By Nate Allen
Special to the News-Times
FAYETTEVILLE - For an Arkansas Razorbacks team that is winless on the road in the SEC and desperate to atone for a rare conference loss in Walton Arena two games ago to LSU, Gainesville, Fla., is a tough place to start.
But Gainesville and the O’Connell Center, where Arkansas hasn’t won since Mike Anderson was an assistant coach on Nolan Richardson’s 1995 national runner-up team, marks the place for Anderson’s Razorbacks (12-5 overall, 2-3 in the SEC), and the Florida Gators (12-5, 4-1) in tonight’s 6 o’clock ESPN2 televised SEC game.
Credit former Florida coach Billy Donovan and third-year Florida coach Mike White, seventh-year Arkansas coach Anderson said, for making the O’Connell Center a collective 0-12 for the subsequent Arkansas teams of Richardson, Stan Heath, John Pelphrey and Anderson.
“They’ve done what they’re supposed to do,” Anderson said. “They take care of their home. When Billy was there, he had some phenomenal teams. Of course, since we’ve been here, we’ve had some opportunities and just couldn’t finish it. Let’s hope this will be the time we can finish it. It’s all about hanging around and having a chance to finish.”
Though Florida did suffer its only SEC loss, 78-72 last Saturday at Ole Miss, Anderson knows it won’t be easy to hang around against White’s Gators that had won six consecutive games.
“Mike White really has those kids starting to get back that edge,” Anderson said. “We can see in conference play they are playing awfully well.”
Surprisingly, junior Gators guard KeVaughn Allen, the North Little Rock High alumnus and high school teammate of Arkansas senior guard Anton Beard, and a 21 and 12 points catalyst for Florida sweeping Arkansas home-and-home last season, has not shot statistically up to snuff in SEC games. Allen only averages 6.6 points in his six SEC games and hit but 5-of-17 threes compared to his 5-of-9 treys at Walton last season.
“As a coach I know that can turn like a switch,” Anderson said of Allen snapping his slump. “Let’s just hope it isn’t this game. He’s a very, very good basketball player.”
Arkansas has more to fret than an Allen breakout game.
In SEC play, Egor Koulechov, the Gators’ 6-5 graduate transfer from Rice, averages a team-leading 18 points, including 16-of-27 treys, and 7.8 rebounds, while 6-8 forward Keith Stone averages 14 points, including 9-of-19 treys and 6.6 rebounds. Point guard Chris Chiozza averages 11.8 points and sixth man Jalen Hudson, Florida’s leading scorer for all games averaging 16.2, averages 11.6.
Chiozza, not only scores but has distributed a whopping 90 assists in 17 games. He and freshman reserve guard Mike Okaru (12-of-25 treys) are 3-point threats. About all the Gators are it seems except for 6-9 blue-collar forward Kevarrius Hayes, who last season hurt Arkansas with 10 points and six rebounds in Fayetteville and six points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots in Gainesville.
Anderson mentioned them all and their 3-point shooting spreading the floor and opening avenues inside.
“What concerns me is they shoot the basketball from the perimeter really, really well,” Anderson said.
In SEC games, Tennessee, Missouri and Auburn all hit 11 threes against Arkansas.
Off its 65-63 victory over Missouri last Saturday at Walton, Arkansas snapped a three-game SEC skid that included 78-75 and 88-77 losses at Mississippi State and Auburn and the disastrous 75-54 wipeout at Walton administered by LSU with the Hogs lackluster on defense and seeming to forget the inside presence of 6-11 El Dorado freshman Daniel Gafford while firing up sprees of failed jump shots.
The intensity, defense and the shot selection improved vastly against Missouri.
Anderson shook up the recently slow-starting Hogs by giving freshman guard Darious Hall of Little Rock Mills (10 first-half points and four first-half rebounds) his first start against Mizzou and bringing star guard Daryl Macon off the bench. Macon had eight assists, including the lob for Gafford’s game-winning dunk.
Asked if Hall would start again with either Macon, Beard or scoring leader guard Jaylen Barford off the bench, Anderson replied, “We’ll see how that goes.”
“I’ve got seven or eight starters and we’ll see what takes place in practice,” Anderson said.