubble teams, I feel like for a latter part of the season.
[00:13:23] Speaker B: So you look at the SEC standings and there's some games tonight on Wednesday night that could potentially change this. But these are the teams that are between seven and 10 wins, 10 wins. Missouri and Texas A&M, nine wins. Ole Miss and Kentucky, eight wins. Mississippi State and Vanderbilt and seven wins Georgia and Arkansas. Texas has six wins out of that group. Ethan. Georgia is the only team that's not on a one game winning or losing streak. Georgia's won three in a row. And it just goes back to everybody's just beating each other up. I mean, Texas is 1:1, Arkansas is 1:1. Vandy and Mississippi State have lost one. Kentucky and Ole Miss have won one. A&M's won one, Missouri's lost one. I mean, it's just, it feels like there's just no real flow in this conference in terms like, I guess maybe that's what they talk about when they say the league is so good that it's hard to get on a streak in the sec.
[00:14:20] Speaker D: No, I agree. And I think that right now it's, where can you stack wins?
Where can you get them? I mean, Arkansas did it a couple times in February. Think about beating Kentucky and Texas back to back. You stacked them there. You beat Missouri in Texas back to back, did it there. If they could do it again on Saturday, I'm telling you, it's whenever you can piece two together in a row that you really make your case. That's why Georgia has kind of taken itself. It's still on the bubble, but like it feels really good right now because they've stacked them together back to back to back. If Arkansas can do it again on Saturday, you've got to think that that's the win that pushes them over for sure.
[00:14:55] Speaker B: Georgia and Tennessee are the only two teams in the SEC right now that have win streaks of more than one game. Tennessee's 1 4, like I mentioned, Georgia's 13 in a row.
[00:15:04] Speaker D: And that's why also on the flip side of it, whenever you start like Arkansas did to start SEC play, if you lose five in a row, it's, it's so killer. I mean Arkansas has been trying to overcome that all year. Is just that you can't get streaky the wrong way and it's really hard to get streaky the right way.
[00:15:20] Speaker B: So do you think they offset the South Carolina loss? Because I think there were a lot of people who were going into this two game road trip that said if they go one and one, they're going to be okay. But I think most people thought it was going to be one and one the other way you win at South Carolina and Vanderbilt was going to be the team to beat you.
[00:15:35] Speaker D: Well, the metrics certainly think that it offset, I mean, quite literally. Arkansas went into South Carolina number 39 in the net, dropped to 47, they beat Vanderbilt and they rose to number 39. Like it it offset there. I think that in the SEC that that kind of has to happen this year. I mean, John Caliperi, he stressed it and I think this is where it helps to have the human component to the selection as well that South Carolina at home this year plays like a top 10 team. I mean they almost beat that the heavyweights in the league too. I mean Arkansas was not going to be anybody with how they played. I mean it was a horrible performance. It was painful honestly to watch just how poorly they played. But I think that that South Carolina loss isn't as bad as normal Last place losses are. I mean it's still a top 100 in the net team, which I can't stress this enough that that's crazy that in a 16 team league that you have all in the top 100 of the net.
[00:16:30] Speaker B: John Caliperi, after the game last night, we'll play some sound bites for you. First one, he talks about how they have a new team. It feels like every game.
[00:16:39] Speaker E: It's funny, there's not one way to play this game. Everybody you have to play it. That no depends on your team. This is about my fourth team this year.
Like now. Boogie and a deuce out. I got a new team. Said to the guys, why am I still tweaking stuff? And they said, well, you're looking at tape. No, we're a different team than we were two weeks ago. We got to figure out how we have to play to win.
You know, defending and doing some of this stuff has to be what we do. And again, just so you know, we got smoked by South Carolina so bad. I never looked at the tape and I told the team the reason I didn't look at the tape, that wasn't my team, so why would I watch it? That's not my team. I mean, we were so bad. We were over 17 from the three we're getting.
I didn't miss free throws, missed layups, missed one footers, missed, missed everything. Shot 15%. And I just said, look, it was a dud next game.
[00:17:45] Speaker B: So I mean, you know, he said, like you said, it was a dud next game. I think the way they handled the end of the South Carolina game and how they handled the, maybe the day or two after South Carolina probably played a pretty big role in last night. You know, I mean, they were down so bad to South Carolina, they knew they weren't going to come back and win that game. He told his team not to foul. I think that probably saved some legs and made them a little bit more fresh than they may have normally been for that quick of a, you know, road game to road game turnaround.
