FAYETTEVILLE -- Pat Bradley checked into the Chancellor Hotel on Wednesday night and the memories came flooding back.
The former Arkansas Razorback was in town to call Stephen F. Austin at Arkansas, his first in-season game, for the SEC Network and he was thinking back to his recruitment out of Boston by Coach Nolan Richardson and assistant Mike Anderson, now the Hogs' head coach.
"I'm staying in the same hotel that I stayed in on my recruiting trip," Bradley said. "I walked in last night and I go, 'Son of a gun.' I mean, if only Coach Richardson and Coach Anderson could know what I'm thinking now."
Bradley, 40, had been pushing to fulfill his goal of breaking into TV, and he got his big break this year. He credits Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long with helping open the door with the SEC Network.
"It's taken a while," said Bradley, who has been working at KABZ-FM, 103.7-FM, The Buzz in Little Rock for nine years. "I've been hammering poor Jeff Long for about three years trying to find [an] opportunity."
Bradley, a member of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame and UA Sports Hall of Honor, ranks fifth on the Razorbacks' scoring list with 1,765 points and is the career leader with 366 made three-pointers.
He said he's admired announcers like Hubie Brown (his all-time favorite), Tommy Heinsohn, Steve Kerr and Dan Dakich over the years, but plans to have a style all his own.
"I know I want to be conversational, informative, entertaining, and every once in a while just say what's on my mind, which sometimes will shock people and sometimes they'll be, 'What the heck is he talking about?'" Bradley said.
He also doesn't want to go heavy on harsh commentary.
"I feel like I can be critical and not be negative," he said. "That's the advantage of being on the radio for nine years. You find very creative ways to point out a mistake without saying, 'This guy doesn't know what the heck he's doing.' I think I've been able to benefit a lot from the radio."
A dozen steals
Arkansas posted a season-high 12 steals in its 78-62 victory over Stephen F. Austin, paced by four from junior guard Anton Beard. Moses Kingsley, Daryl Macon and Manny Watkins had two steals apiece, while Jaylen Barford and Dusty Hannahs had one each. The Hogs had been averaging 8.6 steals per game.
Arkansas outscored the Lumberjacks 29-24 in points off of turnovers.
Working the crowd
One of the top crowd-pleasing sequences started with a missed three-point shot from Daryl Macon in the second half. The long rebound after Macon's miss put Stephen F. Austin on a quick 3-on-1 fast break. Macon retreated swiftly, intercepted a pass from Aaron Augustin and started a break in the other direction with a pass to Moses Kingsley.
The 6-10 center leaped around 6-3 Dallas Cameron and made a 5-foot layup as he was being fouled, bringing the fans to their feet and giving Macon an assist. Kingsley, who had converted a three-point play just two minutes earlier on a feed from Dusty Hannahs, missed the free throw. Kingsley finished with 12 points and 6 rebounds.
Slippery rock
The Razorbacks committed their eighth turnover with 3:47 remaining in the first half on Thursday, which was already more than the seven they had in Monday's 89-76 victory over Mount St. Mary's.
Arkansas finished with 13 turnovers, just under its season average of 13.8 per game.
Dry Dusty
Guard Dusty Hannahs, one of the best long-range shooters in recent Arkansas history, has missed eight consecutive three-point shots dating back three games.
The Little Rock native, who kept Arkansas' three-point streak alive on his shot with four minutes remaining at Minnesota last week, missed his final three-pointer against the Gophers and went 0 for 5 against Mount St. Mary's before missing both his three-point tries against Stephen F. Austin.
Strong at the line
The Razorbacks were 19 of 23 on free throws to improve their season average to 76.6 percent on 111-of-145 shooting.
Dusty Hannahs was 5 of 5 from the line (31 of 34 for the seas0n), while Anton Beard (5 of 6), Moses Kingsley (4 of 5), Jaylen Barford (4 of 5) and Dustin Thomas (1 of 2) each missed one.
Sports on 12/02/2016