Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

2/7/2012 at 1:04pm

Arkansas is still looking for its first road victory of the season. Georgia, in a five-game stretch that features Arkansas as its only home opponent in Athens, Ga., is hoping the Razorbacks don’t break the road ice on Wednesday night.

“Arkansas is having a really good year under Mike [Anderson]. They’re an explosive team, they have some really good wins,” Georgia coach Mark Fox said Monday. “[Arkansas is] a team that continues to improve under a new coach, a new system. They’ve put themselves in a position to go on to post-season play.”

But the Razorbacks haven’t been able to win on the road, dropping four SEC road games and with Georgia, Tennessee, Auburn and Mississippi State left to play away from Bud Walton Arena.

Fox, whose team is having its own troubles winning anywhere after two stars from last year’s team opted to leave early for professional basketball, explains Arkansas’ predicament.

“They have been very, very good at home,” Fox said. “I think they’ve got a very passionate fan base, obviously, and they've had pretty good attendance from what I’ve been able to see on tape. They have a great atmosphere at home and that helps elevate any team. Most teams are going to play a lot better at home than away from home.”

It’s youth, with four freshman heavily involved in the Arkansas mix, that makes the road difficult for anyone, Fox said.

“I’m not sure they’re playing totally different, but they’re a team that has continued to improved and defended their home court with great success,” Fox said. "I think it’s just a matter of maturing and I’m sure it will come. I’m hopeful it won’t come in the middle of this week. They just had a close game at LSU.

“It’s not a matter of home or away, just look at the fact they are a good team. Thye’ve been able to shoot the 3-point shot and they have a lot of dynamic pieces and have played well together. They appear to enjoy playing together.”

Georgia was picked at or near the bottom of the 12-team SEC standings in preseason, but the Bulldogs may have exceeded those low expectations with a team that isn’t shooting better than 40 percent. Defense has kept the Bulldogs in games, though. Georgia doesn’t want an up-and-down pace at home on Wednesday.

“We haven’t been a good team yet,” Fox said. “We’re a team that is not complete. We’ve had some moments that we’ve played well, but we haven’t been able to string those together for long enough periods. We’re somewhat rebuilding from what we were a year ago, and we continue to get better. I don’t think we’re pleased where we are yet but we have to continue to get better and hopefully we’ll see a better team Wednesday night.”

ArkansasSports360.com Power Poll (for week beginning Feb. 6)

1. Kentucky (23-1, 9-0). Puts 48-game home winning streak on line vs. Gators.
2. Florida (19-4, 7-1). Might be the only team standing in way of Wildcats’ perfect run through SEC.
3. Mississippi State (18-5, 5-3). Occasional moments of greatness.
4. Vanderbilt (16-7, 5-3). Bad week last week for the ’Dores.
5. Ole Miss (14-8, 4-4). Inside strength keeping Rebels in games.
6. Arkansas 16-7, 4-4). Can play with almost anyone at home, can lose to anyone on road.
7. Alabama (15-7, 4-4). Needing better shooting from outside.
8. LSU (13-9, 3-5). Johnny O’Briant’s addition has helped the interior.
9. Tennessee (11-12, 3-5). Like Arkansas, not traveling well.
10. Auburn (13-10, 3-6). Athletically as good as most in league.
11. South Carolina (9-13, 1-7). Showing some improvement, but no victories.
12. Georgia (10-12, 1-7). Good defense, horrible shooting.

THIS WEEK
(All times Central)
Tuesday, Feb. 7
Florida at Kentucky, 6 p.m., ESPN
Alabama at Auburn, 8 p.m., ESPNU

Wednesday, Feb. 8
Arkansas at Georgia, 7 p.m., SEC Network
South Carolina at Tennessee, 7 p.m., SEC Network
LSU at Vanderbilt, 8 p.m., CSS

Thursday, Feb. 9
Ole Miss at Mississippi State, 6 p.m., ESPN2

Saturday, Feb. 11
South Carolina at Arkansas, 12:30 p.m., SEC Network
Georgia at Mississippi State, 12:30 p.m., SEC Network
Tennessee at Florida, 3 p.m., SEC Network
Auburn at Ole Miss, 6 p.m., FSN
Alabama at LSU, 6 p.m., ESPN2
Kentucky at Vanderbilt, 8 p.m., ESPN/College GameDay

TOP PLAYERS

The league honored these players for last week’s efforts:

 • Kentucky’s Anthony Davis, a 6-foot-10, 222-pound freshman forward from Chicago, Ill., was named Player of the Week after averaging 20 points, eight rebounds, 7.5 blocks and two assists and nearly 90 percent shooting in victories over Tennessee and at South Carolina. Davis posted 15 blocks in two games, including eight against South Carolina. He pushed his season total to 116, breaking Shaquille O’Neal’s SEC freshman record for blocks in a season. Davis ranks ninth on the league’s single-season blocks list and leads the nation. He has more blocks than eight other teams in the league.

 • Florida’s Bradley Beal, a 6-foot-3, 207-pound freshman guard from St. Louis, was named Freshman of the Week after averaging 16.5 points, nine rebounds and two assists in victories over South Carolina and Vanderbilt. Beal started the week with 17 points and a career-best 11 rebounds against South Carolina; it was his team-leading fourth double-double of the season. He followed up his strong performance against the Gamecocks with 16 points and seven rebounds against Vanderbilt.

email: jharris@abpg.com or follow Jim on Twitter @jimharris360

Tagged: Mike Anderson, Georgia Bulldogs, Mark Fox, Southeastern Conference