Tigers down Hogs 86-64
Published Dec. 1, 2006
A crowd of 5,428 braved the snow and ice to witness something that hasn't happened since 1920. The men's basketball team ran its record to 8-0, with a convincing 86-64 victory over the visiting Arkansas Razorbacks.
"We wanted to come out and kind of give them a gut check, kind of punch them and knock them back a bit," sophomore guard Matt Lawrence said.
And punch they did. The Tigers forced 20 turnovers in the first half alone, with 14 of those by way of the steal.
"I think we tried to play a little bit faster than we should have," Razorbacks coach Stan Heath said. "We want to play up-tempo, we want to play fast, but we don't want to play so fast that we lose control of what we need to be doing out here on the court."
Although small, the wild Tigers crowd played right into the hands of what the Tigers defense accomplished.
"We were in their heads," Lawrence said. "Once we got the shots going, (Arkansas) fell back, and we were in their heads the rest of the way."
Lawrence, along with the rest of the team, was glad to keep the crowd in the game.
"I know it was probably hard for them to get here, but I really appreciate it," he said. "They were wild, too. It felt like it was packed instead of whatever they said. It felt like there were 15,000."
Junior guard Stefhon Hannah led the Tigers on both ends of the court with 21 points and six steals in his 35 minutes of play. He did have a game-high eight turnovers, but MU coach Mike Anderson didn't seem too worried.
"I recruited him because I liked his toughness and his command," he said. "He's a leader. He's a guy that is tailor-made for this program."
Lawrence also had a career day with five 3-pointers on six attempts for 19 points. Two of those shots came with six minutes to go to effectively ice the game.
"It feels great," he said. "Last year, we were down at the beginning and got off to a rough start. It's a great feeling to know it can be anyone on any given night. That's what we were missing last year and that's what we've got this year."
Anderson seemed content with his team's effort.
"Arkansas is a good team and our guys really rose to challenge," he said. "Every guy on the court played with energy, played unselfishly and played to win. Our quickness and versatility really affected the game."
Heath, on the other hand, said he didn't know where to start with his team's performance. The win puts Arkansas at 5-1.
"We got out-worked, we got out-hustled," he said. "We certainly ran into an ambush tonight. Seventeen steals is unbelievable. I've never seen that before since I've been coaching. That's a huge number."
The win is the Tigers' third in just five days but freshman guard Keon Lawrence didn't seem fazed.
"We could play another game right now," he said.