Hog Calls

Hogs' past 2 losses especially frustrating

Anthlon Bell (5) of Arkansas has the ball knocked away by Tyler Ulis of Kentucky Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016, during the first half of play in Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.
Anthlon Bell (5) of Arkansas has the ball knocked away by Tyler Ulis of Kentucky Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016, during the first half of play in Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas' last two losses disturb Coach Mike Anderson beyond the post-defeat norm.

Over a 13-year haul of coaching Alabama-Birmingham, Missouri and Arkansas, Anderson hasn't been disturbed often.

He has never posted a losing season. Ten of his teams, including last season's 27-9 Razorbacks, won between 21 and 31 games.

He understood these current Hogs, with 2014-2015 star underclassmen Bobby Portis and Michael Qualls both turning pro, would be underdog Hogs. Fine by him. He's been the underdog before and beat the odds.

His now 9-10 overall and 3-4 in the SEC Hogs were beating the odds this season. They posted three consecutive SEC successes, recovering from an SEC opening 92-69 whipping by the Texas A&M Aggies in College Station, Texas.

Wednesday's Ticket

No. 5 Texas A&M at Arkansas

When: 6 p.m.

Where: Bud Walton Arena, Fayetteville

TV: ESPNU

The now nationally ranked No. 5 Aggies, 17-2 overall and 7-0 in the SEC, have a rematch today with Arkansas at Walton Arena.

Arkansas appears the underdog, but look at Anderson's first eight games against Kentucky as a head coach.

Always the underdog his first eight meetings against Kentucky -- which included splitting two NCAA Tournament games while at UAB and a 3-3 record in SEC games at Arkansas -- Anderson's teams against the Wildcats always arrived properly motivated, intense yet not wound too tight.

In Thursday's 80-66 loss to Kentucky at Walton, these Razorbacks never gave themselves a chance.

Coach John Calipari's Wildcats performed well enough to earn the victory, but Arkansas lent considerable help. The Hogs, Anderson said, arrived trying too hard and playing too tight. Their energy clogged more than flowed.

Saturday at Georgia -- right down to botching a key late inbounds into a turnover -- the Razorbacks in a 76-73 overtime loss led late in regulation but committed the same late-game mistakes that led to their undoing Jan. 16 in a 76-74 loss at LSU.

Both the Kentucky and Georgia games exasperated Anderson. The first exasperated him because the Hogs played flat before a packed house at home. The second likely exasperated him more because they played as if learning nothing from losing at LSU.

"We had our chances in regulation, and we ended up throwing the ball away," Anderson said postgame in Athens, Ga. "I told our guys, 'You can't keep repeating. We have to learn how to finish.' "

He asserts they will because he knows their desire.

"Those are mental breakdowns and those are fixable," Anderson said. "I feel our guys will be OK. They've responded well to adversity."

Presumably the Aggies' national ranking and whipping Arkansas earlier should have the Hogs sufficiently energized.

"We'll bring energy," Anderson said. "Trust me, we will bring the energy."

Today, the Razorbacks need their energy properly up and harnessed to keep them in the game and the late-game poise to complete the game if they are to upend an Aggies team of superior talent and experience.

"They're prepared," Anderson said after Monday's practice, which he called one of Arkansas' season's best. "They've just got to go out there and do it."

Sports on 01/27/2016

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