Dawdling not likely at Walton

FAYETTEVILLE -- North Texas basketball Coach Tony Benford said he plans to be a fan for today's Arkansas-Iona game.

"I'm going to see if I can get that on TV," Benford said. "I want to see that game. It'll be in the 100s."

Benford's Mean Green lost to No. 25 Arkansas 89-73 on Friday night in Walton Arena and lost at home to Iona 78-58 last weekend.

"Iona has really good guards, so it's going to be interesting to see how Arkansas' pressure affects those guys," Benford said. "They want to play fast."

Arkansas (5-0) is averaging 89.2 points while Iona (4-1) is averaging 88.0. Both teams are scoring well from the perimeter, with the Razorbacks shooting 46.7 percent (42 of 90) from behind the three-point line and the Gaels shooting 45.1 percent (65 of 144).

"It's a team that's going to press," Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said of Iona, which plays Arkansas at 2:30 p.m. today at Walton Arena. "It's going to be up and down the floor. They like to knock it down from three-point land, and they've got guys that can get to the hole as well.

"They're playing well right now, so it's going to be a challenge."

Iona and Arkansas share victories over two other opponents -- Wake Forest and Delaware State. The Razorbacks beat the Demon Deacons 83-53 and the Hornets 99-71 in Walton Arena. The Gaels won 85-81 at Wake Forest and 126-76 at home over Delaware State.

"Obviously, you don't compare scores," Anderson said of matching up against the Gaels. "But that tells you something."

Tim Cluess, who has a 96-46 record in five seasons as Iona's coach with two NCAA Tournament appearances, said playing Arkansas for the first time is a great opportunity for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference school located in New Rochelle, N.Y.

"We're playing a great program," Cluess told The Journal News of White Plains, N.Y. "We're going to find out things about our team good and bad and we're going to try and grow from it, but we want to go in there and play as hard as we can play and compete to the best of our ability."

Iona junior guard A.J. English -- the son of former South Carolina and NBA star Alex English -- is averaging 25.5 points and has made 21 of 50 three-pointers. He scored 37 points at North Texas and 27 at Wake Forest.

"Even if people don't think it, we always feel like we can play with anybody in the country or we just try to have that mind-set," English said after the Wake Forest game.

Freshman guard Schadrac Casimir is averaging 16.4 points and has made 14 of 28 three-pointers. He scored 40 points against Delaware State, shooting 11 of 13 from the field -- including 8 of 9 from behind the three-point line -- and 10 of 11 from the free-throw line.

Iona junior guard Isaiah Williams is averaging 16.0 points and scored 25 against Delaware State. He has made 18 of 34 three-pointers.

David Williams, a 6-9 senior, is averaging 15.6 points for the Gaels, who also have junior guard Kelvin Amayo in their starting lineup.

"They play with four guards and they've got a really good big guy, so that's going to be a good game," Benford said. "I think the Hogs with their pressure can wear them out, because Iona's not as deep as Arkansas."

Arkansas has 10 players averaging 12 or more minutes. Iona has six players averaging 9 or more minutes.

Junior guard Michael Qualls, who led Arkansas with a career-high 22 points against North Texas, said the Razorbacks will have no problem playing their third game in six days after starting the week by winning 78-72 at SMU on Tuesday night.

"I feel like we're very versatile, and that's what's going to really give us that edge," Qualls said. "We don't have to worry about a couple guys playing too many minutes because we have other players coming in and giving us a balanced effort.

"We don't get too hung over for the next game. We're just going to come to play and to take care of business."

Sports on 11/30/2014