Hogs Need Three Little Words to Win Three in SEC Tournament

Arkansas gets revenge game against South Carolina to tip off postseason action

Arkansas Razorbacks guard D.J. Wagner (middle) sets the plan with guard Johnell Davis (left) and center Jonas Aidoo during the Hogs' 93-92 win against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Bud Walton Arena on Saturday. | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

One word will determine whether Arkansas wins its first game in the SEC Tournament that begins Wednesday in Nashville.

Another word will help decide if the Razorbacks can advance through the second round and perhaps claim a higher seed in the NCAA Tournament.

A third word will certainly sway whether the Hogs play giant killer and make a deep run in the SEC Tournament.

One, two, three plus four and five and the Razorbacks would emerge as champions of the SEC Tournament.

Preposterous? Maybe.

But as coaches say, one game at a time. The first one is a perfect set-up for coach John Calipari's team. Or, if you're a pessimist, a bad draw.

FIRST ROUND, FIRST WORD:

Arkansas and South Carolina tip off Game 1 of the league's postseason tomorrow at noon. Lest we forget, that's the same South Carolina team that handed the Hogs one of their two worst whippings in their up-and-down season.

The Gamecocks, playing at home, led the the Razorbacks by a whopping 35 points with less than six minutes left. Now, they'll meet again just 11 days later.

That means the hurt and embarrassment of that blowout loss still resonates with Arkansas' proud athletes. They'll want revenge, sure, but also need to win to advance to the second round.

Two losses to lowly South Carolina will surely grab the attention — not in a good way — of the NCAA selection committee. After all, the Gamecocks are a 12-19 team that was a humiliating 2-16 in the SEC.

Coach Lamont Paris' team has played better in three of their last five games, including home wins by 15 and 19 points against Texas and Arkansas. They lost by 30 at Missouri and by nine at home to Georgia, but played No. 8 Tennessee tough on the road Saturday before losing by 10.

South Carolina is hardly on a roll, but did dominate the Hogs who basically took the day off after beating Missouri and Texas to take their season off of life support.

As Calipari said, the Razorbacks were due for a bad game after grinding the entire month of February to claw their way back into contention for an NCAA Tournament invitation.

"From Feb. 1, the rest of February, there were eight games. We won five. 5-3," Calipari said. "Three of them were against Top 10 teams we lost to, and we had a chance in all three. These kids have fought and battled and played together and we hit a dud.

"I told [the players], ‘Eight games like we played, you were due for a dud.' It was a dud."

So, what's the key word to beating South Carolina and advancing to round two of the SEC Tournament? Quite simply, for the Hogs, it's all about their ATTITUDE.

Play hard from the outset, exhibit the energy they have in every other game since beating Kentucky, and they will win, perhaps handily.

SECOND ROUND, SECOND WORD:

So, what's the key word to beating Ole Miss on Thursday? The Rebels will be waiting as they have a bye by virtue of their eighth-place finish in the SEC.

By the way, the Hogs were in a four-way tie for ninth, but were 3-0 against those teams — Mississippi State, Vanderbilt and Georgia — and thus got the nine seed.

Way back on Jan. 8 in Bud Walton Arena, Ole Miss controlled most of the second half after the teams fought to a 33-33 stalemate at intermission.

The Hogs were within four with just over 10 minutes remaining, but fell behind 61-50 and never got closer than six in a 73-66 loss.

Difference in the game was three-point shooting in the second half: Ole Miss was 5-of-11 and Arkansas was 1-of-11. The Hogs are shooting much better these days from beyond the arc.

The Rebels have lost four of their last six. The wins were at home by three over Oklahoma and two against No. 8 Tennessee.

The Tennessee win was two games ago, but the losses suggest Ole Miss is struggling. Consider:
* Home loss by 10 to Mississippi State.
* Road loss by five at Vanderbilt.
* 30-point humiliation at Auburn.
* 19-point drubbing at Florida.

Coach Chris Beard's team tied for sixth in the SEC at 10-8 with Kentucky and Missouri. The Rebels are seeded eighth in the league tournament.

They have three signature wins: by 10 at Alabama, by 14 over Kentucky at home, and the two-point nail-biter against Tennessee.

Arkansas is clearly capable of beating Beard's bunch, especially because they're a different team than when they played more than two months ago.

The key word that should lead to an Arkansas victory is EXECUTION. Stay tight on offense and defense.

Run the offense efficiently and avoid turnovers. Limit second shots on defense and don't foul.

Oh, and it wouldn't hurt to win the three-point shooting contest. At worse, if the Hogs break even from deep, they should win and advance.

THIRD ROUND, THIRD WORD:

Lying in wait, with a double bye through the first two rounds, is SEC regular-season champion Auburn.

Yep, the No. 1 team in the country for most of the season. The Tigers slipped to No. 3 in this week's AP poll after recent losses to No. 4 Florida and No. 5 Alabama.

Still, the Tigers are a lock for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. If they win the SEC tourney, they could become the top overall seed for March Madness, ahead of Duke and Houston and the best of the rest from the SEC.

Toppling the Tigers on a neutral court is not out of the question for Calipari's men, who played Auburn to a standstill for 37 minutes in "The Jungle" on Feb. 19. Arkansas led by a point with three minutes left, but lost 67-60.

Auburn finished the game on a 10-2 spurt and had two big statistical edges: 13-4 in offensive rebounds and six extra points at the free-throw line because Arkansas netted only 7-of-14.

The Hogs should also gain confidence from Auburn losing its last two, by 11 at Texas A&M and by a bucket on Saturday at home to archrival Alabama.

How can the Hogs win? By being FEARLESS.

Calipari began preaching that word to his team prior to the game that turned the Hogs' season around. It was in Rupp Arena, the night before the Kentucky game, the homecoming for Calipari, Adou Thiero, D.J. Wagner and Zvonimir Ivisic.

He urged the Razorbacks to play fearless, with nothing to lose. He said he'd coach the same way.

FEARLESS

It's how the Hogs played in that 10-point win on Feb. 1 to shock Kentucky and the entire college basketball world. It's how they've played since while winning seven of their last 11.

Odds are against the Hogs winning three in Nashville, even steeper that they could top two more elite teams to cut down the nets. That seems unfathomable for a team that started 0-5 in the SEC.

If that were to happen, many would call it a miracle.Yet, there's a better word: FAITH. That's faith in themselves, their coach, and each other.

Calipari won the SEC Tournament six times in his 15 years at Kentucky, and four straight beginning in 2015.

If he claims the crown this time, it'll be the finest coaching job of his illustrious Hall of Fame career.

HOGS FEED:

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