[00:18:16] Speaker D: Yeah, no, I think it was a double edged sword on Saturday. Number one didn't want to foul because he just wanted to get the heck out of there. He was like, don't, don't drag this out any longer. But also, yeah, it saved your legs a little bit to just get through that game, get out of there. I do think that it was the type of loss that I think every team along the way in their season hits some sort of game where it's like Well, I don't think we can play much worse than that. And I think that was the game for Arkansas where it's like you get it out of your system and it's just bounce back. You got to find a way to just put that out of sight. I mean, he mentioned it multiple times. He said that he told his team, that's not the team that I coach that played at South Carolina. He doesn't know what that, who that team is. But he thought last night got back to being the team that he coached throughout February that got itself, you know, out of the cellar of the SEC and competing for a tournament spot.
[00:19:07] Speaker B: It's weird. It feels like Trevin Brazile is the key to this team right now. I mean, whenever he gives the max effort like he did in the first half against Texas and like he did throughout the game last night, they can be pretty good. And then there are moments when he has disappearing acts like he had against South Carolina.
And that's why I say that, you know, my trust level in this team is not very high.
And I think it starts with the fact that you've just got some players on the team and I think Brazil is case number one that you just don't know what you're going to get from them game to game. There are a few players like D.J. wagner. It feels like you're always going to get a pretty consistent outing from DJ Wagner. I would say Nelly Davis past, you know, mid January, it feels like you're going to get a pretty consistent outing from him. V sits more often than not, you're going to get a fairly consistent outing from him past that. I just don't know what I'm going to get from this team.
[00:20:04] Speaker D: Yeah, and they're at a point right now with a seven man rotation where you can't. What went wrong at South Carolina? Well, what didn't go wrong, let's be real. But they just had no shows from so many guys. I mean like guys did not score who played. And whenever you play a seven man rotation, you got to have everybody involved both ends. I think that that's the key moving forward. If you look at a box score at the end of a game with Arkansas with this rotation and there's three or four guys that clearly didn't play their best.
I'm not even going to say didn't play their best, but didn't have pretty good outings, they probably are losing. I mean, you just can't. You got to get production somewhere. And I think right now they're At a place with. They're redefining their team again. Like, they had to do it after Boogie Flam went down. They had to redefine it and they did. And now with the do Theo out, they're having to figure it all out again. And you are at a point where it's. You figured it out last time and you had some guys that, you know, had proven themselves like to kind of carry you through the line or across the line. And now you're. You're looking at this rotation and you have guys that are question marks, like Trevin Brazile. But if he can do what he did even somewhat last night on a consistent basis, Jonas Adu's coming along. They have seven guys that they like. It's just. Can they replicate game after game, you're going to hit a dud like they did at South Carolina. But I think they're at a point in the year where they got to. They can't suffer multiple. Just no shows like that. I think that this is a team that, you know, with the rotation they have, if they just get consistency from guys, they'll be fine. But that's where you get in trouble is if there's a lack of it.
[00:21:37] Speaker B: This is what John Caliperi had to say last night about Trevin Brazil, but.
[00:21:41] Speaker E: I'm happy for Trevin. He, you know, it's been a up and down road, but I keep telling him, you got stuff that a normal guy doesn't have. Now bring it. And I told him, I'm going to hold you accountable. Even though you play well, I'm going to still get on you to listen, to focus and lock in, to go after every ball.
[00:21:59] Speaker B: Yeah, I thought Brazil's hustle last night, there were two or three balls where they went out of bounds and, you know, he just, he tracked him down and kept it going. I think one may have saved it to Arkansas, one may have saved it to Vanderbilt, but there was a. There was a hustle last night from him that I don't know that we've seen a whole lot since maybe early in the SEC play.
[00:22:19] Speaker D: Yeah, no, he was all over the court. His motor was so high. I mean, I. If I'm thinking of the same play as you, there was a missed three pointer from the corner, and it looked like it was just gonna be like a. Your normal, like, bounce out of bounds, and all of a sudden he comes soaring in there and throws it in the backcourt to get a possession. I think that might have been. Was that the possession that D.J. wagner hit a. No, it was in that same time from the dj. Wagoner hit that late shot clock three. But it was in that portion of the game where Arkansas. It kind of felt like, like, you know, it was a comfortable lead but they had to keep it going. And because Vanderbilt was starting to maybe push and he was coming up with those type of plays in crucial times, he was all over the place. Trevin, Brazil, I mean that was by far his best game this season.
[00:23:00] Speaker B: I feel like Calipari is becoming a lot more reflective the later you get into the season. You had to have heard this too because I know you listened to the post game radio interview. I heard him on multiple occasions last night talk about in a little bit more detail what happened with Nellie Davis, that he injured his wrist falling out of a golf cart at some point in time. If this has been talked about, I had missed it.
[00:23:23] Speaker D: Yeah, well, I heard him talk about this scooter. He still hasn't said who, but the scooter fall was because there was a golf cart.
[00:23:29] Speaker B: He said there's been at least a couple of scooter incidents.
