Hogs must guard perimeter better

FAYETTEVILLE -- It's a small sample size, but three games into the season opponents have been lighting up Arkansas from three-point range.

The Razorbacks rank 319th nationally out of 346 NCAA Division I teams in three-point defense at 40.8 percent as Southern University, Akron and Charleston Southern combined to hit 29 of 71 attempts.

"We're definitely giving up way too many threes," Arkansas junior guard Dusty Hannahs said. "We have to get our rotations down."

Akron made 13 of 28 three-pointers in an 88-80 victory over Arkansas last Wednesday at Walton Arena.

Zips Coach Keith Dambrot said he told his players they had to be aggressive and take open three-pointers when they beat Arkansas' full-court pressure defense. The Zips listened and executed.

"It's a fine line," Dambrot said. "You have to know when to shoot them and when not to, because it can become a rat race. We did a really good job of identifying when to shoot it."

Akron was able to spread the floor against the Razorbacks and had four players hit at least three three-pointers each, led by Reggie McAdams shooting 4 of 8.

"Akron got comfortable right off the bat," Hannahs said. "When you let a team get comfortable, it's hard to make them uncomfortable."

Arkansas (2-1) bounced back from the Akron loss to beat Charleston Southern 93-75 on Friday night, but the Bucs made 12 of 31 three-pointers.

The 31 three-point attempts was right at Charleston Southern's average this season. In 4 games, the Bucs have hit 43 of 125 attempts.

"Shooting threes has always been a big part of our game," Charleston Southern Coach Barclay Radebaugh said. "Our style of play is very perimeter-oriented. Our offense is geared to read and react and take whatever's presented."

Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said his team's perimeter defense is a concern as the Razorbacks prepare to play two games in New York in the Preseason NIT. The Razorbacks play Georgia Tech (3-1) at 1 p.m. Thursday and will face No. 9 Villanova (4-0) or Stanford (2-2) Friday.

"As we continue to play better teams, we've got to be able to match up and get rotations on point," Anderson said. " It's kind of like we're almost there, and teams are taking advantage of that."

Senior point guard Jabril Durham said the Razorbacks have to do a better job of knowing when and where to trap an opponent.

"Sometimes we overcommit or we help too much and leave the shooter open," Durham said. "It's a process. We've got a new team, and defensively it doesn't just come in one game or one practice.

"It's going to be take time, but we'll get there."

Georgia Tech is shooting 31.3 percent on three-point attempts (26 of 83), but that's better than last season when the Yellow Jackets shot 26.7 percent (131 of 491).

Senior guard Adam Smith, a graduate transfer from Virginia Tech, has given Georgia Tech a new three-point threat.

Smith led the Atlantic Coast Conference last season when he shot 42.3 percent on three-point attempts (81 of 191) and averaged 13.4 points. This season he's shooting 37 percent from three-point range (10 of 27), including 1 of 8 against Tennessee when the Yellow Jackets were 2 of 19 but beat the Vols 69-67.

Anderson said Georgia Tech is getting strong play inside from senior forwards Nick Jacobs, a transfer from Alabama averaging 15.0 points and 6.5 rebounds, and Charles Mitchell, a transfer from Maryland averaging 14.5 points and 11.5 rebounds, that has helped open up the perimeter for Smith.

"What I see is they're giving [Smith] that green light to shoot the basketball and they're going to the glass to rebound the basketball," Anderson said. "So I think they've got more than just him shooting the basketball when you talk about that team."

Anderson said the Razorbacks can't afford the letdowns on defense against Georgia Tech they have suffered in previous games that led to open three-pointers.

"We've got to get better at that, and we will," he said. "That's part of getting on the same page."

Sports on 11/25/2015