FAYETTEVILLE -- At a time of high anxiety for Razorbacks fans with the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville conducting simultaneous searches for an athletic director and head football coach, the men's basketball team is serving as a rallying point.
Jeff Long was fired as Arkansas' athletic director on Nov. 15 in his 10th year on the job. Eight days later, Bret Bielema was fired as football coach immediately after Missouri beat Arkansas 48-45 on a last-second field goal to end the Razorbacks' season at 4-8.
UP NEXT
Arkansas men vs. Houston
WHEN 6:30 p.m. Saturday
WHERE Texas Southern H&PE Arena, Houston
RECORDS Arkansas 5-1; Houston 5-1
SERIES Arkansas leads 22-17
TELEVISION CBS Sports Network
RADIO Razorback Sports Network
"I feel like we're going through a tough time right now as a school, as an athletic department," Arkansas senior forward Trey Thompson said. "But I feel like fans are really excited about basketball.
"We're trying to give them something to be excited about."
The Razorbacks are off to a 5-1 start, including victories in Portland, Ore., last weekend over Oklahoma 92-83 and Connecticut 102-67 at the Phil Knight Invitational. They play at Houston (5-1) at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
Arkansas' only loss is against No. 13 North Carolina, which beat the Razorbacks in Portland, 87-68.
The Razorbacks' 35-point victory was Connecticut's most lopsided loss in 40 seasons, since Syracuse beat the Huskies' 101-61 on Nov. 30, 1977.
"What our basketball team is doing couldn't be a better tonic for the fans right now," said Mike Cormack, a former Razorbacks golfer who lives in Van Buren and is a long-time season-ticket holder for Arkansas football, basketball and baseball. "There's something to reach out for and grab ahold of to be excited about."
Mike Anderson, in his seventh season as the Razorbacks' basketball coach after being an assistant to Nolan Richardson for 17 years from 1986-2002, said the fans are one of the main reasons he left Missouri to come back to Arkansas.
"We've got some of the greatest fans, and our fans have been thirsting for some great things to take place in their respective sports," Anderson said. "Whether it be basketball, football, whatever it is. Sports are very important here at the the University of Arkansas. Our fans eat, sleep and live it.
"So with us having an opportunity to go out and perform -- and hopefully perform at a high level -- that's why I came here."
Anderson is 133-75 at Arkansas with NCAA Tournament appearances in two of the last three years.
"I like to win the right way," Anderson said. "It's been a process, but to me when you build something, you want it to be able to sustain it.
"I think that's what we've been able to do. We have been able to build and sustain, build and sustain, and now hopefully we can continue to go in the right direction."
The Razorbacks are averaging 90.2 points and shooting 49.5 percent from the field, including 41.7 percent on three-point attempts (48 of 115).
"We're making the fans happy as of right now and trying to give them as much entertainment as possible," said Arkansas senior guard Jaylen Barford, who is averaging a team-high 20.8 points.
Arkansas is averaging 13,954 in paid attendance for its first three home games, which were victories over Samford, Bucknell and Fresno State.
The Arkansas-Fresno State game had an announced actual attendance of 12,227, which was the highest for a November game in Walton Arena since Nov. 30, 2012, when a crowd of 19,259 watched No. 6 Syracuse beat the Razorbacks 91-82.
"The caliber of teams we've been playing, I think that excites people," Anderson said. "It excites my players.
"So hopefully [the fans] are excited. Hopefully, they're excited enough to come and fill Bud Walton Arena up."
Thompson said he's aware of the positive reaction from fans to the basketball season so far.
"The stuff I get is mostly on social media," Thompson said. "Like fans say they're proud of us for the way we're playing and they're happy for us."
Cormack, a basketball season-ticket holder for 25 years since Walton Arena opened, said he can sense the excitement among fans who were frustrated by the football season.
"Me personally, I'm going to go to games and -- win or lose -- cheer on the Hogs in all the sports," Cormack said. "But it's a lot more fun when we're winning.
"Our basketball team isn't just winning, they're playing exciting games. They're putting on a show."
Cormack, who has six season-tickets for basketball, said friends have been calling him now more than ever about going to games.
"I have friends of mine that haven't been basketball fans the last few years," Cormack said. "They'd go from football to saying, 'We'll see you in baseball.' This year I'm getting phone calls from them saying, 'Hey, man, can we come have some fun with you at the basketball game?' "
Sports on 12/01/2017