By Nate Allen
Special to the News-Times
FAYETTEVILLE - Arkansas coach Mike Anderson’s Thursday post mortem of his Razorbacks’ recent four-game tour of Spain coincided with the Razorbacks releasing the non-conference portion of their 2016-2017 basketball schedule.
After exhibition games at Walton Arena on Oct. 28 and Nov. 4 against Central Missouri State and Emporia (Kan.) State, the Razorbacks officially open their season Nov. 11 against Fort Wayne, formerly Indiana-Purdue at Fort Wayne.
For their pre-SEC schedule, the Razorbacks at Walton also play Southern Illinois (Nov. 14), Texas-Arlington (Nov. 18) and Mount St. Mary’s on Nov. 28.
In December at Walton, the Razorbacks host Stephen F. Austin (Dec. 1), Austin Peay (Dec. 3), Houston (Dec. 6), North Florida (Dec. 10) and North Dakota State (Dec. 20). On Dec. 22, the Razorbacks will take on Sam Houston State in their annual game at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock.
On the road in non-conference, the Razorbacks visit Minnesota (Nov. 22) in Minneapolis, the Texas Longhorns (Dec. 17) in Houston and Oklahoma State (Jan. 28) in Stillwater, Okla., as part of the SEC-Big 12 Challenge.
Old Southwest Conference rivals Texas and Houston, tradition-rich Oklahoma State and a Big Ten team like Minnesota would be highlights of any Arkansas basketball schedule, but Anderson said the so-called mid-majors on the schedule show some tough teams that won 20-plus games and extended their seasons beyond the conference tournament postseason last season.
“When you are talking about Texas and Houston, it is kind of reuniting some series there when we were in the Southwest Conference,” Anderson said. “Going to Minnesota and then you look at the teams - Fort Wayne, don’t look at the name of the team and think they are not good. Those teams are really, really good.
“When you look at the RPI and what those teams did in the previous year, they are pretty strong. Stephen F. Austin, North Florida. It is a challenging schedule for this basketball team.”
Anderson, with eight newcomers on a squad that’s rebuilding from last season’s 16-16 fall from the 27-9 team of 2014-2015, says the 3-1 trip to Spain and the 10 practices at Walton Arena preceding the August trip will help prepare his Hogs for the challenging slate.
Anderson along with seniors Manny Watkins, Moses Kingsley and Dusty Hannahs said losing the first game in Spain after attempting just 10 free throws to the Madrid’s team 43 prepared them for life on the SEC road.
“It was pretty crazy,” Hannahs said. “But away games in the SEC are going to be like that. They are going to give us nothing and give them every call at Alabama or wherever you are playing, and we have to be able to fight through it. We didn’t play well and they did.”
Kingsley remarked, “We got hit in the mouth and tried to fight back at the end, but we couldn’t.
“It was a learning experience for all of us that we can’t come out like that against anybody.”
The Razorbacks won their last three handily.
“We came out flat and really didn’t play very well and they beat us,” Watkins said.
“We played hard the rest of those games and got it figured out from there.”
Watkins said adding junior college transfer guards Jalen Barford and Daryl Macon, junior college transfer forward Arlando Cook and freshmen Adrio Bailey, C.J. Jones, Brachen Hazen, walk-on freshman guard RJ Glasper and activating junior forward Dustin Thomas, to go with the three senior returnees, junior forward Trey Thompson and junior guard Anton Beard provides a quick defensive presence that last season’s Hogs lacked.
“We fought last year,” Watkins said. “But this year’s team has got a little more quickness and more guys that can do what we are trying to do.
“We have got a bunch of guys that are capable defenders and want to do it. Everybody on this team knows it starts with defense. You play defense you are going to win a lot of games.
That’s the common theme with guys on this team. They know defense wins.”