NEW ORLEANS — Arkansas forward Michael Sanchez has played in two Southeastern Conference Tournaments.
But as Sanchez prepared for his third and final trip to the SEC Tournament earlier this week, he said the goal is to accomplish something new: avoid another first-round exit.
“Enough of the quick trips,” Sanchez said Monday. “We want to go further this year.”
None of the current Razorbacks (18-13, 6-10 in SEC) have tasted success in the SEC Tournament, something they’ll be desperate to change when they play LSU (17-13, 7-9) in a first-round game tonight in the New Orleans Arena.
Arkansas has been bounced out in the first round in each of the past three SEC Tournaments, losing to Florida (2009), Georgia (2010) and Tennessee (2011) under former coach John Pelphrey. But Arkansas coach Mike Anderson said ending the losing streak is important for his team, which is sliding into the postseason with losses in seven of nine games.
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“I think with this team here it could do a lot for their confidence,” Anderson said. “I think at this stage in the season the mental part is the biggest deal right now, the mental toughness. … Fighting through some adversity takes place throughout the season. Now you want to put all those things aside and hopefully play some good basketball.”
The truth is, Arkansas has to win or else the 2011-12 season will end in New Orleans. The obvious goal is making the improbable run of winning four games in four days, which the Razorbacks accomplished in 2000 when Anderson was an assistant on Nolan Richardson’s staff. But Arkansas, which is the No. 9 seed, likely needs at least a first-round win against eight-seed LSU today to keep their hopes of playing in the National Invitation Tournament alive as well.
Arkansas guard BJ Young understands the Razorbacks are on shaky ground when it comes to postseason tournaments. But he said Arkansas is only concerned about today’s game.
“We’re just fighting for the SEC Tournament right now,” Young said. “We’re just fighting to play another day. That’s the only thing I’m focused on right now.”
Arkansas and LSU split the season series. The Razorbacks won 69-60 in Fayetteville on Jan. 14, while LSU won 71-65 in Baton Rouge on Feb. 4. The game will be played less than an hour from LSU’s campus, but forward Marvell Waithe is confident the Razorbacks match up well with the Tigers.
“Absolutely it’s a winnable matchup,” Waithe said. “They’re a good basketball team, but so are we. It’s a game we can win. We’re going to go in and try to do that.”
Anderson said it’s no secret what Arkansas, which is 1-10 in games outside of Bud Walton Arena this season, must accomplish to beat LSU again. The rebounding woes, shooting struggles and defensive struggles that have followed his team the past few weeks must end today.
He wants his team to show some urgency, too.
“I think when you talk about amping it up, that’s what we want to do,” Anderson said about his team’s tempo. “We want to unleash our guys to go out and hopefully create some havoc defensively as well as offensively.”
The winner of tonight’s game won’t exactly get to revel in the success long because of the daunting task 24 hours later. Arkansas or LSU will play top-ranked Kentucky, which went 16-0 in conference play this season, on Friday at noon.
So neither team — regardless of the outcome of today’s game — are expected to make it into Saturday’s semifinals. But Arkansas guard Mardracus Wade said the Razorbacks have simpler plans when the tournament begins. Win the first game. Then see what happens the rest of the way.
“It’s going to be really good to give us hope again,” Wade said about winning today. “Give us the belief that we can win at a neural site and we can win in a tournament.”