FAYETTEVILLE — Of course the football player and the scorer hogged the newspaper ink after the Razorbacks’ 76-65 SEC basketball victory over South Carolina on Saturday afternoon at Walton Arena.
Brandon Mitchell and BJ Young deserved all the space available.
Mitchell, Arkansas’ backup quarterback who joined the basketball team after the Cotton Bowl before starting spring football practice, provided a stunning contribution as a reserve forward by logging 16 minutes, especially when Arkansas broke it open late in the first half.
Mitchell finished with 8 points, 4 rebounds, 1 blocked shot and 1 steal plus some prudent passing even while not officially being credited with an assist.
Young, Coach Mike Anderson’s freshman who might as well be the starting guard even though he comes off the bench, scored a game-high 27 points, second only to the 28 he tallied at Connecticut.
‘Nuff said that Young deserved the accolades.
But Devonta Abron started it all.
From the tip-off, Arkansas’ 6-8, 250-pound forward threw his weight around. Tangibly, he scored10 points on 5-of-7 shots with 6 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals.
Intangibly, he did a lot more, screening, banging, hustling, even soaring over “Gucci Row” in hot pursuit of a loose ball. So far Gucci Row, Walton Arena’s on-the-court seats bought by big boosters, has somehow safely survived without injury. But it seems an accident surely to happen considering how these Hogs hustle at home.
Frankly, it almost seemed nowhere but Walton Arena’s upper deck was safe with Abron rampaging like a wild Hog.
“I thought Devonta set the tone,” Anderson said. “I even showed him to the guys. He had blood on his shorts. That told me he was in the trenches this afternoon. He just gives us a presence.”
The whole front line - and that’s without injured senior Michael Sanchez - of Abron, Hunter Mickelson, Marvell Waithe and Mitchell had a combined 31 points and 17 rebounds after a mostly collective absence in last Wednesday’s 81-59 loss at Georgia.
“You look at the [Georgia] game and wonder: Do we have a front line?” Anderson said after Saturday’s game at Walton Arena. “Now all of a sudden they step up, and they’re capable of doing that. They’ve just got to bring the effort. “
GOOD NIGHT, IRENE
She wasn’t in athletics, but she probably greeted more athletes and athletics administration than Frank Broyles himself.
Married days shy of 62 years to Herman’s Ribhouse founder Herman Tuck, Irene Tuck worked the door and the cash register of Fayetteville’s fabled you-can’t-tella-book-by-its-cover restaurant.
Since 1964 Herman’s is that College Avenue shack on the outside but always a buzzing party inside and the place that athletic department brass from the old Southwest Conference visited, and under Herman Tuck’s successors the SEC brass still visit.
Despite football weekend crowds backed up from Herman’s doorstep to the highway, Irene always sunnily kept tabs on all waiting admittance and all inside the full house that somehow always found room for all.
Since her passing last week at 84, a lot of folks in a lot of places wish again they could say “Good night, Irene.”
Sports, Pages 16 on 02/13/2012