Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

2/18/2012 at 9:38pm

Image by Mark Wagner

Former Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey, now a Florida assistant, hugs Razorback guard Mardracus Wade following the Gators' 98-68 victory at Bud Walton Arena. Pelphrey was fired last March after four seasons with Arkansas.

Florida 98, Arkansas 68

Why Arkansas Lost
A team isn’t going to win allowing the opponent to shoot 58 percent from the field, including 13 of 23 from behind the three-point line. Arkansas (17-10, 5-7) was awful defensively against the No. 14 Gators (21-6, 9-3) and further hurt its cause with poor shooting in the first half. In falling behind 53-27 the Razorbacks hit 9 of 30 shots. Meanwhile, the Gators had a stretch of seven consecutive three-pointers. Arkansas ended its school-record Bud Walton Arena winning streak in record fashion. Not only did the Razorbacks’ streak stop at 17, Florida managed the largest margin of victory ever at the venue.

Turning Point
Florida had already built a double-digit lead with 11:23 left in the first half. But the Gators’ advantage quickly became insurmountable for Arkansas as they hit seven consecutive three-point shots. While the Razorbacks did score some during the long-range barrage, Florida wound up with a 21-point lead on the last of Erving Walker’s three-pointers. Walker began the spree with three consecutive three-pointers, then Bradley Beal added one, Erick Murphy two more and then a final three-pointer from the man who began it. Walker ended up with 31 points, including 12 in a five-minute stretch.

Player Of The Game
BJ Young was spectacular in a losing effort. He finished with 31 points on 10-of-19 shooting and was the only Razorback with any offensive success for long stretches. At one point Young had 29 points, while his teammates combined for 25. By the end of the night he had all but 37 of the team’s points.

Pelphrey Returns

Florida assistant John Pelphrey got a polite ovation from fans when he walked onto the floor on Saturday. Pelphrey was fired last year after four seasons with the Razorbacks.

Pelphrey was late getting to the floor with the Gators. He was spending time visiting with friends outside the Gators’ locker room, including Terry Mercer, executive assistant for basketball at Arkansas. Mercer has served as an assistant in the basketball program for 34 years.

Following the game Pelphrey shook hands with the Razorbacks and even embraced some players. He hugged former assistant Scotty Thurman while taking the floor prior to tipoff.

Playing Nice
Florida Coach Billy Donovan was critical of Arkansas fans and administration when his friend Pelphrey was fired after last season. He said at the time: “I hope at some point they realize that whoever is in that position, you need to be given time. You’re not taking over a top-10 program. And as much as they think they are, they’re not.”

Donovan had only nice things to say following the game and was also complimentary of Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson. Here's a portion:

“John has an incredible affection and affinity for this place,” Donovan said. “He loves Arkansas. I think when things end it's always difficult. … [Arkansas fans] are by far, in my opinion, some of the classiest fans. They've got a very, very good basketball knowledge. They really cheer well for their team. They love the Hogs. All that stuff. So I respect their fan base and their support. I think if most of their fan base and support really knew John, they'd be very, very proud that guy was at the helm and the leadership here. Because he did a lot of good things for the program. Just maybe in terms of the amount of games that were won. You know what, that doesn't necessarily mean that he didn't do a great job. I know the kind of person he is.”

Getting Technical
It’s safe to say Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson was not a fan of the officiating in Saturday’s game. While the officials called only six more fouls on the Razorbacks than Florida, Anderson was not happy with the way the referees altered the flow of the game with 50 fouls called.

Anderson drew a technical foul in the second half after arguing a call. He was also critical in his post-game comments.

“I think it was probably the most disrupted game I’ve been associated with,” Anderson said. “And the reasons I say that, they stopped play for almost 10 minutes just to say a double technical foul. It was a choppy game is what it was. A lot of free throws.”

Arkansas hit 18 of 29 free throws. Florida converted 29 of 34 opportunities.

Speaking Out
“I just thought it was like Murphy’s Law, whatever could go wrong did go wrong. We had shots where dunks [missed], free throws were in and out, had tips go in and out. It seemed like that rim got tighter and tighter. That’s our home rim and we normally get the bounces, but tonight the bounces didn’t go our way.”
—Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson

“I’m not so sure our team is 30 points better than anybody in this league. It happened to be we shot the ball really well tonight.”
—Florida Coach Billy Donovan

Tagged: John Pelphrey, Erving Walker, Bradley Beal, BJ Young, Terry Mercer, Billy Donovan, Florida Gators, Arkasnas Razorbacks