[00:23:31] Speaker D: I had heard the scooter thing before. Golf cart was new to me. I did not know that's what happened to Nelly Davis. I mean, Nelly missed their little Tour de Arkansas or whatever they called it, where they went to Pine Bluff and Hot Springs because his wrist was bothering him. I'm guessing he just took a October golf cart spill and hurt the wrist. And there's. Yeah, there's another ghost scooter fall that we don't know who the scooter fall was.
[00:23:55] Speaker B: But scooters are like one of the primary causes for injuries among athletes at Arkansas.
[00:24:03] Speaker D: It's crazy. I mean, what sport hasn't been spared of scooters? I remember whenever I was a student manager under Mike Anderson, went to Nashville for SEC tournament and it was kind of around the time that scooters were becoming popular like that. And all the players wanted to get on scooters and ride around Nashville and they got chewed about getting off these scooters. And back then I was like, what? Like, I mean it's just now I'm starting to be like, okay, Mike Anderson had some foresight into this scooter issue. That kind of scooters.
[00:24:31] Speaker B: Are we talking, are we talking about the scooters where you sit on it or the scooters where you stand on it?
[00:24:35] Speaker D: Like the lime or bird? It's like the electric ones that you stand on it.
[00:24:38] Speaker B: Are the sit down scooters, are they still popular because those, those got pop.
[00:24:42] Speaker D: With athletes here for a while I think maybe. But most references you're hearing it's these stand up ones.
[00:24:48] Speaker B: I was driving down Razorback Road one time and I got behind a scooter with not one but two Razorback offensive linemen on it. Going up the hill on Razorback up by the stadium.
[00:24:58] Speaker D: It took a while that about to say that scooter was fighting for its life.
But no, I'm telling you, these scooters apparently a real problem with injury. People are falling off them or whatever. I mean I've ridden on them too whenever I was a student. I mean heck if you using one on this campus at Arkansas is great because it's so hilly. I mean it was a godsend for me. But yeah, it's seems like there's the risk is maybe greater than the reward. Maybe just build up those calf muscles and conquer the hill.
[00:25:28] Speaker B: That's what I did when I was in college.
Pomphrey up to the top of the hill about three times a day. Talking about him being reflective, big picture to now this is what he had to talk about about that 015 start and how the team has overcome it.
[00:25:42] Speaker E: Well, what they've been through, we started 0 and 5 like it's over. He stinks. He can't coach, they can't play, he stinks. That kid stinks. And they were some of the guys, they were bazooka shots at some of these kids and they withstood it, they persevered. And I kept telling them when you get through this, you're going to be so much stronger, mentally tougher, that there'll be things later in life that happen to you that won't phase you that would knock you on your back if you hadn't gone through this. And so now for me, for them to win the game like this when they had to and do it together, it's just, you know, I'm enjoying, I'm enjoying the whole year to be honest with you. I really have. We were 5 and 0 and 5 and we broke champagne when we beat Georgia because I knew we weren't going to go 0:19.
We might go 1 and 18, but we weren't going 0:19. And so we've had fun with it. We got some good kids coming in. You will see who's staying, go get some other stuff. And I just want again like Arkansas to be that team. The kids want to play there. The tv Two of the highest rated games this year were us, Illinois and Kentucky. Those are top four you want people to want to watch us and, you know, make it the thing and our fans. These last games have been like, I have. I'm like, wow.
And we were all in five. They were still being nice. I said, geez, what's going to happen if we win a game or two? So. But I'm happy for the guys, you know, our hard work pays off. All that good stuff. Can I go so we can get home by 2 o'clock?
[00:27:47] Speaker B: He said that he hoped they would get home by 2:00. I don't. I have no clue what time they got home.
[00:27:53] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:27:53] Speaker B: Because in the sound bite that I'm about to play, he mentions 3:00.
[00:27:58] Speaker D: That's for me. I'm like, that's making it good time.
[00:28:02] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, the game ended 11:30, is that right?
[00:28:07] Speaker D: I lost because it felt like.
[00:28:08] Speaker B: I mean, there was. I looked up at 10:51 and they were only midway through the second half. And I was sitting there thinking, man, this game is taking a while to get going. And it just feels like that's every game right now. Every game has taken a long time. You know, I was watching the game on my laptop because SEC Network took so long to get to Nashville because of the Texas Mississippi State that went so long. In overtime of Texas Mississippi State. There was a stretch where eight seconds of game time, like from a minute 20 to a minute 28 in overtime, took eight minutes of real time due to timeouts and reviews.
[00:28:49] Speaker D: Yep. No, I looked up at the kind of the. This, that game when it was 15 minutes ish till Arkansas was supposed to tip off. I saw how tight it was. I saw how much time was left. I said, oh, we're in for a. We're in for a late start on SEC Network with Arkansas Vandy. And then of course, I forget how it even went down the sequence that Mississippi State floor.
