FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson planned to practice at 7 p.m. Thursday, but the Razorbacks changed his mind when the team met in the locker room after Monday night's 84-54 victory over Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
"Actually we were practicing at 7 o'clock Christmas night," Anderson said. "The players talked me into another hour, so I told them we would practice at 8 o'clock Christmas night.
Up next
Northwestern (La.) State at Arkansas
WHEN 2:30 p.m. Sunday
WHERE Walton Arena, Fayetteville
RECORDS Northwest State 4-5, Arkansas 9-2
TV SEC Network
"I'm not a total Scrooge."
A college basketball schedule doesn't allow a team to enjoy a lengthy break for the holidays, but parts of three days off is better than nothing.
"I can't wait to go home, just to chill with my family and enjoy Christmas," said Bobby Portis, a sophomore forward from Little Rock.
Junior guard Michael Qualls, from Shreveport, said he's excited to go home.
"But I'm even more excited to keep going in the direction that we're going in," he said.
The Razorbacks (9-2) have won three consecutive games, including 69-55 over Dayton, since losing at Iowa State 95-77 and at Clemson 68-65 in overtime.
Arkansas had risen to No. 18 in The Associated Press poll and No. 21 in the USA Today coaches poll -- its first time in the rankings in seven years -- before falling out of the polls after the road losses.
"I feel like everybody got complacent with the rankings that we had," Qualls said. "The Iowa State and Clemson games left a bad, bad taste in our mouths.
"We lost because of defense. People were just picking us apart going one-on-one. Everybody came together, bought in and said, 'Man, that's not going to anymore.'
"Since then, I don't think one player has gone off on us. It's going to continue to be that way."
Arkansas had a strong finish against Wisconsin-Milwaukee, outscoring the Panthers 49-30 in the second half.
"It wasn't a pretty game early on, but we found our rhythm," Anderson said. "The rhythm was on defense and then it triggered the offense, and before you knew it, it was flowing."
Portis had 18 points and 10 rebounds, Qualls had 17 points and senior guard Ky Madden had 15, but freshman guard Anton Beard stood out to Anderson. Beard was 1 of 4 from the field and scored 3 points, but he led the Razorbacks with 5 steals and had 3 rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench.
"He keeps impacting his team," Anderson said. "He may not score much, but his energy, his grit, his toughness, it rubs off on other guys. You're seeing other guys doing some of the things that he's doing."
Arkansas has two more games at home -- Northwestern (La.) State on Sunday and Utah Valley State on Jan. 3 -- before opening SEC play at Georgia on Jan. 6.
"We're not where I want us to be, but we're trending in the right direction," Anderson said.
Qualls said the Razorbacks benefited from having a lot of practices the past two weeks and focusing on defense.
"I feel like everybody is playing a good game, especially going into conference time when it gets real," Qualls said. "You either go down or you play better.
"We have the focus that we need, and we can enjoy the break and then get back after it on Christmas."
Sports on 12/24/2014