The Nolan Richardson quote, “A rickety ride is better than a smooth walk,” kept playing in my head while watching the University of Arkansas get by Georgia 70-60.
Winning ugly is better than losing pretty popped in mind a couple of times, but that was based on the game, not on the former head coach of the Razorbacks who actually didn’t like that phrase associated with his team.
Both sayings applied to Tuesday night’s game against Georgia.
Half of the Razorbacks continue to believe they are three-point shooters. They aren’t, and they made only 5 of 21 (23.8 percent), which won’t get them many wins in the next 11 games.
The key statistic for Arkansas — just like it was when Richardson was storming up and down the sidelines 17 years ago — was points off turnovers. The Razorbacks scored 16 points on 16 mistakes by the Bulldogs. Not all of them were forced, and it was easy to see why a couple of the Bulldogs play basketball and not wide receiver as the ball bounced off their hands.
While on the subject of what the Bulldogs didn’t do, it was almost painful to watch senior Derek Ogbeide shoot free throws. He made just 2 of 11 while the rest of the team was 13 of 18. His 18 percent was way below his 55 percent average for the season.
Georgia had 24 more rebounds than the UA but made six less field goals. The Bulldogs shot 29 percent from the floor, and a lot of that had to do with the Razorbacks’ defense, which contested almost every shot and a ton of dribbles.
Against Georgia, Mason Jones — who has been a steady force for the Razorbacks and is the team’s second-leading scorer — scored 23 points with 6 rebounds and 4 assists without a turnover.
It was as if the Bulldogs put all their emphasis on stopping Daniel Gafford and Isaiah Joe. Jones, a sophomore transfer, was 8 of 14 from the field but just 2 of 7 on threes.
The crowd, what there was of it, got into the final few minutes and helped will the Hogs to victory.
The actual attendance (scanned tickets) was 6,738, the lowest since the season opener against UC-Davis when 6,373 showed up. According to the box score, the attendance (sold tickets) was 13,970, so 7,232 tickets were unused.
For the season — counting the game in North Little Rock — 86,005 tickets have gone unused, an average of 6,143 per game. An additional 43,658 tickets have gone unsold during a season without a single sellout.
Winning is the best marketing for any school, and if the Hogs got a sloppy game out of the way by playing down to the competition, attendance should improve if they get hot.
On Tuesday’s Voices page, there was a letter to the editor that asked a question about a recent column. A reader took exception to the line in a column about transfer quarterback Ben Hicks that stated he comes “with a degree from SMU, an academic school.”
The question was, did I mean Arkansas is not an academic school? Unequivocally, no. The UA long ago passed the term land grant college in academics, which is why it has continued to grow and can now charge $40,167 per year to attend.
The bottom line is the column was about Hicks transferring from SMU, an academic school, and not about Arkansas’ academics.
It is amazing how many students from Texas in the past 12 years have chosen and received their college education at the University of Arkansas. No doubt the value and quality of education are going hand in hand, probably because the value of the education is very good.