[00:29:08] Speaker B: I missed a free throw and like hit a three pointer.
[00:29:10] Speaker D: It was crazy. Then I was like, all right, this is just destined to make Arkansas not start on time. So yeah, it was. I hate the end of games, how long they can take. Between reviews and stuff, it feels like, you know, you go so much of the game where like a, like a contested ball that goes out of bounds, you're pretty sure on the call you stick with it, keep the game flowing and you got that flow. And then all of a sudden in the last two minutes, just every single ball that goes out of bounds, it's the team's arguing over who touched it last half. The time they'll go to the monitor and it's pretty clear nobody takes their.
[00:29:44] Speaker B: Timeouts early in the game anymore. It seems like everybody's got two or three left by the time they get to that two, three minute point in the game.
[00:29:50] Speaker D: I mean heck, the Arkansas Texas game there was a clear as day goaltend against Texas and they had to go to the monitor to make sure. It was just like reviewing everything in these tight games to make sure they get it right. And so at some point just roll with what you know is the right. Yeah, but anyway it was a.
That don't. I don't remember anything about the time last night. All I know is I was tired, I was ready to go to bed and I'm sure I actually the thought did cross my mind as I was getting ready to go in bed. I said this really stinks for those guys that potentially have class tomorrow. They are not left. They haven't left the airport yet there. So I've been a part of those before and those are miserable to try and get up the next day.
[00:30:29] Speaker B: So Arkansas, they play at 11 o'clock Saturday morning against Mississippi State. Like we mentioned, the Bulldogs are going to be coming in off of a loss to Texas. You figure Bud Walton's going to be just rocking for this game because it's like one final at least in the regular season, one final data point that you can put toward your tournament resume. Last time you're going to get a chance to watch the team at Bud Walton or at least I think that's what a lot of people hope. They hope they are not back at the nit, but last chance to watch them at Bud Walton. Last chance to get that data point.
It feels like it's going to be a big game. Probably a lot of appreciation too from the fans for the type of effort they gave at Vanderbilt. It's not quite the Texas to South Carolina turnaround because that was a Wednesday to a Saturday morning, but it is fairly comparable because you had the late game travel.
Now you got an early game on Saturday. John Calipari said this about that kind of turnaround.
[00:31:27] Speaker E: Appears that everybody's all in right now. So I'm just guys we needed to win the game, you know what I'm saying? We had to win one of these two.
We won this one. Now hopefully we'll play show up for 11 o'clock game. So they're sending us home at 3 in the morning and we play 11am game. I know they've done that to other teams in the league, not.
[00:31:55] Speaker B: So obviously John Caliperi doesn't think, or maybe he thinks his team got a little bit of a shaft when it comes to scheduling.
[00:32:02] Speaker D: Yeah, I mean that's, you heard it from Eric Musselman while he was here. Arkansas has been getting the shaft I guess for every year now, you know.
[00:32:08] Speaker B: And Musselman was complaining too, now that he's at sc, the way that the Big Ten scheduled some of these games and the travel for the cross country flights.
[00:32:18] Speaker D: Yeah, I was about to say the most predictable.
[00:32:21] Speaker B: I wonder if the league office, you know, when ESPN's got them by the throat up against the wall and they're putting together these TV schedules, you know, do they even consider these type of turnarounds and how it might affect play from game to game?
[00:32:37] Speaker D: Yeah. No. I mean you grow the SEC by two teams and they're like, how do we fit in another game on a linear TV and a time slot? And I guess you either play at 9pm or you play it 4 or something like you gotta, you gotta create time somewhere that you didn't used to have.
So they're just like eh, stick them at 9pm, get back home and then 11am tip off on Saturday. But it's a. Yeah, it's, that's tough turnaround because it feels like you lost a day in there, a whole day because of the late end and the early start. But yeah, the most predictable thing ever was, you know, with the big Tim with having teams across the country that at some point coaches are going to get frustrated about it.
[00:33:18] Speaker B: Who couldn't see that coming?
[00:33:19] Speaker D: Yeah, about to say that was coming from a mile away. I will say this game on Saturday, good one. This game Saturday, Fargo is really important and I, I mean for obvious reasons it would be a big win for them if they win. And I think if they win in Georgia beats Vanderbilt. Arkansas is the ninth seed of the SEC tournament playing South Carolina in the first game. And I don't even know if that's a good thing, you know, to be a 9. I'd almost rather be the 10 seed and play LSU because of just the way that Arkansas, South Carolina just went. It's like at this point if you're Arkansas or teams like that, it's more like you're dodging bad loss, which there's not really such thing, but you're trying to stack good wins. You know, Arkansas talking about five Quad one wins now. But going to the SEC tournament, it's almost like I feel like if you play LSU or South Carolina, there's, it's.
