FAYETTEVILLE - Daniel Gafford isn’t just the best player on this Arkansas Razorbacks basketball team.
He’s among the team’s best at manning up for things gone awry.
Before media Thursday with the Razorbacks readying for their Saturday night game at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock against Texas-San Antonio, the sophomore 6-11 preseason first-team center from El Dorado directly addressed what he felt were his woulda, coulda, shoulda moments in Arkansas’ 78-77 loss last Saturday to Western Kentucky at Walton Arena.
Western Kentucky’s Hilltoppers scored what proved to be the go-ahead game-winning basket with 19 seconds left on Marek Nelson’s open layup.
Nelson was open because Arkansas forward Adrio Bailey abandoned guarding him to help Gafford. Gafford fell leaving open Charles Bassey, WKU’s star big man.
Gafford was asked Thursday if he just lost his balance or had been hooked by Bassey causing his fall.
“It probably was a little bit of both,” Gafford said. “I just know in that situation I need to be strong, just stay on my feet. Because if I would have stayed on my feet, they never would have got that basket on the backside, because ‘Dro (Bailey) had to come help me when I fell on the ground. The moral of the story is I just have to stay on my feet and stay solid on defense. Because situations like that can cost us games and that’s what it did.”
Gafford said you can’t bank on a foul getting called, especially since the game was down a referee because an official was being examined for possible injuries upon an automobile accident en route to the game.
“He hooked me a little bit but we only had two refs,” Gafford said. “I wasn’t expecting to see that foul anyway.”
The Gafford versus Bassey big man battle attracting 13 NBA scouts last weekend lived up to its billing.
Bassey, 6-11, 245, logged 21 points, nine rebounds and blocked five shots.
Gafford, listed 6-11, 233, scored 17 points with nine rebounds and blocked two shots.
“He was a real big guy,” Gafford said Thursday of Bassey. “You know, just going against a guy like that, you get tired quick because you know you are trying to battle with him on the inside and you know with him being just a freshman, he has a lot of potential. He’s going to be a great player.”
Gafford was asked if it’s felt like a long week coming off a tough loss with no midweek game chance to atone while studying for final exams that concluded Thursday.
“Well, the main thing we're trying to do is get that taste out of our mouths,” Gafford said. “It was a tough loss. We’re trying to focus on getting better each and every day. We've got finals and we've got practice so just trying to balance both of them out, but it's still a work in progress. We're tagging along with it.”
Even with players in and out of practice because of the final exams, the defense hasn’t rested since coach Mike Anderson’s displeasure with the Hilltoppers shooting 50 percent (29-of-58) on Arkansas last Saturday.
“Defense has been a main focal point of practice this week,” Gafford said. “Certain possessions throughout the stretch we played Western Kentucky, we just didn’t guard well. I didn’t protect the basket. They were attacking the lane too easily and I was getting buried in the post. We have to fix those things.”
Offensively, after tallying 28 assists in their 98-74 victory Dec. 5 at Colorado State, the Razorbacks netted but 10 assists, seven by sophomore point guard Jalen Harris, against Western Kentucky.
“Most of the possessions we had, it was just sticking in one person’s hands,” Gafford said.
“Like coach (Anderson) said, we didn’t have that many assists. We had like 10 assists and one guy had seven. So that lets you know the ball stuck in one person’s hands and we didn’t move on offense as much. We have to move the ball where we get good cuts. If we don’t move the ball, our offense gets stuck.
Hunger to erase last week’s taste against an opponent from Western Kentucky’s same Conference USA league already should have the Hogs inspired. So should Saturday’s North Little Rock venue, the closest to their hometowns for several Hogs, including El Dorado’s Gafford.
“It means a lot to me,” Gafford said. “I get family, friends to come up there. Basically half of El Dorado is gonna be up there.”
Gafford recalled how so many from around the state jammed Verizon Arena last season when the Razorbacks routed Troy 88-63.
“The atmosphere was crazy last year,” Gafford said. “It never stopped. It was just like it blew the roof off the building. As soon as tip off you could feel it and feed off that energy. It was like everyone in there was ready to watch Razorback basketball.”