Neighbors intent on changing script as Arkansas welcomes in Arkansas State

BY DUDLEY E. DAWSON

FAYETTEVILLE – Arkansas women’s basketball coach Mike Neighbors will readily admit he is not a guy that embraces change quickly.

But after the Razorbacks were embarrassed in a 94-71 Thursday loss to visiting Oral Roberts University on Thursday night, Neighbors admits he has no choice with the program off to its worst start in nine years.

So expect to see the Razorbacks (3-3) to try something different things or players when they face in-state foe Arkansas State (2-2) Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. inside Bud Walton Arena.

“I tell kids all the time…that either you make changes on what we are trying to do or we’ll make personnel changes,” Neighbors said after Arkansas largest non-conference home loss in 10 years.

“Unless something changes my mind while watching film, it will be the first time (this season) that I am going to change the starting line up on Sunday. I don’t usually do that, but I think it is time to give somebody else a chance.

“..It is time with this team. I think they need to know that things like that (defense lapses) can’t happen…It can’t continue to happen.”

Neighbors saw some fight with his team cutting its 20-plus point deficit down to nine nearing the end of the third quarter only to see ORU drain an uncontested 3-pointer buzzer beater and race off again.

“We never quit, but we did get our head down,” Neighbors said. “So that’s the first time we have done that this year. We will spend a lot of time making sure back up. Because we have a very comparable style like this on Sunday and we need to bounce back.”

It was a second deflating loss after losing at No. 5 UCLA 104-51 on Sunday, but not one Neighbors was willing to blame on travel.

“I’m not going to make an excuse, they (the Eagles) just whipped us,” Neighbors said. “(It) did make for a different type of week, so probably a little bit, but I’m not going to make any excuses because they whipped us everywhere.”

Former Red Wolves star Izzy Higginbottom, who averaged an NCAA eighth-best 22.2 points last season, transferred in the off season and is now the Razorbacks’ leading scorer at 22.7 points per game.

Arkansas State head coach Destinee Rogers’s team was averaging 88 points per game a game until this week after wins at Arizona State (100-96) and Mississippi Valley State (114-54) following a season-opening loss at Western Michigan (61-52).

But the Red Wolves offense, which hit a school-record 20 3-pointers against Mississippi Valley State, did not flourish in the same manner in a 45-41 loss at Xavier Tuesday night in Cincinnati.

Arkansas State shot just 25 percent (14 of 56) from the field and 20.7 percent from 3-point range (6 of 29).

The Red Wolves are led in scoring this season by 5-8 sophomore guard Crislyn Rose (15.0) and junior guard Zyion Shannon (11.3).

Photo by John D. James