[00:34:07] Speaker B: It's a risk, it's a no win situation because it doesn't help your resume and it can only hurt you if you lose.
[00:34:13] Speaker D: Yeah, I think all that it does is it gets you to a point where if you do win, there's no more discussion about it. I mean, you're in the tournament like as far as you took care of business, you maintained, I guess is what I'm trying to say. You're not like going to rise up some seed ladder, but you maintained and you put yourself in a good position. But if you go in there and it looks like if Arkansas beats Mississippi State, it will be the nine or it will be the 10, that's actually, I think set in stone that it will because it would win a tiebreaker over Mississippi State. If that happens, they will play either South Carolina or lsu and welcome to trap game of your resume. If they were to lose Mississippi State, I think they could be 11 or maybe 12. Do I have that right? And at that point then you're playing another bubble team. So it's really. You look at it, I think that the best case scenario for Arkansas is you beat Mississippi State and I think you want Vanderbilt to beat Georgia and get the nine to where you get LSU first game. Because LSU is a team that I don't think is playing well at all.
[00:35:05] Speaker B: I don't like conference tournaments. I don't care for. I don't. I mean other than the team that makes the Cinderella run, it benefits nobody.
[00:35:15] Speaker D: Yeah, I was being a sicko last night and I listened to field of 68. They do like a lot of just recapping the late games and Tyler Hansborough, who was star at UNC was talking, he was talking about conference tournaments and he was like, yeah, you want to. He said, I'm not a fan of them. I like to get out of them early. Because you think about it, if you play that many games back to back and make a run and then you turn around four days later and are asked to win an NCAA tournament game. I mean, was it just last year that Auburn. Did Auburn win it and then they lost to Yale? I think I have that right. That Auburn was tournament and then they lost Yale.
[00:35:45] Speaker B: They all kind of run together.
[00:35:46] Speaker D: But I just think you see very often.
[00:35:48] Speaker B: Yeah, your point is well taken. You know, you play three and three days or four and four days or. I don't maybe a team's played five and five days. Yeah, did A and M do that a year or two ago? I think maybe they got to five.
[00:35:59] Speaker D: And five Days, but NC State certainly did last year anyway.
[00:36:01] Speaker B: But then, you know, so like you leave your conference tournament and then you're sent off to Buffalo or Denver or St. Petersburg or wherever. And it's, it's, it's a lot.
[00:36:12] Speaker D: Yeah. And I think it goes one of two ways that if you're a team that's had a good season, you're kind of rolling. And then you have put that together at conference tournament and play along, you're kind of due for maybe a letdown. But then you have, like I said, your NC State, they had no tournament hopes. And then you get on a roll at a tournament and all of a sudden you're just got all this confidence moving forward and they kept it going. But I think that it just depends on like where your team's at. If I'm Arkansas, I'm gonna be honest. I want to win my first game at SEC tournament. Maybe win the set, maybe win the second if it would really boost your resume, get bounced. I mean, you got seven guys. You have seven guys. If you play that many games, it just, I have to think it takes a toll on you. I mean, of course, you know, it is nice to win games of the tournament and I guess you can carry that into something to feel proud about. But I think that if you're Arkansas, you are right now a win and avoiding a bad loss away from pretty much booking your ticket.
[00:37:06] Speaker B: All right, we come back, we're going to talk about what happened with baseball yesterday at Bomb Walker Stadium. Kind of a bizarre incident at the end of the game. Also talk about Izzy Higginbottom and her snub from the women's basketball All SEC team. More in just a moment.
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[00:37:55] Speaker E: You're good to go.
[00:37:56] Speaker C: Three, two, one.
[00:37:57] Speaker B: Welcome back. Want to tell you you can get the latest breaking news on all Razorback sports at whole hog sports.com most in depth source for all Arkansas sports analysis, latest in recruiting, unique stories on all your favorite teams. Subscribe today at whole hog sports.com Arkansas baseball is going to be back in action this afternoon against Ulm. It's going to be the resumption of game one. Arkansas and Ulm suspended last night during the five o'clock hour. With the Razorbacks up ten to one, they had a runner at third base with a chance to initiate a run roll. And then lightning struck at the stadium and this storm popped up, Ethan. And it was so fast and it was so ferocious that the, the grounds crew was not able to pull the tarp all the way across the field. It was raining, it was hailing and so you had water and hailstones sitting on top of the tarp. And it got stuck as they were kind of coming over the top of the pitcher's mound. And we got video of it here. I took this from my cell phone last night from the press box. And so you can see it gets stuck right about at the pitcher's mound. And they couldn't pull it any further. They could not get third base covered. They did get home plate covered, but the areas around home plate, as you can see there, were not covered. So you had that little stretch between first and home that got uncovered and then a pretty large swath between second and third and all the way between third and home plate.
