Odorous Foul Call Gives Gators Win Over Hogs

Basketball, Featured, Razorbacks | February 1, 2015 by Sporting Life Arkansas | 2 Comments

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – After erasing a nine-point deficit and taking its first lead of the second half with 11.5 seconds left, the No. 25 Arkansas men’s basketball team’s furious comeback on the road at Florida came up just short as Michael Frazier hit a pair of free throws with 1.9 seconds on the clock to give the Gators a 57-56 win Saturday afternoon on CBS.

The wild final 20 seconds started when senior Alandise Harris made 1-of-2 free throws to bring the Razorbacks within one, 55-54, and the rebound off the missed second shot was gathered up and put in by freshman Anton Beard to give the Razorbacks a 56-55 advantage.

Trailing for the first time in the second half with 11.5 seconds remaining, Florida freshman Chris Chiozza was able to attack the right side of the paint but his layup caromed off the other side of the rim to Frazier who was fouled trying for the put-back with 1.8 second left. Entering the game an 86 percent free throw shooter, Frazier made both and Arkansas never got off a game-winning attempt as the Gators escaped with the win.

The loss snaps a three-game win streak and denies the Razorbacks (16-5) their third SEC road win of the young season, while they’ve played four straight games decided by five points or less. Arkansas and Florida (12-9) each now stand at 5-3 in SEC action.

Entering the game as the SEC’s leading scorer, sophomore Bobby Portis showed why he’s one of eight players up for the Wooden Award, Oscar Robertson Trophy and Lute Olson Award by scoring 10 straight points for the Razorbacks late in the second half, a run that made it 55-53 heading into the final two minutes.

Portis finished with game-highs of 21 points and 10 rebounds for his sixth double in eight SEC games. Making his first career start, Beard was the only other Arkansas player in double figures with 10 points in 31 minutes of work.

Arkansas nearly picked up its fourth win when trailing at the half in SEC play thanks to holding Florida to just seven made field goals (7-22) in the second half with seven turnovers. The Gators shot 35 percent (18-52) for the game, but were able to take advantage at the free throw line where they were 17-of-25 compared to just 5-of-7 by Arkansas.

Worthy Of A Hog Call (#WPS)
After going the first 10 games without a double-double, including four narrow misses of two rebounds or less, Portis has eight double-doubles in Arkansas’ last 11 games. One game removed from having his program record five-game double-double streak in SEC play snapped, the Little Rock natives 20 and 10 performance was his fourth of the season. Portis is now tied with junior Michael Qualls with eight 20-point games after just one in 2013-14.

#RazorStat Of The Game
Arkansas’ improvement on the defensive end has resulted in its last three opponents averaging 60.3 points, including 27.0 in the second half. All three opponents have failed to score 30 points in the second half while they have a combined 41 points in the final 10 minutes of those games. After going up nine, 53-44, with 6:24 left, Florida had just one made field goal the rest of the way.

@RazorbackMBB Quick Hits
• Loss snaps a three-game win streak for Arkansas as it was looking to start 3-1 in SEC road games for the third time in program history (91-92, 97-98).
• Florida’s 57 points are the least given up by the Razorbacks in SEC play this season.
• Six of Arkansas’ eight SEC games have been decided by five points or less.
• Portis has led Arkansas in scoring and rebounding in the same game 10 times.
• Portis has reached double figures in a career-best 16 straight games.
• Portis’ 12-point second half gives him 16 double figure performances in a half this year.
• Beard has reached double figures in four SEC games after doing so once in non-conference action.

Arkansas Head Coach Mike Anderson

Opening statement:

“It was a hard fought game. I was disappointed with the outcome of it. Credit to Florida. They hung in there and found a way to win. What I was disappointed with more than anything was the officiating going down the stretch. A guy that I’ve seen before, John Hampton made one of the more critical calls in this game. The last play I was not satisfied with.”

On the tough loss:

“I’m proud of our guys. They fought, they went down nine and found a way to get back in the game and took the lead, but the game’s not over until it says 00.0 on the clock.”

