FAYETTEVILLE -- Former Arkansas Coach Nolan Richardson has been inducted into a dozen halls of fame, including the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame last year.
Still, Tuesday night's banner raising at Walton Arena moved the legendary coach who produced a school-best 389 victories and the 1994 NCAA championship at Arkansas.
"The banner being dropped, it's no question one of the highlights of my coaching career," Richardson said prior to Arkansas' game against Texas A&M. "To be alive and to receive this, to have my family, my friends and my coaches to be a part of something that made me who I am. It's a night of beauty."
The night was made more beautiful in Richardson's eyes because his former pupil, protege and eventual successor Mike Anderson had his team revved up to play Texas A&M, one of his own former rivals.
"The thing I'm enjoying the most is to watch Hawgball again!" Richardson said while making brief comments during the halftime ceremony.
As Richardson grabbed the microphone, a fan in the stands yelled "We love you!" Richardson replied "I love you too."
Richardson said prior to the game that the healing process between him and the university -- after his termination he filed a lawsuit against school, which eventually was dismissed -- began when there was a change in personnel.
"When you have new people take over positions, it changes the atmosphere," Richardson said. "I think the changing of the atmosphere helped me to become more attracted to being a part of the University of Arkansas."
Anderson, who drove a van carrying Richardson away from Walton Arena after his final news conference at Arkansas in 2002, took the Razorbacks' reins nine years later.
"I saw him come to Arkansas when I knew the program was in disarray," said Richardson, who still resides in Fayetteville. "I'm so happy to see the game look more like Hawgball again. I think the fans are enjoying themselves.
"I haven't met anyone at the stores that don't talk about how they're enjoying the season. ... Mike is ahead of schedule as far as I'm concerned."
It's the best
Texas A&M Coach Billy Kennedy called the atmosphere at Walton Arena intimidating.
"This is the best atmosphere I've played in since I've been here in this league," said Kennedy, who is in his fourth season with the Aggies. "I've got a lot of respect for the atmosphere."
Three spree
Arkansas buried Texas A&M under an avalanche of three-pointers early, starting with Ky Madden's from the left wing 10 seconds after tipoff, that lasted much of the opening half when the Hogs were 8 of 16 on three-pointers.
Before the half was over, five Razorbacks had scored from behind the three-point line, led by Anthlon Bell's 4-of-5 shooting from that range. Bobby Portis, Anton Beard and Jabril Durham all joined Madden and Bell with first-half treys.
Arkansas finished 10 of 24 (41.7 percent) from three-point range while Texas A&M was 9 of 16 (56.3 percent).
Turnover troubles
Texas A&M was averaging a turnover a minute during most of the first half after the Aggies lost the ball on each of their first five possessions.
Arkansas was extremely effective at cashing in the turnovers too, running off a 22-0 advantage in that department in the first half off 16 Aggie turnovers.
The Aggies finished with 21 turnovers to Arkansas' 10, and the Hogs outscored them 27-4 in points off turnovers.
Monopoly boards
Texas A&M dominated Arkansas with a 44-23 margin in rebounding, including 22 offensive boards to Arkansas' 13 defensive boards.
"Yeah, 22 offensive rebounds, but I thought a number of times we went up and didn't get anything from it," Aggies Coach Billy Kennedy said. "At the end there we didn't really get a break. I thought there were a couple of fouls that we didn't get."
House call
Texas A&M guard Danuel House hit 5 of 9 three-pointers, many of them with no defender in sight, and was 9 of 15 overall while scoring a game-high 28 points.
"He's a pro for sure," Arkansas forward Bobby Portis said. "I like his game. He didn't force anything. He just let the game come to him."
Sports on 02/25/2015