Arkansas Struggles with Turnovers in Loss to Georgia

ATHENS — Coming into Saturday’s game, the 17th-ranked Razorbacks (13-5, 3-2 SEC) were one of the better teams in the conference in terms of turnovers. However, this weakness proved to be their downfall in a 90-76 loss to No. 21 Georgia (15-3, 3-2 SEC) in Athens on Saturday.

Arkansas committed 18 turnovers, nearly six more than their season average of 12.2. These turnovers led to 29 points for Georgia, most of which came in a disastrous first half. The Razorbacks fell behind 15-3 in the first five minutes of the game and struggled to close that gap throughout the contest.

“Give them credit, but we’re not that kind of team,” head coach John Calipari said postgame. “That means you’re trying to get your own before you try to pass, and so you get too deep. You get in trouble. When there are people open, you’ve got to give it to them. There are times when you pass the ball just to pass it. Pass, pass, and now the court’s spaced so you can make plays. We didn’t.”

Every Arkansas player who logged any minutes was responsible for at least one turnover, but Darius Acuff Jr. and Billy Richmond III logged four each. Nick Pringle and Karter Knox both had three as well.

The first half was the Razorbacks’ undoing. That early spurt by the Bulldogs was aided by 11 of the Hogs’ turnovers, many of which were caused by steals, of which Georgia had six in the first half. Careless passes, lazy ball-handling, and miscommunications kept the Hogs fighting from behind.

“They pressed, and we were struggling to get it in, struggling to get it up the court,” Calipari said. “Then all of a sudden we were on our heels and they were being the aggressor. And that’s who we wanted to be today. I wasn’t sure whether (Georgia would) pick up and do that because of our guard play, and we don’t turn it over that much. But he looked at it and said you know what, this is who we are, we’re doing it. And they did it and they played well.”

Arkansas Fights Back, But Turnovers Derail Comeback

Arkansas didn’t stay down, though. From the 13:20 mark of the second half until just under six minutes left, it battled and tied the game at 70 a piece. The Hogs took care of the ball, forced turnovers of their own, and stormed all the way back.

But then the turnover bug struck again. Pringle couldn’t hang on to a rebound and lost it, which led to Georgia’s Jeremiah Wilkinson draining a three right in his face 21 seconds later to give Georgia a 75-70 lead.

Roughly a minute later, Richmond lost the ball out of bounds, and Wilkinson drained another three on the other end of the floor to push the Bulldogs’ lead to 78-70. Georgia outscored Arkansas 20-6 over the final 5:52 to end up with a 90-76 win.

“I put in a group that played well together and they all competed,” Calipari said. “They were all fighting like crazy, and then you just ride them, and that’s what we did. And then I changed it when they scored to get up five because I wanted to try something different. Obviously, that didn’t work, but I rode that other group and just played them.”

Missed Opportunities and Defensive Challenges

One thing that exacerbated Arkansas’ turnover problems was missed layups. The Hogs missed 15 (13-of-28), which kept them from making a dent into the deficit they found themselves in all game. A big reason for that was Georgia center Somto Cyril, who had a career-high seven blocks.

“We were doing some things to try to bring him out and get to the rim without him there, where we did some half-decent stuff,” Calipari said. “But I mean, I can remember three of them, like, ‘why did you shoot that? Why would you, with him there, shoot that? Maybe they didn’t believe us. I’d say, if we play these guys again, they will believe.”

Upcoming Game and Outlook

It’ll be a quick turnaround for the Hogs, who host the Vanderbilt Commodores at Bud Walton Arena on Tuesday night. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. CT and the game will air on ESPN.

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