It was. I felt bad for. And you could see the players come out there. They were trying to help them move. I felt bad for those people because they were getting soaked, they were getting hit by hail.
It just, those tarps get so heavy that if you don't get it out there in a pretty quick amount of time, it can be a bad situation. So this storm, I mean, it went through really fast. You know, it was about a 10 minute downpour with hail, but so much rain fell and the field was uncovered that they weren't going to be able to, to resume that game in any real reasonable amount of time last night. And so they suspended it. It's going to resume at 2 o'clock today and it very well could end after one pitch.
[00:40:18] Speaker D: Yeah, it's so funny because, you know, we've, tell me. We have definitely been a part of lengthy rain delays and stuff because of just. It's a big sell that you can't catch a big enough break in between, you know, one storm and the next. We've been a part of those. But this one yesterday was just like a. It was so sudden and like you said, sudden and violent. It was just so different from, I feel like other, other incidents there have been. But what a weird way to have to pick up a game today, like to finish, I mean.
[00:40:48] Speaker B: And again, Arkansas, no outs with runners at second and third base and they've got the heart of their lineup of heaven. Loy will be the first person who bats today. And you know, and it got cold, it turned cold overnight and we got this north wind that's coming in. And so when you're at bomb and you've got a north wind pretty much it's blowing out straight to center and right field. And so you know, he may try for a sac fly today and it might go 400ft and then it's on a three run home run.
[00:41:17] Speaker D: Yeah, these are some strange weather conditions. Like we've just had it all. I went out to my car this morning and there was snowflakes on it. Yeah, I guess it snowed last night. Anyway, we've had it all over. That's been the most Arkansas 24 hours I've, I've seen in a while. So anyway, it's just been very, you know, weird. I, I and it's very fitting that they're going to start a game with Arkansas. I mean talk about a pressure situation for a pitcher. Yeah, talk about situational pitching. You got to come in with that.
[00:41:48] Speaker B: Well, I mean, so like I was wondering how does Ulm handle this? Do they, they bring like one of their back of the bullpen guys in, you know, and just let him throw one pitch, four pitches, five pitches, however long it takes for, for Arkansas to get that run home, Assuming they're going to get the run home from, from third base, you know, do you bring like a position player in and just like, hey, spike it, let's just get to the second game because winning this is, is pretty, it's pretty unlikely for, for Ulm to be able to come back and win in this situation. I don't know how they approach it. But then game two begins 30 minutes after the first game ends.
[00:42:24] Speaker D: Yeah, it's a weird, it's a weird dynamic because if you're Ulm, I only mean let's be real, you're not.
Odds are very, very, very high you're not coming back to win. So I'd just tossed if it was me and I get ready for game two.
[00:42:37] Speaker B: It's going to be so like I mentioned, it's going to be cold. I think the High today is 45, 46 degrees in Fayetteville. But you got that north wind and so it's going to make the wind chill, you know, it's going to make it feel a lot colder outside than that.
Tough conditions to pitch in. It's one of those games where it's like you just, just got to get through it.
[00:42:57] Speaker D: Yeah, it's just. Yeah, it's, it's not pleasant outside right now. It kind of looks like it would be because it's sunny. It's not. I think it's one of those games. Yeah, just get through it.
[00:43:07] Speaker B: The winds could gust of 40 miles an hour today by the way, out of the north. That doesn't feel good when you're standing out there.
So Arkansas ULM again, 2 o'clock. Resumption of game one with the Razorbacks up 10 to one and the potential game ending run at third base with no outs in the seventh inning. Second game today will begin 30 minutes after that game ends. We'll have coverage from, from both games at our website, whole hog sports.com. okay, I want to talk about Izzy Higginbottom being left off the all SEC women's basketball team yesterday. And a couple of things. Number one, the only all SEC team that remains for women's basketball is the coaches. The coaches vote on it. If you're Mike Neighbors, for instance, from Arkansas, you cannot vote for Izzy Higginbottom. You can't vote for players on your team. And so you are at the mercy of the other coaches voting for the players. Izzy leads the SEC in scoring. I'll let Ethan give you the scoring average. I think she ranks number one nationally in total points. I don't know if she's number one in points per game, but obviously one of the best scorers in the country. She doesn't make the first or second all SEC team yesterday and I mentioned the coaches are the only vote now because AP for years and years had an all SEC women's basketball team. And then somewhere about five, six years ago, AP discontinued voting for all SEC for women. They still do it for men. I'm voting for the one for men. Our ballots are due at the end of this week. And I was thinking yesterday, Ethan, as I was going through and you know, just kind of writing down names of, you know, who would I consider for this? One of the first things I did was I went to the SEC website and I looked up stat leaders. Who's leading in points, who's leading in rebounds, who's leading in assists. And you know, and then you just kind of, you know what numbers are jumping out to you. And if I were voting for women's basketball, I would no doubt have Izzy Higginbottom somewhere on the first or the second team. Because to me, if you lead the conference in scoring, it's a, it's a shoe in that you're all sec, and so they were pretty upset. Mike Neighbors talked about it yesterday. We'll play a sound bite from him here in just a second. But this is. This was pretty surprising. I thought it was a no doubter that she would be on one of these all SEC teams. And I'll say this to AP, you get 10 players on the team. Coaches, you get 16.
