FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Are the Arkansas Razorbacks the bad guys now?
That was the discussion in the room as guard Anthony Black turned to the Vanderbilt bench, formed a sad face, and made crying motions not once, but twice after getting away with what clearly should have been a technical.
“I’m not even sure who I want to cheer for now,” one fan quipped before eventually leaving the room.
Such was the conflict in many homes and online after watching things unfold late in the first half of the Arkansas-Vanderbilt game Saturday afternoon.
Arkansas has been a team that has had to face a perception of being soft both physically and mentally on the court and SEC teams have picked up on that notion. As a result, opponents have played them rough and while devoting a great deal of time to jawing, especially toward Black.
Razorback fans have openly called for more toughness and fight to more accurately replicate the attitude of the people across the state the jersey represents. What they haven’t called for is what Black did in initiating a series of events that nearly sent the game spiraling out of control.
With under a minute left, Black knocked down a lay-up to put Arkansas up 37-32 while being fouled.
An emotional response of excitement and determination was warranted. Instead, Black turned to his right and stepped forward a couple of times so he could stand over Quentin Millora-Brown, look down on him and start talking trash in an attempt to embarrass Millora-Brown on national television.
It’s something Black has done before and it doesn’t appear to have been addressed.
Vanderbilt’s Ezra Manjon pushed Black from standing atop his teammate in anger at what was being done. That caused Razorback guard Davonte Davis, who doesn’t appear to have seen Black deliberately go out of his way to stand over Millora-Brown, to come to his teammate’s defense.
What Davis did is fully within the boundaries of what Arkansas fans are typically OK with as far as actions from Razorback players.
The look on his face was a dangerous one. Davis intended to legitimately hurt Manjon and it would have been bad in every way if a referee hadn’t stepped between the two.
Arkansas Razorbacks guard Davonte Davis (4) and Vanderbilt Commodores guard Ezra Manjon (5) have to be separated after a play during the first half at Memorial Gymnasium. (Christopher Hanewinckel / USA TODAY Sports)
He may be the smallest on the floor and has perhaps the most affable nature of anyone on the team, but he’s also the last Razorback anyone should dare mess with.
Black trying to demean another human the way he did was bad enough, but had Davis been ejected or perhaps even faced criminal charges for what he was about to do in Black’s defense would have been unforgivable.
Shortly after, Black verbally went after a Vanderbilt coach who rightfully saved Black from himself by easing him away from the scrum of players.
While Black’s intimidation tactic was shameful, it could have been addressed after the game if it ended there. However, what he did next deserved immediate benching.
While on his way to shoot free throws, Black looked to the Vanderbilt bench, formed his best sad face and started moving his hands in the international symbol for a baby crying. That bench included a seething Jerry Stackhouse who had just received a technical for exploding at the notion that his players had received technical fouls while Black got off scot-free.
Vanderbilt head coach Jerry Stackhouse argues a referee’s decision to call technicals on his players while not calling a technical on Arkansas guard Anthony Black during an altercation during the first half of the game against Arkansas at Memorial Gymnasium. (George Walker IV / USA TODAY Sports)
Black followed up the series of classless actions by staring down the Vanderbilt bench and making the crying motions again.
Arkansas coach Eric Musselman can be forgiven for not addressing this during the game. Because of the unfortunate design of Vanderbilt’s court, he had the worst possible vantage point.
It’s hard to tell from there that Black had intentionally stepped over Millora-Brown. It was also impossible to see what Black was doing to the Vanderbilt bench.
This whole series of events mimics the dynamic of an elementary kid who gets picked on trying to do the same thing in return to kids he or she thinks might be weaker.
Even if it were culturally acceptable, Arkansas is not good enough to stand over people and try to show them up. It reeks of the guy who gets up pounding his chest and screaming after finally making a routine tackle in a 49-0 blowout.
There is already a growing irritation over hearing commentators incessantly recite how highly rated these players are each game and how everyone’s an NBA draft pick.
Adding classless bravado to piling losses and underwhelming performances isn’t a formula for success.
Play hard.
Show energy.
Don’t let teams push you around.
Block out the noise.
Represent the state of Arkansas with grit and class.
That’s the Razorback way.
And today wasn’t it.
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