FAYETTEVILLE — “Memorial Magic” was real for Vanderbilt’s basketball teams last weekend.
Both its men’s and women’s teams upset ranked Tennessee teams by one point inside their home Memorial Gymnasium. Vanderbilt’s men held on to defeat sixth-ranked Tennessee 76-75 on Saturday, which ended with a court storming.
The next day, the women knocked off the 15th-ranked Lady Volunteers 71-70. A tip-in before the buzzer by freshman Mikayla Blakes electrified the arena and thwarted a comeback bid by Tennessee.
“Memorial Magic is a real thing, just so you guys know,” Vanderbilt women’s Coach Shea Ralph said. “It’s a real thing. It’s made real by the fans, the community, the players. Today the environment was amazing, and we had a true home court advantage.”
The University of Arkansas women’s basketball will look to spoil the recent home momentum for Vanderbilt when it pays the Commodores a visit Thursday at 6:30 p.m. Central.
The Razorbacks (8-12, 1-4 SEC) will also be hoping to stave off their worst 21-game start in the program’s 48-year history. Women’s basketball officially became a sport at Arkansas in 1976-77.
The 8-12 start is tied with the 1980-81 team that won its 21st game and finished 11-18. Arkansas had a worst win percentage in 1978-79 when it finished the season 7-13 (.350).
Ralph said the Commodores (15-4, 2-3) are expecting to face an Arkansas team hungry for its second consecutive road victory. Arkansas won 59-58 at Auburn on Jan. 9.
“We did win a game that was a big game,” Ralph said of the victory over Tennessee. “But we have to turn around and we have another big game on Thursday, and we have another big game on Sunday.”
In its most recent outing, Arkansas was dismantled 94-62 by No. 19 Alabama, marking its fourth loss by at least 30 points in SEC play.
More discouraging than the score, eighth-year Arkansas Coach Mike Neighbors said, was his team’s energy coming off a week-long break with no games.
“Behaviors are very easy to pick out,” Neighbors said. “And if they can look at that clip alongside me and say, ‘Coach, I’m really playing hard, it just doesn’t look like it because …’ And if there’s a reason, OK, fine. But … it was all of us.
“I’m not throwing any single one person under the bus. It was all of us. We’ve all got to get back and come off of a bye week with better effort than that.”