[00:45:43] Speaker D: Well, it was actually 17 yesterday because.
[00:45:45] Speaker B: They had a tie and they don't break ties.
[00:45:47] Speaker D: Yeah. So they got to have nine on the first team and eight on the second. And if you're telling me that you're picking 17 players in the league and she's not one of them, I'd say there needs to be justice for her. And Camille Pierre. Vanderbilt getting left off was ridiculous, too. It's just. It gave off to me, the list we did of who are names that we know in this conference because they're players on, let's face it, teams that are a lot better than Arkansas this year. It was just like, that's what it felt like to me. It was like, let's not actually dig and look at production and stuff. Let's just think off the top of our head, who are some key players on these teams? And I think that that's not fair. I think that, you know, people can make the argument that your team success needs to dictate, you know, like, they get it because Arkansas wasn't good or whatever. This is an individual accolade. I'm sorry. There's a lot of team wards out there. All SEC is individual. And if you don't think what she's done as an individual merits getting on this team, I don't know what else she needs to do. She's 5 foot 7 and putting up these numbers. She's averaging 23.9 overall in the year in SEC, only place she was second. Her average was second. Which I don't know if coaches only look at SEC, only stats, but if your second leading scorer in all SEC games behind Vanderbilt's freshman Michaela Blakes, I still think. I mean, that still merits it.
[00:47:01] Speaker B: How many, how many games has she had? Over 30 points this year?
[00:47:03] Speaker D: I think she's at 5 or 6.
[00:47:05] Speaker B: Yeah, but most of them have been an SEC play.
[00:47:08] Speaker D: Yeah, most have been. They've all been a big. Against power conference teams because she had one against Boston College before SEC play started, and then she got the rest of hers in SEC play. So this is a player that I think it's. And what Mike Neighbors kept on coming back to. Why he's so upset about. He says that there's a lot of places that your hall of Honor and stuff like that. It has criteria you have to meet in all conferences, typically one. He said that in their own hallway they have a thing honoring all conference players. And it just feels wrong to him that this is not a player that gets to be on there. And she's. She's about to set. If she scores 17 points today, she will tie the single season scoring record by Chelsea Dungy in 2018-19 that was set in six more games than her. Like, what she's doing is. It's crazy. And, yeah, this is a player that should have been on all sec and it was a snub.
[00:47:55] Speaker B: Yeah. And like you said, there's some historical significance to this. Your name's always listed in the media guide as all sec. You know, all these different, you know, just memories because it's kind of one of those deals where if you don't make an all conference team, you may not get remembered quite so well. And so this is frustrating for her. Mike Neighbors is in Greenville, South Carolina, where the women are going to tip off the SEC tournament today against Georgia. It's going to be a 12:30 central tip off there in Greenville. This is what he had to say, though, yesterday about Izzy Higginbottom not getting on the all SEC team.
[00:48:36] Speaker F: But I'll say I've had a lot of time to think about this. I had a hard time listing 16 people myself, not including her. And there are some good players that got left off because we only choose 16 people. We've been choosing 16 people since what year? 88. Since 88, never before has the leading scorer been left off one of those teams. Now we've gone up to 16 teams. So that takes me back to the last couple of summers down in Destin when we've talked about adding people to this list because there's other people deserving. If I were to come in here and just say Izzy should be on the team, I would have to give you a name of somebody that she should replace. And I'm not about to do that because everybody that got on that team's deserving.
But I do need somebody to help me figure out how you get to 16 without her being in the conversation. So maybe she was. Maybe she was 17th, I don't know. But it just doesn't. I told her, I said, hey, you're going to win a bar bet the rest of your life. You're going to be the answer to a Trivia question, who was the first player to lead the. And we've all said this is one of the toughest years ever in the league and for her to lead the league in scoring, I think she scored more points than anybody in the country right now, too. I bet. I bet there's not another person that does has done that that didn't make their all conference team. So, you know, and she's. Hey, she. I didn't know how she down. She's a little upset about it. I don't blame her. She's played through injuries, she's sacrificed. She's gone against everybody's top of the scout. And those people that want to say, oh, she was the top of her scout, I want to go back and show them the film. There were teams that never pressed that press has picked us up full court two on her impress all year long except against us teams that were trapping in ball screens and double teaming and leaving people open. But never do it in another game. That's top of the scout.