On the offense of the game:

“We shot 40%. They shot 34%. Can we talk about defense? I thought our defense was good. Offensively, that’s probably a little bit to be desired by both teams, but that’s life in the SEC. That’s life in conference games. Teams are so familiar with one another and obviously you have to have an outstanding shooting night to come in here and beat a Florida team. I was happy with our defense. I was happy with our effort. Now the execution is something to be desired because we had 16 turnovers and one guy had six. He had the sixth one right there at the end. That’s sloppiness. That’s what it is.”

* * *

Bobby Portis

On losing such a close game:

“It’s tough because we fought our way back. I think we were down by nine at one point and fought our way back at the end of the game. It’s pretty tough to lose like that, but I don’t think the game should have been that close anyways. We should’ve been up 6, 7 points, but that’s how the game goes.”

On the foul call at the end of the game:

“I don’t think that determined the game. I feel like our defense didn’t let us be up 6, 7 points, like I said. So I don’t think the foul call really had any factor in the game.”

On the defensive effort:

“That’s something that coach preaches on is our defense and rebounding the ball. Our defense let us down at that point. It’s a tough loss for us. I feel like our defense let them come back in the first half. I think we were up 27-21 at one point and they went on like an 8-0 run so that kind of messed us up.”

Anton Beard

On scoring a layup to take the lead late in the game:

“It’s not about being a hero it’s just about making a play. I saw the ball go wide and I knew I could get there so I just made a play.”

On making his first start:

“It was a great feeling. I really like the way coach believed in me to be able to start. It was just another game, but it’s a great feeling to be able to start, especially at Florida. It was such a big crowd. It’s a great place to play.”

On losing the close game:

“It’s tough, but you got to let it hurt ‘til midnight. It was a tough loss. We felt like we really deserved to win, but it happens.”

On their mindset before the game:

“We knew coming in it was going to be a tough, physical game on offense and defense. We had the mindset of just keeping the pressure and keep playing ball.”

* * *

Florida Head Coach Billy Donovan

Recapping the final play of the game:

What we did is we just spaced it. Obviously from a defensive standpoint, we’ve been in that situation against Ole Miss. When it’s like a one-point game like that with ten seconds to go, the last thing you want to do is foul, and usually in those situations what ends up happening is someone takes a shot or grabs an offensive rebound and that’s what happened. We missed a shot and grabbed an offensive rebound on the play, but I thought we executed it pretty well. I thought the last two minutes of the game we got really, really good shots. I thought coming out of the timeout, I think it was maybe a two-point game, we ran some good action. [Michael] Frazier drove it to Dorian [Finney-Smith] who was wide open for a shot, he missed it but we had a good space on the floor and good drive at that time.

On the mental fight of the team:

What has happened to these guys and when it has not gone well for them, they lose their competitive spirit and they don’t fight, they don’t battle, they don’t scratch, they don’t claw, they don’t do it. They get down, they don’t battle and I thought that in the game there was a couple moments where we were teetering a little bit where we were back to that mindset and I thought that this game I really felt like they battled as hard as they could. I could tell a little bit on the crazy play on the free throw line when [Alandise] Harris missed that free throw and it went to the dead corner and [Anton] Beard got it and went up by one I could see their faces. I’m like ‘listen, you’ve got to keep playing the next play.’

On the recent performance of Michael Frazier:

The thing I was most pleased about with Frazier is, when he has not made shots has allowed that to consume him. It’s been two games in a row now where into the Alabama game he does not shoot the ball well, he has five turnovers, and he makes an unbelievable defensive play that nobody talked about after the game. The guy for Alabama was wide open coming off the back screen for a layup and he [Frazier] took away the back screen and got back to the three-point shooter all in one possession. Earlier in the year he would have never done that.

Up Next
Arkansas will look to return to its winning ways on Tuesday night when it begins a two-game home week at Bud Walton Arena with South Carolina. Tip is slated for 8 p.m. CT on the SEC Network.