FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas fans will long remember and appreciate the past two seasons with seniors Jaylen Barford and Daryl Macon, and the feeling will be mutual.
Barford and Macon, along with freshman Daniel Gafford, powered the Hogs (21-9, 10-7 Southeastern Conference) to a resounding and valuable 91-82 victory Tuesday at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville over the No. 14 Auburn Tigers (24-6, 12-5), the top team in the SEC. The trio combined for 57 points as Arkansas celebrated senior night for seven seniors on the roster.
"That is how you want them to go," Anderson said. "If you script it, that is how you want it to go, where those guys come out and get us off to a good start. I think we have guys coming off of the bench giving us some quality minutes."
Fellow senior Anton Beard hit a 3-pointer in the first minute of the game to erase Arkansas' only deficit of the game. He finished with 11 points and grabbed a microphone after the game to thank the fans for their support during his four years in Fayetteville and a number of sellouts this season.
The sentiment was echoed by Barford and Macon after the game.
"I love the fans; it has been great," Barford said. "It has been a great two years. I wish I could stay another two years, probably, besides the conditioning part, but I love the fans."
"I love our fans though," Barford added. "It is crazy. They are a great fan base. I am going to miss them a lot."
Macon asked for the assembled press after the game to pose for a photo, apparently a first for everyone in attendance. Barford opted to record video of the room, both expressing their appreciation for members of the media.
"To the fans -- I'm lost for words," Macon said. "All I can truly say is I love you, guys. The best fan base ever. Your support is crazy; something I have never seen before. Even when it is not sold out in here, it is electrifying. It is just amazing and out of all of the places I could have went, if I could do it all over again, I would still choose Arkansas."
The success and timing of Barford and Macon's Arkansas careers make a rare combination. Two seasons the quality of theirs usually means a player has to decide to leave a school for a chance at the NBA, but Barford and Macon are out of eligibility.
They both joined from junior colleges before their junior years. Both have played in exactly 66 games, and they became the first pair of Razorbacks to record their 1,000th points in the same game.
Macon said he learned earlier in the week he only needed 14 points to reach the milestone. He became the sixth Razorback to surpass 1,000 points in two years and Barford later became the seventh.
"That is very rare," Anderson said. "To do it in the same game, that is the weird thing about it. This team, I just think there are some special things in store for this team as we start to pick up some momentum in terms of how they are playing."
Senior Trey Thompson got the start in place of Gafford and played 13 minutes. He and Beard are the only two scholarship seniors to play all four of the years consecutively in Fayetteville.
Dustin Thomas transferred to Arkansas after two seasons with Colorado and played eight minutes Tuesday. Arlando Cook scored seven points in 20 minutes in his final game in Fayetteville after transferring in from a junior college in the same class as Barford and Macon. Arkansas also recognized senior walk-on J.T. Plummer.
"Sometimes, the senior games are the hardest ones to coach because of the emotions, they've got their families here and they almost want to play perfect, but I am glad to see they came out and continued to do the things we do in practice each and every day," Anderson said.
Sports on 03/01/2018