By Nate Allen
Special to the News-Times
FAYETTEVILLE - Man to man doesn’t accurately describe the defense that many teams play against the Troy Trojans, the opponent for the Arkansas Razorbacks’ lone home game away from their campus in Fayetteville.
It’s more person to Person, and more often persons to Person, that most defend against the Sun Belt Conference’s Trojans (5-5), who meet Arkansas (7-2) in the Razorbacks annual non-conference visit tonight to Central Arkansas.
Tip-off is 7 p.m. at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock is 7 p.m. With no TV or Internet video, it airs only on the Razorbacks’ radio network.
Wesley Person Jr., the son obviously of Wesley Person Sr., the former Auburn star and retired 11-year NBA veteran, averages 20.3 points per game for the Trojans.
Person personally rings the scoreboard whether driving to the hole or hitting 39-of-84 3-pointers and 36-of-42 free throws.
Just coming out of final exams before the Razorbacks practiced Thursday at Walton Arena, senior guards Anton Beard and Daryl Macon, both coming home this weekend as respective graduates of North Little Rock and Little Rock Parkview high schools, hadn’t then been acquainted with Person on film.
Suffice to say, they and their teammates will see enough film for a person to Person evaluation of his game before tonight’s game tips off.
“They’re going to spread you with Person, who can really shoot the basketball,” Arkansas coach Mike Anderson said. “Very impressive.”
Anderson delved into more details.
“He’s gotten stronger, a lot better,” Anderson said. “He can put it on the floor. He has the range you see out of Daryl (Macon, 20 -of-49 threes, many launched significantly behind the 3-point line). He can shoot it from there and he can put it on the floor as well. They do a good job of utilizing him, bringing him off double screens. With screen and pop guys, you have to make a decision who you’re going to guard. He’s a guy that we really have to play close attention to."
Coach Phil Cunningham’s Trojans presented double trouble when they had 6-6 forward Jordon Varnado, averaging 19.0 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, healthy and complementing Person.
With Person and Varnado, the Trojans packed “a pretty good one-two punch,” Anderson said. They played Hawaii to overtime in Hawaii, lost only by eight to nationally eighth-ranked SEC power Kentucky in Lexington, Ky. and won by eight at Eastern Tennessee.
However, Varnado has missed the last four games with a stress fracture and the Trojans lost the last two, falling 90-78 at home to Alabama-Birmingham and 89-71 at Southern Mississippi.
Still, Anderson says the Trojans are dangerous with point guard Kevin Baker dealing 33 assists in 10 games and rugged 6-8 forward Alex Hicks averaging 7.5 rebounds and 10.5 points per game.
“They’ve got some good guards,” Anderson said. “Their guard play is really, really good. And the bigs can step out and shoot the basketball. To me, it’s a team that can spread the floor and then they can go in there and post up as well. Phil Cunningham does a great, great job with this team. They play hard. They play together.”
Anderson also has concern because it’s the first game out of final exams, always dicey since the week definitely has been exams first and catch as catch can practices around finals second.
And while he loves the atmosphere at Verizon refreshed by the enthusiasm of so many attending who otherwise personally don’t or seldom get to see the Razorbacks play in Fayetteville, Anderson said it’s also a concern that those Hogs coming home or close to home will stray from their game trying to do too much knowing they are watched by so many family and friends.
Beard, Macon and freshman reserve Darious Hall of Little Rock Mills are all coming home, but it’s also the closest to home for instate players Trey Thompson, the senior forward from Madison via Forrest City High, and starting freshman forward Daniel Gafford of El Dorado and from just across the Arkansas line, senior starting forward Dustin Thomas of Texarkana, Texas.
Starting with defense feeding into an unselfish, ball-moving, sharpshooting offense, the entire Razorbacks team played well their last time out, routing then 14th-ranked Minnesota last Saturday night at Walton.
Anderson is loathe to lose that cohesiveness for some perhaps getting carried away trying to impress the folks back near home.
“The key is to stay focused in on the things that we can control and that’s going to be the game,” Anderson said. “We’ll try and hopefully keep them kind of curfewed from everybody.”