All Hogs

Arkansas Will Need to Draw Extra Energy from Crowd Against Tide

Rejuvenated Razorbacks ready to host No. 3 Alabama in Saturday night showdown
Bob Stephens|
Arkansas Razorbacks fans and cheerleaders call the Hogs during the second half against the Florida Gators at Bud Walton Arena.
Arkansas Razorbacks fans and cheerleaders call the Hogs during the second half against the Florida Gators at Bud Walton Arena. | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

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Arkansas RazorbacksAlabama Crimson Tide

Mostly, John Calipari has witnessed wondrous Walton Arena as the villain in town for one game every two years. That's how he knows firsthand just how intimidating 20,000 red-clad Razorback rooters can be, especially when Arkansas' players feed off of that energy.

Calipari brought his Memphis teams to Fayetteville to play the Hogs, then he led Kentucky into Walton, which was known as the toughest place to play in all the SEC for so many seasons.

Calipari, now Arkansas' coach, wants Walton to be that way again. He wants a sellout crowd on its feet calling the Hogs, yelling and screaming and doing their best on Saturday to give the Razorbacks a monumental home-court advantage.

And that's before the game even begins. Calipari figures his team needs all the help it can get when No. 3 Alabama takes the floor for a 7:30 tip to be televised on ESPN.

"We need our fans there early, standing," Calipari said after his Hogs handled the Longhorns down in Texas on Wednesday. "Look, I have been in that building when it’s nuts. I’ve been there.

"We  need it nuts now.  From here on in we need it nuts because we are going to play some hard games."

None harder at home than against the Crimson Tide. Coach Nate Oats led 'Bama to its first-ever Final Four last season and has the talent to win it all.

Alabama is 17-3 overall, 8-1 in the rugged SEC, and boasts one of the foremost efficient and wide-open offenses in all of college hoops. 'Bama leads the league in scoring (90.2 per game) but is last in defense (allowing 78.3).

That puts Oats' bunch fifth in the SEC in scoring margin, but 6.5 points behind Auburn, the nation's No. 1 team. Senior guard Mark Sears is the SEC's third-leading scorer at 18.1 points a game.

He leads a balanced 'Bama offense with five players averaging double figures — Grant Nelson is second at 12.8 — and nine scoring at least six per game.

Oats' team is uncharacteristically poor from behind the three-point line — .336 compared to Arkansas' .338. Yet, the Tide are highly efficient from two-point range, ranking fifth in the country at .603, although they've netted just .545 in the last three games. The Hogs are 71st in the land on two-pointers at .544; they're .484 in the last three and a bit better at home with .558.

Besides exhorting Arkansas fans to show up early and never stop cheering, Calipari is also a bit concerned that Alabama had a mid-week bye while his players were expending all their energy and emotion completing a two-game road sweep of Kentucky on Saturday and Texas on Wednesday.

"We have another team this weekend that had a week off like Oklahoma did," Calipari said.

What he didn't remind everyone is the Sooners rallied to nip the Hogs 65-62 two Saturdays ago in Walton Arena.

"We play Wednesday/Saturday and [Alabama has] a week off, which is going to make it doubly hard, but who cares?" Calipari said. "Let’s go. We’ve proven now in two tough places that we can go on the road and win."

Calipari also didn't remind everyone that the Hogs had the previous Wednesday off while preparing for the homecoming at Kentucky for himself and three former Wildcats now starring at Arkansas. He lamented, however, that it'll be tough to have strenuous practices Thursday and Friday while prepping for 'Bama.

"We’ve got a tough road coming up," he said. "We’re not going to be able to practice for two days. How do I practice tomorrow and Friday and then play one of the best teams in our league?" 

Well, the way to win is the same formula the Hogs used at Kentucky and Texas: aggressive defense, an all-out effort on the boards, limited turnovers, and by creating quality looks with an energetic motion offense.

Oh, and a fearless mentality that breeds confidence. They'll need every bit of that to tame the Tide -- along with a loud crowd that goes nuts for two hours.

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Bob Stephens
BOB STEPHENS

Bob Stephens won more than a dozen awards as a sportswriter and columnist in Northwest Arkansas from 1980 to 2003. He started as a senior for the 1975 Fayetteville Bulldogs’ state championship basketball team, and was drafted that summer in the 19th round by the St. Louis Cardinals but signed instead with Norm DeBriyn's Razorbacks, playing shortstop and third base. Bob has written for the Washington Post, Chicago Sun-Times, San Diego Union-Tribune, New Jersey Star-Ledger, and many more. He covered the Razorbacks in three Final Fours, three College World Series, six New Year’s Day bowl games, and witnessed many track national championships. He lives in Colorado Springs with his wife, Pati. Follow on X: @BobHogs56

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