Razorbacks Barely Escape in OT

It took everything the Razorbacks had Thursday evening to take care of the pesky Alabama team. The Crimson Tide held very few leads in the game, but kept coming up with one big play after another. The final tip-in from Bobby Portis capped off an incredible night at Bud Walton Arena as the Arkansas Razorbacks defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide 93-91 in overtime.

Arkansas started strong with 11 of their first 13 points coming from the dynamic duo of Qualls and Portis. Quickly, the Hogs jumped out to a 13-3 advantage going into the first media timeout. The Tide responded with a 10-2 run of their own and the lead was shortened to 2 points halfway through the first.

The Razorbacks would never lead by more than 8 for the rest of the game. It took a career high in points from “Mr. Walk On Air” (Michael Qualls) himself to keep pace with Alabama. Qualls’ 30 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals earned him player of the game and 2 spots on SportsCenter’s Top Ten Plays. In fact, Arkansas landed three spots on SC’s Top Ten with the No. 1, 2 and 5 spots on the list.

Bobby Portis would chip in 10 points and grab 13 rebounds, including the most important game winner. Portis had an unusually poor performance Thursday, fouling on a 3-point play that sent the game to overtime. Then, late in overtime he played lazy defense, allowing Shannon Hale to pop in the game tying three. He would redeem himself only seconds later after an arrant throw up by Madden to end the game.

Freshman guard Anton Beard was also impressive as he contributed with 11 points in 27 minutes, leading many of us to believe he’ll be seeing plenty of playing time in the future. Rashad Madden added a surprising 17 points, something Coach Anderson had been looking for since SEC play started.

Arkansas jumped up 6 spots to No. 22 in the RPI after Thursday’s victory, but there’s definitely some cause for concern in Fayetteville. Fans are getting a little impatient with Mike Anderson’s inability to get this team to play well on a nightly basis. It’s not often that you see any team come into Bud Walton Arena ranked or un-ranked and put the Hogs to the test.

The nailbiter almost caused the Razorbacks to drop their second home game in a row to a team outside the RPI top 40. Their record looks very solid and definitely NCAA Tournament worthy at 14-4, but many speculate this is the 2nd best team in the SEC and Hogs are proving to be nothing close to their goal.

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The Hogs have given up an incredible 70+ points in all five SEC contests thus far, and two straight opponents have scored in the 90’s in a venue where Arkansas usually dominates.

Just take a look at the crowd in Bud Walton Arena last night, where 15,000 fans stood shocked. Rivalry games such as Alabama usually bring as many as 20,000 fans to pack the arena, yet, many fans stayed home wondering when we’ll see the passion that Mike Anderson once had as an assistant under Nolan Richardson.

To put it nicely, Anderson just isn’t Nolan Richardson, and he better find a way to get this very talented team going for the remainder of the season. Otherwise, we’ll be seeing yet another coaching change in Razorback Nation.

The future of coach Anderson relies on his ability to teach some defense. Arkansas has been atrocious to say the least when talking about their defensive statistics. Is it possible our trapping and full court press is just not a good fit for these players? I’ll agree 100% with this statement and I’m hoping our coaches realize it sooner than later.