So, you know, we'll be all.
I just need somebody to text me and tell me. I've also got to figure out. I've had some people text me and said they all voted for and if all the people that text me that said they voted for her really did, she would have made it. So I got to figure out who's trying to, you know, pee on my leg and tell me it's raining and who's really being honest with me.
[00:50:47] Speaker B: I thought it was kind of telling that he talked about the text messages he's getting from other coaches. And so, you know, it's like, who's telling the truth and who's trying to cya.
[00:51:01] Speaker D: Yeah, I feel like it's one of those deals where he certainly thought that he'd gotten enough confirmation from other coaches that he would see her name on that list. So he's basically like, he literally said, now it's time to find out who's being honest with me. So. And I'm sitting here thinking of who are the coaches in the league that would be texting Mike about this? Because there's just some. I'm like, I don't see Mike Neighbors and Kim Mulkey being in a texting relationship about putting Izzy on the list. But I'm over here. I'm like, I'm sure him and Vic Schaefer have exchanged their buddies. I mean, he has buddies in the league. Kenny Brooks, who she scored 32 points against Kentucky. I think that they're buddies. I. I'M just, just curious. Who was his friends texting him who were not truthful because. Or is it one of those deals where he had it wrong, where he thought that he had the certain amount that would get her on? I don't even know how the scoring works where you break the ties and whatnot, but all, you know, to just tie a bow on it, I think. I mean, he got. He was of the assumption that she was going to make an all SEC team and he feels like she got ripped off and he got lied to.
[00:52:05] Speaker B: Going back to the AP not having an all SEC team anymore. I think reporters look at this so much differently than coaches do and I think if there was still an AP team, there's a very good chance she would be on the first or second team.
[00:52:19] Speaker D: Oh, for sure. I mean, most people would look at this and see what individual accolades earn and honor and they dissect it that way. I think that coaches look at this and I think that their brain goes, oh, well, who are those players that made it really hard to be LSU this year? Who were those players that made it really hard to beat Oklahoma? And they just start thinking, oh, her, her.
[00:52:44] Speaker B: And.
[00:52:45] Speaker D: And it's not necessarily, I think, looking deep into what these players have actually done from an individual standpoint, it's just how do you remember them in a game? And I'm here to say that I think that a clutch play by a good player that averages 12 points per game that made your team lose. You remember that they did that is not worth a vote over a player who consistently scored 24 points a game. It's just. Yeah.
[00:53:10] Speaker B: Do you think any. It's unfortunate for him. I feel bad for him. You think any man will make the all SEC team when it gets announced next week?
[00:53:17] Speaker D: I would doubt it. I would say do. The RO would have had a good chance if not for getting hurt. I think that you don't miss that many games and still make a team. With the stats that he had, maybe he will, but I think that probably Arkansas's best shot at this point.
Would it be John L. Davis?
[00:53:34] Speaker B: Yeah, I'd say the row is still the best, the best shot.
[00:53:37] Speaker D: I just doubt that you put a guy on there that's missed that many SEC games. But maybe.
[00:53:40] Speaker B: And again, again it's a. And we'll see what coaches do because it's. It's different. But for the AP vote that I've got to turn in, it's 10 players.
[00:53:48] Speaker D: Yeah, well, I just don't think that because I do thiero if he misses Mississippi State, you'll have missed four and maybe people will still. I mean, because he's had, he had a great season leading Arkansas scoring and rebounding. But if not him, I'd say maybe Nelly Davis for how he's played in SEC play, but I just don't see Arkansas getting it. I mean, the SEC is so good and Mike Neighbors brought this up on the women's side. He thinks that they should, with the addition of Texas and Oklahoma, probably expand the teams and how many you put on there. And I think that that could probably be said for the men's as well. I mean, there's so many good players.
[00:54:20] Speaker B: I've got, I got 10 listed here. This is probably not my final 10. There are a lot of players though that, that I'm considering. For the men. It's, it's a daunting task when you try to pick an all conference team, especially as the team is smaller and smaller. We appreciate you being with us. Hope you come to our website this afternoon@whole hogsports.com Anthony's going to have more from Nashville. A follow up from Arkansas's win. There's last night. Ethan will have some coverage from the women's basketball tournament. I'll be out at Baum this afternoon for those baseball games and who knows what else might happen this afternoon. Wholehogsports. Com we hope we see you on our podcast tomorrow. Bubble Carpenter will be here in studio with us. Have a great day everyone.
