FAYETTEVILLE — Mike Anderson, Jaylen Barford and Trey Thompson preview Saturday's game against No. 19 Tennessee.
Jaylen Barford and Trey Thompson
TT: I feel like we've played a bunch of good teams in the nonconference. I think it's gotten us ready for SEC play. No game is going to be a cupcake game.
JB: We learned a lot of lessons in those early games like North Carolina. We've just got to keep the same energy.
JB: I'm feeling better than last year. Having a sense of urgency every game.
JB on Daryl Macon's assist totals of late: He's just making plays for himself and everybody else. We hope he keeps it up.
TT on Macon: When teams play Daryl like they do it opens up guys like Jaylen and the other guards. We know he can score, but we know he can pass the ball as well.
JB: Saturday is big for us and the university. I think we're ready for the game. We're just ready to start conference.
TT: They're ranked, and they're a good team. We're excited to play, but we're not worried about rankings. We want to win the next game on our schedule.
Mike Anderson
-Arkansas vs. Tennessee on Saturday, that says it all. The Vols have a lot of players back from last year. Rick Barnes is an outstanding coach. They're battle-tested and they've gotten a lot better.
-Jordan Bowden is having a great year for Tennessee. He's shooting nearly 62 percent from 3. Barnes has a luxury with a lot of depth. They like to get up and down the floor, but maybe not to the point that we do.
-This is a new year. The championship race is on. I hope there's a lively atmosphere in Bud Walton Saturday.
-We've got to continue to value to the basketball and share the basketball.
-On the SEC going into conference play: Teams went out and played quality schedules. They won games whether it was at home or on the road. It set the stage as we jump into conference play. Going and losing on the road doesn't kill you as much as maybe a few years ago. We won our share of nonconference games as a league. It bodes well for the SEC.
-With us not having some guys early on my mindset was how were these guys going to fit in. As you get into conference play the intensity goes up 10 notches. For the young guys it's going to be eye-opening for them. You want to keep things as normal as possible. The physicality is going to come.
-We've got to keep them off the boards. Rick has brought in some guys, including a JUCO All-American. That team has evolved and is one of the top 20 teams in the country.
-The game kind of goes real, real fast, but the game is slowing down for Daryl. He's got a chance to be one of the elite guards in our league. He's real focused and doing the best he can to help this team win.
-A lot of times it's about guys getting numbers. That's not the case with Daryl. The other night he was playing efficient basketball. He's looking at the whole picture and not the individual deal.
-Daryl is definitely having fun, but I think the whole team is having fun.
-If you just back up and look at where these guys are now compared to last year, they're improving and getting better. For the most part they're earning it.
-Right off the bat I thought this schedule would make us come out swinging and play at a high level. Any time these guys go out and play, there's going to be some lulls at times. This is the next biggest game. We've still got one nonconference game left against Oklahoma State.
-If you look at where teams are at right now, the records are probably one of the better records of any conference out there. I think there could be 2-3 more teams in the NCAA Tournament than last year.