The Arkansas Razorbacks moved to 2-0 on the season Wednesday with an eye-opening 91-68 victory over the Oakland Golden Grizzlies at Bud Walton Arena.

While the Grizzlies aren’t a household name in college hopps, they aren’t your average preseason cupcake, either. Coach Greg Kampe’s squad had won back-to-back Summit League titles and made back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances. Senior Reggie Hamilton is considered one of the top guards on the mid-major level.

Going into the game, this was a contest a knowledgeable basketball fan would have considered a hurdle for the Hogs, even at home, considering the transition between John Pelphrey and Mike Anderson as head coach has left the Razorbacks with a short and relatively inexperienced 10-man scholarship roster.

During the last nine years, Pelphrey and Stan Heath’s Razorbacks struggled and even lost at home to squads of the Golden Grizzlies caliber early in the season. But that era of Razorback basketball is officially over.

The Razorbacks attacked Oakland defensively with wave after wave of pressure defense, and on the other end, attacked the basket with a vengeance.

As a result, the Golden Grizzlies rarely got a chance to find their breath or bearings until the game ended.

The Hogs forced the Grizzlies into 18 turnovers and held them to 34.7 percent shooting on the night, while the Hogs shot 53.6 percent from the field and cashed in on 9-of-12 free throws in the fast-paced game. The Hogs also had 21 assists on 37 baskets.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Junior Marshawn Powell showed up big for the Hogs’ in the paint again, scoring 20 points and grabbing 7 rebounds in 24 minutes of playing time. Powell was 8-of-8 from the field in the first half. Powell also had 2 assists, 2 blocked shots and a steal.

Five other Hogs scored in double figures with B.J. Young leading the way with 16, Mardracus Wade with 14 and Rickey Scott, Julysses Nobles and Ky Madden with 10 apiece.

PLAY OF THE GAME
The way the Hogs attacked the basket there were many choices for play of the game. Rickey Scott slammed home a crowd-pleasing, one-handed dunk early in the game off a Ky Madden steal and assist for a 15-6 lead with 14:18 to play.

B.J. Young powered in a two-handed dunk with 4:07 in the first half off a Julysses Nobles assist for a 46-21 lead.

But the play of the game came with 16:10 to play on a beautifully crafted fast break. The best fast breaks are when there are as few dribbles as possible and I didn’t count but one on this play which started with a strong rebound and a quick outlet pass from Michael Sanchez to Ky Madden. Madden quickly spotted Rickey Scott at the top of the key, who then offered up an under-handed scoop pass to Powell, who finished with a dunk for a 64-41 lead.

Crisp, efficient passing and a thunderous finish all adds up to the play of the game.


CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
Marshawn Powell led the Hogs with 7 rebounds, but Chairman of the Board honors go to Marvell Waithe, who grabbed 6 boards in just 14 minutes of playing time.

The Golden Grizzlies did outrebound the Hogs 41-40, with 19 of those coming on the offensive end. Giving up that many offensive boards, even in a blowout, is area of concern for the Hogs.

STAT OF THE GAME
This Razorback basketball team has already conquered what held back several recent Arkansas squads — selfishness. Anderson said early on that this would be a team that shared the basketball and that has proven to be true. Twenty-one of the Hogs’ 37 baskets came off assists. Nobles led the way with 7, while Scott passed out 5. Four other Razorbacks — Powell, Madden, Devonta Abron, and Young — had two assists appiece.

THICK AS THIEVES
The Hogs had 10 steals on the night with Wade, Scott and Nobles each making two.

UP NEXT
The Razorbacks take their show to North Little Rock for their annual trip to Verizon Arena, this time to face old Southwest Conference foe, the Houston Cougars. Houston is 2-0 with an 88-42 victory over Grambling and an 84-71 victory over Utah Valley. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. Tickets are available. The game will be televised by FSN.

UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS PRSS RELEASE

Fans looking to watch the University of Arkansas men’s basketball team this season, but don’t already have a ticket, have another option with a pair of mini plans which go on sale Tuesday, Nov. 15 at the Razorback Ticket Office. The mini plans sell for $100 and include admission to four games.

The SEC mini plan gives fans the opportunity to attend the LSU (Jan. 14), Vanderbilt (Jan. 31), South Carolina (Feb. 11) and Alabama (Feb. 23) games. The Weekend mini plan includes tickets to four Saturday matchups, Southeastern Louisiana (Dec. 17), Mississippi State (Jan. 7), Michigan (Jan. 21) and Florida (Feb. 18) games.

The mini plan packages are the first opportunity for fans to purchase tickets to Arkansas’ Southeastern Conference or Michigan games without buying a season ticket package.

To take advantage of this offer, fans may visit or call the Razorback Ticket Office during regular business hours, or go to ArkansasRazorbacks.com at midnight on Tuesday.

Arkansas won its regular season opener against USC Upsate on Nov. 11, and take on a tough Oakland squad on Wednesday night at Bud Walton Arena. Tip off for the Arkansas-Oakland contest is scheduled for 7 p.m. For more information regarding Razorback men’s basketball or University of Arkansas athletics, please visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com.

The Arkansas Razorbacks got the Mike Anderson era of basketball off to a solid start Friday night with an 83-63 victory over South Carolina Upstate.

Anderson estimated that he had 60 to 80 family members and friends at the contest that drew 10,500, including his mentor, former Razorback coach Nolan Richardson, a College Basketball Hall of Fame member.

“This job is a special job at a special place,” Anderson said. “Being here and seeing what took place to get it where it was has me motivated.”

