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Well that was a waste of time.
Arkansas gave up nine straight points to Oklahoma State to start the game and that was pretty much that. The Pokes held a double-digit lead for the last 30 minutes of the game and had at least a 20-point lead for the last 24 minutes.
It was not fun to watch. The Razorbacks weren’t terrible on offense. They scored 71 points and shot over 40% (although to be fair, full game stats are basically worthless since the second half was never competitive) but defensively, Arkansas was atrocious in the first half. The Cowboys dropped 59 points on the Hogs in the first 20 minutes. That’s a disaster.
Arkansas has won some nice games on the road this year, but not in shootouts. The Hogs have narrowly won low-scoring games for the most part. The Razorbacks haven’t shown the firepower this season, especially on the road, to keep up with a team playing as well as Oklahoma State played today.
Jaylen Barford actually had his best game of the season. He led the team with 21 points and did this:
POSTERIZED @RazorbackMBB's Jaylen Barford pic.twitter.com/A4zSU01D8i
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) January 28, 2017
That was really the only reason to watch the game.
Dusty Hannahs, Moses Kingsley, and Anton Beard all reached double figures, and Dustin Thomas finished with 9, but that was about it. Even Daryl Macon was held scoreless on 0-8 shooting.
It’s obviously really frustrating to see Arkansas play defense this poorly. The #Fastest40 has not produced good defensive teams at Arkansas even though that’s what most Arkansas fans associate with this style of play because of what happened in the ‘90s. It’s not what people expect.
That being said, this was an opportunity game, not a must-win game. The road wins at A&M and Vanderbilt gave the Hogs a little breathing room. The Hogs should be favored in their next four games before traveling to South Carolina. Those games are vs Alabama, @ Missouri, vs Vanderbilt, and @ LSU. Arkansas really can’t afford a slip-up without making an upset win at South Carolina or at Florida a necessity.
Arkansas never makes anything easy.