Arkansas men's basketball Coach Mike Anderson said he hopes the Razorbacks can continue their recent winning ways despite having a week off for finals.
The Razorbacks, who haven't played since Dec. 11, take on Mercer (8-2) today at 7 p.m. at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock.
Arkansas (5-4) has won its past two games, both at Walton Arena in Fayetteville, against Evansville 89-76 on Dec. 8 and Tennessee Tech 83-57 on Dec. 11. It's the longest stretch between games for the Razorbacks this season.
"We're in a nice rhythm," Anderson said after speaking at the Downtown Tip Off's luncheon at the Wyndham Riverfront Hotel in North Little Rock. "Now we have a whole week in between. Let's see if we can still have that rhythm. It may take us a while to get it, but we're playing a team that just played a game on Tuesday. They're in a much better rhythm of playing. But I'm looking forward to seeing where we are as we continue going through the nonconference schedule."
In their two victories against Evansville and Tennessee Tech, the Razorbacks allowed 66.5 points per game, compared with 78.4 points per game in their first seven games.
"We scored enough points, but you've got to stop people," Anderson said. "We talk about training our defense where we make the point totals go down, the field goal percentage go down, and not giving up a lot of three-point shots and rebounding the basketball. We've done that."
Sophomore forward Trey Thompson returned to the Razorbacks' lineup against Evansville after missing three games with an ankle injury. He played a career-high 26 minutes against Tennessee Tech, finishing with 10 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocked shots and 2 assists.
Thompson's presence has been important, Anderson said.
"It was good to see more bodies out there," Anderson said. "Our guys played to win and finished off games."
Anderson said he wants the Razorbacks to improve defensively before SEC play. Part of playing better defensively is using their depth, Anderson said, especially with a healthy Thompson back and sophomore guard Anton Beard's return to the court after missing the first nine games because of a disciplinary suspension.
"I want to create that depth in the last 10-minute window of the game where we can enforce our will on the other team," Anderson said. "Make fatigue a factor. Use that depth. Our guard play, our forward play, with Trey back in the fold. Willy Kouassi is playing really well for us. Moses [Kingsley] is doing a good job. Keaton [Miles] is giving us quality minutes. Now you add another experienced guard, and it makes our guard tandem pretty good."
Other highlights from Anderson's speech to the Downtown Tip Off Club:
• Anderson has reminded Bobby Portis -- the 2015 SEC Player of the Year and current Chicago Bulls forward, who has averaged 5.3 points and 1.0 rebounds in 6.8 minutes per game -- to be patient despite not playing often in his rookie season. "All he has to do is wait his time. From a coach's standpoint, I still call Bobby once a week and I remind him, 'Hey man, just be patient. You're with the right people. You're learning some great, great things. Your time will come.' The way I can tell he's listening is when they put him out there for those four minutes, he's producing. He's ready."
• Anderson recalled a recent game where junior guard Dusty Hannahs shot from the Razorbacks' logo surrounding midcourt at Walton Arena. "He shoots the ball from the hog's snout. He makes it. Then he comes out and shoots from the hog's eye and he misses it. He comes over and I say, 'Dusty, you know what? The closer you go, it still counts for three points.' He said, 'Coach, I was feeling it.' You know what I wanted to say? 'Come over here and feel this bench. Come sit with me.'"
Sports on 12/19/2015