As Florida still works out its offensive kinks, Mike Anderson’s Arkansas Razorbacks are quietly becoming a legitimate SEC contender. The Hogs are riding a seven-game winning streak that includes wins in the first two conference games for the first time in the Anderson era. We have already examined Arkansas’ up-tempo style this year, but it is now the defense that is giving the Razorbacks an edge in conference play.

In addition to 32 points on Saturday, Arkansas forward Bobby Portis finished with four steals too. (thesportsseer.com).

It is typically Arkansas’ full-court pressure that creates havoc for its opponents, but it was the Razorbacks’ half-court defense that gave Vanderbilt fits as Arkansas created 31 points off of 22 Vandy turnovers on its way to an 82-70 win. Arkansas has forced SEC opponents into a 30 percent or greater turnover percentage seven times since Anderson’s arrival (see table below), so it will be very difficult to beat the Razorbacks when the opponent turns the ball over on almost a third of its possessions. In this edition of Freeze Frame, we will review how the Hogs made scoring so difficult for the Commodores and how that performance fits historically in the Anderson era.

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