FAYETTEVILLE — Some thoughts following Arkansas' 66-65 win over Oklahoma State:
Daryl Macon
Stop asking questions about Daryl Macon coming off the bench. He's tired of answering them.
Macon scored a game-high 22 points in Arkansas' second wild comeback win of the week on 7 of 13 from the floor, and the Hogs needed every bit of it with Jaylen Barford and Anton Beard struggling on the offensive end.
Barford and Beard combined for 10 points on 4 of 22 shooting and 2 of 12 from 3 - Barford made both triples. Beard even scraped the side of the backboard on a corner 3 in the first half, which in turn caused him to become hesitant on his next few touches.
Saturday just wasn't Jaylen's day scoring the ball either. His 0 of 5 night from inside the arc is one of the more surprising numbers to come out of this game. He's normally a wizard with the ball around the rim and works himself into a stepback jumper or two, but not tonight.
Coming off the bench wasn't something new to Macon when Mike Anderson decided to experiment a bit with his lineup a few weeks back. As a junior, he came off the bench in Arkansas' final 13 games. It goes back to what Dusty Hannahs said last season: the buckets are coming whether he starts or not.
Macon is now averaging 18.8 points per game in the four games Anderson has used him in a bench role and scored 20+ in each of the last three games. He got rolling as soon as he entered Saturday's game, and, man, is he fun to watch when he's feeling it.
Dustin and Trey
The unsung heroes of Arkansas' 2-0 week. The Hogs may not win this week without Dustin Thomas and Trey Thompson.
Yes, Daryl's shot-making in the overtimes at Georgia was one of the most cold-blooded sequences I've seen, but Thomas helped Arkansas climb out of a 16-point hole late in the first half and remain within striking distance at the break. Trey made the game-saving block on perhaps the best big man in the SEC.
Arkansas is staring at a completely different set of circumstances without those two. They were phenomenal when on the floor together at Georgia on Tuesday - .88 PPP allowed in 17 defensive possessions - and again were entrusted by Anderson to deliver a stop in the game's final moments.
I didn't think I'd ever say it, but Trey has made big play after big play defensively of late and provided a bit of offense as well. He added seven points to go with six rebounds and two blocks and two steals. Trey's basketball IQ is what sets him apart, Anderson says. He certainly has found himself in the right spot at the right time quite a bit lately.
And then there's Dustin Thomas, who came up just a point shy of his first double-double. His 10 rebounds are a career high and his most in a game since his first game back from suspension against Oklahoma on the day before Thanksgiving (9).
Big props to those guys for stepping in and providing some senior leadership and toughness with Daniel Gafford in a bit of a freshman funk.
Cowboys coach Mike Boynton
Earlier this week when on the radio I was asked about Oklahoma State and what kind of a challenge they'd be for Arkansas in a sold out Bud Walton Arena.
Instinctively, and foolishly, I thought about last year's Cowboys, who were led by now Illinois coach Brad Underwood. Underwood's teams got after opponents, forcing them into a turnover on better than 20 percent of their possessions. Mike Boynton completely slipped my mind, but it won't happen again.
Boynton's Cowboys are impressive as well. Oklahoma State led Arkansas for 32 minutes, 30 seconds on Saturday and held leads as large as 13. It also limited Jaylen Barford, one of the SEC's top scoring guards, to his lowest offensive output since Dec. 16.
Boynton's club did it without two of its top three scorers and only eight scholarship guys, too. He was impressive in the postgame press conference and made no excuses for the loss. Bluntly, he said OSU should have converted on its final possession. They're layups at the rim, he said. No excuses for that.
Before Boynton came in, two of his players did, and they really take after their coach. Both were genuinely disappointed to not have eeked out a win in Fayetteville despite being down a couple of key guys. OSU is a tough bunch, and has a great coach leading the way.
Tough games ahead
Arkansas needed both of the wins it earned this week. There's not much time to celebrate, though, with Texas A&M and LSU looming - both on the road.
The Hogs aren't back in Bud Walton Arena until Feb. 6 against South Carolina, which is another team playing solid ball of late. Even though the Gamecocks lost to Texas Tech as part of the Big 12/SEC Challenge, they've beaten Kentucky and Florida in the last two weeks and own a road win over Georgia as well.
Not to mention the South Carolina game falls on a Tuesday. If you're going to beat Arkansas in BWA, midweek is the time to do it. Arkansas has won 11 straight Saturday games in Bud Walton and is 40-5 in those games under Anderson.
Texas A&M didn't roll over at Kansas after falling behind by 18 in the first half, and Tyler Davis had a strong night, finishing with 18 points and six rebounds. LSU, who fell by 25 to Auburn and ran Arkansas out of its own arena earlier in league play, has a challenging week ahead - at Tennessee, vs. Arkansas next Saturday.
Which game does Arkansas have the best chance of stealing?