In Walton Arena, advantage Anderson

Arkansas coach Mike Anderson directs his team against Missouri Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016, during the second half of play in Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Mike Anderson will lead the Arkansas basketball team into Walton Arena for the 100th time as the Razorbacks' coach when they play North Florida today.

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Anderson's previous 99 home games at Arkansas have gone pretty well. The Razorbacks are 87-12 in Walton Arena under Anderson, including 7-0 this season.

"I think any time you're trying to win at the level we want to win, the most important thing is you have to take care of the home court," Anderson said. "When you have people coming in, you want them to feel uncomfortable. You don't want them to feel comfortable in your house.

"That's a mindset. That's an attitude."

Anderson's winning percentage of .878 in Walton Arena is higher than Nolan Richardson's .848 as the Razorbacks' coach.

Richardson, for whom Anderson was an Arkansas assistant coach for 17 seasons, was 123-22 in Walton Arena overall and 90-10 in his first 100 games.

"I really feel it's the approach," Anderson said of his teams' home success. "I think every game is a big game -- no matter who you play."

Arkansas is 324-74 in Walton Arena since it opened for the 1993-94 season, when the Razorbacks won the national championship.

"I think the tradition is here from the fans to the band to the cheerleaders, you name it," Anderson said. "When you come here it's a great atmosphere, and our players enjoy playing in front of our fans."

North Florida Coach Matthew Driscoll is 0-1 at Walton Arena with Arkansas' 97-72 victory over the Ospreys last season.

Driscoll, in his eighth season at North Florida after assistant coaching stops that include Wyoming, Clemson and Baylor, said he's seen many Walton Arena games on video.

"One thing I always thought watching games over the years was that with the way the arena was constructed, it had the ability to be a great home-court advantage in the sense that even if you don't have a ton of people there, they're still right on top of you and they're extremely loud," Driscoll said. "Arkansas fans are very passionate, obviously, about their team.

"When you have talented guys and play the way that Mike plays -- because of the pressing and trying to score as fast as they can -- you see why the fans here get excited."

There haven't been a ton of fans at Arkansas home games so far this season, although there were 12,253 season tickets sold, according to UA officials.

Three games have drawn announced crowds of less than 5,000, with a season-high 10,059 against Austin Peay last Saturday night.

"With our fans, it doesn't matter how many people there are in the stands, they're always going to be loud," Arkansas junior guard Daryl Macon said. "We try to give the fans a show and give them what they paid for. That's who we play for."

Anderson said the fans "without a doubt" create a good home atmosphere for the Razorbacks.

"Our fans participate," Anderson said. "That's a lot different than some other fans. Ours participate here."

An announced crowd of 7,281 attended the Arkansas-North Florida game last season.

"Even though the crowd may not be as big as you want, I thought they were engaged and made it a tough place to play," Driscoll said. "Especially when Arkansas gets a run going.

"It's a fan-friendly situation here. You'd think because of that more people would want to come out and watch the games.

"It's fun basketball. With Arkansas, it's a lot of points, it's steals, it's dunks, it's threes. It's everything you'd want as a fan."

North Florida 6-1 senior guard Dallas Moore should be a main attraction for tonight's game. Moore, who scored 17 points at Arkansas last season, is averaging 21.4 points this season and 30.0 in his past three games: 29 against Wright State, 31 against Florida and 30 at Syracuse.

Moore is shooting 48.4 percent from the field, including 45.6 percent on three-pointers (31 of 68), and 87.1 percent from the free-throw line (29 of 33) this season. He's also averaging a team-high 3.1 assists.

"He's always played with great confidence and because of that, he doesn't care who he's playing," Driscoll said. "This year he doesn't have as many guys that are experienced like he's had in the past, so I've asked him to score more. Be more aggressive. Take more shots. Too many is not enough.

"To his credit, he hasn't shied away from that. He's just trying to help us win."

Arkansas will be the sixth team from a Power Five conference North Florida (3-7) has played this season. The Ospreys have lost to Auburn 83-66, Miami 94-56, LSU 78-70, Florida 91-60 and Syracuse 77-71.

"They've played a monster schedule," Anderson said. "They won't be in fear, I know that."

North Florida is going for its third consecutive Atlantic Sun Conference regular-season title, and Anderson said the Ospreys have improved by playing a tough schedule, as evidenced by their six-point loss at Syracuse.

"If these games don't destroy you, they will make you better," Anderson said. "I think this team will be tested when they come here so we're going to have to play our butts off."

That's usually what the Razorbacks have done for Anderson in Walton Arena.

Sports on 12/10/2016