FAYETTEVILLE -- The University of Arkansas basketball team's 74-73 victory over Ole Miss on Saturday in Walton Arena was the fifth one-point game the Razorbacks have played this season.
That's the most one-point games for Arkansas since the 1983-84 season, according to Hogstats.com, when the Razorbacks also played five.
"What has it been like?" Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. "It's been more than interesting, I'll put it that way.
"I tell you what, it's some great teaching moments. That's what it's been. It tells me that our guys are still fighting and scratching and clawing."
Arkansas is 3-2 in one-point games this season. In addition to Ole Miss, the Razorbacks have beaten Indiana 73-72 in Walton Arena and LSU 90-89 on the road, and lost 78-77 to Western Kentucky in Walton Arena and 79-78 at Missouri.
"We may not have all the answers," Anderson said. "We haven't made all the right plays. But it's not because we weren't trying to.
"It's a process. I know [reporters] write about it, but people don't want to talk about it. But you've got to go through it. That's the growing pains. It's going to pay off this year. It's going to pay off in years to come.
"Being in those moments, you learn a little more about yourself. I think that's what has taken place with our team. So if we're having those situations again, we know what to do. We may not do it, but we know what to do."
When Arkansas previously played five one-point games during the 1983-84 season, the Razorbacks went 4-1 under coach Eddie Sutton.
In one of the most memorable games the Razorbacks have ever played, they beat No. 1 North Carolina 65-64 on Charles Balentine's last-second shot on Feb. 12 in the Pine Bluff Convention Center. The Razorbacks opened the season by beating Fordham 62-61 in the Great Alaska Shootout in Anchorage, then beat SMU 70-69 in Barnhill Arena and won 59-58 at Texas A&M. Their lone one-point loss was to Houston 57-56 in the SWC Tournament in Houston.
Arkansas played its most one-point games with seven, according to Hogstats.com, during the 1981-82 season. The Razorbacks won 51-50 at Nebraska, then in back-back games won 67-66 over Houston in Barnhill Arena and 64-63 at Texas A&M. Then came losses to Wake Forest 49-48 at Barton Coliseum in Little Rock, and at Baylor 56-55 in overtime. Arkansas won 54-53 at SMU, then ended the season with a 65-64 loss to Kansas State in the NCAA Midwest Regional in Dallas.
Top 10 matters
Arkansas and Texas A&M are tied for 10th in the SEC standings at 6-10 with two games left in the regular season.
Why should anyone care about that?
Because whichever team finishes 11th has to open the SEC Tournament on Wednesday, March 13 -- when the bottom four teams play two games -- while the 10th-place team gets a bye to Thursday's second round.
"It's a real big deal," Texas A&M Coach Billy Kennedy said of avoiding the Wednesday games. "It just doesn't seem like you're in the tournament if you're playing on that first day because there's only four teams playing.
"Then obviously you've got to win [another game] if you're going to have any chance to go to postseason play. That's been our motivation ... all the way through to the end of the season, is playing our best basketball and seeing if we can move up.
"I think it's going to be a difficult task, because Arkansas also is playing well."
Arkansas and Texas A&M split their games this season -- with each winning on the road -- but if they finish tied after the games this week, the Razorbacks would have the tiebreaker because they beat LSU, which is assured of finishing no lower than third in the SEC's final standings. The highest-ranked team the Aggies have beaten is Alabama, which is ninth in the standings. The Aggies play this week against South Carolina and Mississippi State, which are part of a five-way tie for fourth.
"It's a new season when you talk about going to the [SEC] Tournament," Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. "Hopefully, our team is playing some of its best basketball and hopefully we're built for a tournament.
"Whether it be on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, we just want to play. Because that time it's a one-game season.
"Right now we're playing for the seeding part of it, to see where we're going to be. Vanderbilt is who's next up, and that's what we're thinking about right now."
After playing at Vanderbilt on Wednesday night, the Razorbacks finish the regular season at home against Alabama on Saturday.
Arkansas and Texas A&M have a chance to finish at 8-10 with Alabama if the Razorbacks and Aggies win both of their games this week and the Crimson Tide -- who play Auburn at home tonight -- go 0-2.
If there is a three-way tie for eighth, Arkansas and Texas A&M would be the No. 8 and No. 9 seeds by virtue of being a combined 3-0 against Alabama. The Razorbacks and Aggies would meet in the SEC Tournament in Thursday's second round.
Cleveland picked
Arkansas' T.J. Cleveland is among 30 assistant coaches selected to take part in the Collegiate Coaching Consortium, which is a collaboration among athletic directors, the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the Center for Sports Leadership.
The event is designed to connect rising assistant coaches with athletic directors. Seven of the assistants who participated in the inaugural consortium last year were hired as NCAA Division I head coaches.
Three times 10
Arkansas sophomore guard Mason Jones' six three-point baskets against Ole Miss on Saturday were his high for the Razorbacks, but not the most he's ever hit.
Jones said that as a freshman at Connors (Okla.) State College last season, he hit 10 three-pointers against Eastern Oklahoma.
Sports on 03/05/2019