The Razorbacks took control of the game early with their defense and never lost control, although the play did get sloppy at times.

“I was happy with our guys with their effort,” said Anderson. “We got a tremendous start. That’s they way you would like to start every game. We went to our bench and there was a drop-off. But a lot of it was emotion. You can only play so long on emotion, but I think our fans got some glimpses of things to come.”

Anderson liked the aggressiveness shown by the players on their home court.

“We want to take care of home, and when teams come here, we want to make sure they are uncomfortable,” Anderson said. “I believe we did that tonight.”

Anderson was happy that he go so many on his roster quality minutes, with every scholarship player getting double-digit minutes in the contest.

“We got of quality minutes for a lot of guys when it mattered,” Anderson said.

Anderson liked the crowd, but is anticipating drawing better in the future.

“This is a style of basketball that hasn’t been played here in a while, Anderson said. “There is potential here, but we have to keep working. We are by no means where we want to be.”

The Razorbacks forced 19 turnovers in the game, but had 23 themselves, to Anderson’s chagrin.

“I want to see our guys shoot at least 70 times in a game,” Anderson said. “If we took care of the basketball that would have happened.”

PLAYER OF THE GAME— Marshawn Powell scored 19 points and snared 5 rebounds in 19 minutes of playing time. The junior forward looks to be in the best shape of his career, allowing him to be active at both ends of the floor. He looks good as the front man at the Hogs’ press and he is scoring inside and with a nice mid-range jumper. He was one of eight players to score at least 7 points.

PLAY OF THE GAME — Many plays stood out in the contest, but the Razorbacks may have been at their running best when freshman guard B.J. Young cleared a rebound, took a couple of dribbles and then fired a perfect pass down court to a streaking Marvell Waithe. The 6-9 senior forward caught the ball cleanly in transition and slammed it home with a tomahawk dunk.

CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD – Rickey Scott may be a 6-3 guard, but you wouldn’t know it from his stat line. The broad-shoulder sophomore carved out room to gather a team high 7 rebounds in the contest, while also scoring 11 points, making 2 steals and 2 assists. Waithe led the Hogs in offensive rebounds with three.

STAT OF THE GAME — The stat of the game wasn’t a good one for the Razorbacks. The Hogs played sloppy, suffering 23 turnovers.
“When you play a lot of players you are going to have turnovers,” Anderson said. “I can live with 15, but when you get up to 23, that’s too much. Some of them were just careless where they just took the ball out of our hands. We’re not a team that can survive a lot of turnovers. But that is very correctable. We’ll clean that up.”

UP NEXT — The Hogs are back at home Wednesday at 7 p.m. for a contest against a very solid ballclub in the Oakland Golden Grizzlies, who are coming off back-to-back Summit League titles and NCAA Tournament appearances. They return three starters, including guard Reggie Hamilton, who averaged 17.6 ppg. and 5.3 apg. last season. Darren Sorrenson, who was an assistant at Arkansas under Stan Heath, is on the coaching staff. Oakland plays at Alabama on Monday before visiting the Hogs on Wednesday.

The Razorbacks make their annual appearance in Central Arkansas at 7 p.m. Friday when they play host to old Southwest Conference rival Houston at Verizon Arena.

UP NEXT
USC Up State at Arkansas
When: 7 p.m. Friday
Where: Bud Walton Arena, Fayetteville
Radio: Arkansas Razorback Radio Network
TV: Razorvision


Marshawn Powell could have been considered missing in action in the Arkansas Razorbacks first exhibition game last Friday night, picking up four fouls and scoring just 7 points and grabbing two rebounds.

But as Hogs’ head coach Mike Anderson suggested after that game, Powell made his presence known Tuesday in the Razorbacks’ 76-54 exhibition victory over Christian Brothers.

“I was just playing basketball and not worrying about the officials,” Powell said. “That’s what Coach [Mike Anderson] told me to do.”

Powell made 11-of-17 shots to score 26 points in 25 minutes on the floor. He also blocked 4 shots and made a steal.

The 6-7 Powell did have a size advantage, but unlike in the first exhibition game, he put it to good use. He was active running the floor and made no turnovers.

“He’s got a chance to be a very good player in what we do,” Anderson said. “I like Marshawn’s versatility.”

Anderson credited the blue-collar play of Michael Sanchez for bringing contagious energy to the team.

Christian Brothers attempted to control the pace of the game, running the Princeton weave and operating very deliberately most of the contest. The Bucs only turned the ball over seven times in the contest, but the Razorbacks pressure defense did wear the squad down in the second half.

“That was two that play opposites,” Arkansas coach Mike Anderson said following the game. “We’re at different extremes. They are patient and we’re not, but they tested our patience tonight and I thought our kids did pretty good. We played a lot of guys.”

The Bucs’ legs went in final 8 minutes, and the Hogs forced them into quicker and less prudent shots. Christian Brothers shot on 35.2 percent from the field and missed 20 of 28 three-point attempts.

“They hung around and hung around and cut it to one in the second half, but I think fatigue played a big factor,” Anderson said.

Powell was the only Hog in double figures, but Julysses Nobles scored 9 points and had 4 assists. Rickey Scott had 8 points, 8 assists and 6 rebounds. Walk-on sophomore Kikko Haydar scored 8 points and B.J. Young had 7 points and 3 assists.

Anderson liked that Arkansas had 18 assists on 30 made baskets.

Rashad “Ky” Madden did not play because he broke a team rule, Anderson said.