1978–79 Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball team

1978–79 Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball
1978–79 Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball
Southwest Conference champions; Southwest Conference Tournament champions
NCAA tournament, Elite Eight
Conference	Southwest Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 6
AP	No. 5
Record	25-5 (13–3 SWC)
Head coach	Eddie Sutton (5th season);
Home arena	Barnhill Arena
	Seasons ← 1977–78 1979–80 →

1978–79 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 5 Arkansas†	13	–	3	.813	25	–	5	.833
Texas	13	–	3	.813	21	–	8	.724
Texas A&M	11	–	5	.688	24	–	9	.727
Baylor	9	–	7	.563	16	–	12	.571
Texas Tech	9	–	7	.563	19	–	11	.633
Houston	6	–	10	.375	16	–	15	.516
SMU	6	–	10	.375	11	–	16	.407
Rice	4	–	12	.250	7	–	20	.259
TCU	1	–	15	.063	6	–	21	.222

† 1979 SWC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The 1978–79 Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball team represented the University of Arkansas in the 1978–79 college basketball season. The Razorbacks played their home games in Barnhill Arena in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Arkansas competed in the Southwest Conference. It was Eddie Sutton's fifth season as head coach of the Razorbacks.^[1] The Razorbacks won a share of the Southwest Conference championship, going 13–3 in league play and finishing with an overall record of 25–5.^[2] Arkansas shared the league crown with Texas, whom they beat in the 1979 SWC tournament championship game to clinch a berth to the NCAA tournament.^[3] Arkansas earned the 2 seed in the tournament's Midwest region, receiving a first-round bye and advancing to the Elite Eight after beating Weber State in the second round and #13 Louisville in the Sweet Sixteen before losing to Larry Bird and #1 Indiana State in a controversial outcome after a missed tripping call late in the game.^[4]^[5]

1979 was Arkansas's third consecutive and seventeenth overall SWC championship, as well as its second SWC Tournament championship. The run to the Elite Eight came as part of the Razorbacks' seventh appearance in the NCAA Tournament, also making the tournament the previous two seasons. 1979 was Sutton's third conference title with Arkansas out of the five he would eventually win in his tenure at Arkansas. Arkansas entered the polls at #20 on December 25, 1978, and would remain ranked the whole season, coming in at #5 in the final AP Poll for the second consecutive year.^[6]^[7] As the last remaining member of the famed "Triplets" following the departure of All-Americans and NBA Draft picks Ron Brewer and Marvin Delph, Sidney Moncrief was named an All-American for the second consecutive year and was drafted fifth overall by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1979 NBA draft, the highest pick in Arkansas history.^[8] Senior center Steve Schall was drafted in the fifth round by the San Antonio Spurs. Marvin Delph, a senior on the previous year's team was drafted for a second time by the Boston Celtics in the sixth round.^[9]

Roster

Roster retrieved from HogStats.com.^[10]

1978–79 Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	32	Sidney Moncrief	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Sr	Hall High School	Little Rock, Arkansas
G	24	U.S. Reed	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	So	Pine Bluff High School	Pine Bluff, Arkansas
C	30	Steve Schall	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Sr	Raytown South High School	Raytown, Missouri
C	44	Scott Hastings	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	Fr	Independence High School	Independence, Kansas
F	20	Alan Zahn	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Jr	Manzano High School	Albuquerque, New Mexico
F	42	Keith Peterson	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	217 lb (98 kg)	Fr	Parkview High School	Little Rock, Arkansas
C	50	James Crockett	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	So	West Helena High School	West Helena, Arkansas
G/F	40	Tony Brown	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Fr	Farragut High School	Chicago, Illinois
G	34	Mike Young	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	So	Central Noble High School	Wolflake, Indiana
G/F	12	Brad Friess	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Fr	Anderson High School	Austin, Texas
C	22	David Scott	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Fr	Riley High School	Indianapolis, Indiana
G	22	Rege Craft	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	—	Fr	Garden City High School	Garden City, Kansas
G	21	Mike Buckrop	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Jr	Ben Davis High School Northwest College	Indianapolis, Indiana
G	52	Alvin Bailey	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Fr	West Helena High School	West Helena, Arkansas
G	10	Eugene Nash	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	164 lb (74 kg)	Fr	Rivercrest High School	Tyronza, Arkansas

Head coach

Eddie Sutton (Oklahoma State)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: January 20, 2022

Schedule and Results

Schedule retrieved from HogStats.com.^[11]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Exhibition
November 21, 1978*		Russian Nationals	L 79–81 ^2OT	0–0	Barton Coliseum Little Rock, Arkansas
December 9, 1978* KHJ		vs. Athletes in Action	L 68–75	0–0	Anaheim, California
Regular Season
December 2, 1978*		Oklahoma	W 80–74	1–0	Barnhill Arena Fayetteville, Arkansas
December 6, 1978*		West Texas State University	W 84–54	2–0	Barnhill Arena Fayetteville, Arkansas
December 11, 1978*		Southeast Missouri State	W 90–51	3–0	Barnhill Arena Fayetteville, Arkansas
December 16, 1978*		Centenary	W 77–57	4–0	Barnhill Arena Fayetteville, Arkansas
December 19, 1978*		vs. Mississippi	W 67–66	5–0	Memphis, Tennessee
December 23, 1978*		vs. Southern Miss	W 93–79	6–0	Pine Bluff Convention Center Pine Bluff, Arkansas
December 30, 1978*	No. 20	Memphis State	W 82–69	7–0	Barton Coliseum Little Rock, Arkansas
January 4, 1979*	No. 14	North Texas State	W 96–71	8–0	Barton Coliseum Little Rock, Arkansas
January 6, 1979	No. 14	at Houston	W 62–61	9–0 (1–0)	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas
January 10, 1979	No. 10	Rice	W 79–66	10–0 (2–0)	Barnhill Arena Fayetteville, Arkansas
January 12, 1979	No. 10	Texas	L 63–66	10–1 (2–1)	Barnhill Arena Fayetteville, Arkansas
January 14, 1979*	No. 10	vs. No. 3 North Carolina	L 57–63	10–2	Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, North Carolina
January 17, 1979	No. 11	at No. 15 Texas A&M	L 69–74 ^OT	10–3 (2–2)	G. Rollie White Coliseum College Station, Texas
January 20, 1979	No. 11	at TCU	W 90–51	11–3 (3–2)	Daniel–Meyer Coliseum Fort Worth, Texas
January 22, 1979	No. 11	Baylor	L 67–70	11–4 (3–3)	Barnhill Arena Fayetteville, Arkansas
January 24, 1979	No. 15	at SMU	W 79–67	12–4 (4–3)	Moody Coliseum Dallas, Texas
January 27, 1979	No. 15	Texas Tech	W 63–57	13–4 (5–3)	Barnhill Arena Fayetteville, Arkansas
February 1, 1979	No. 14	at No. 11 Texas	W 68–58	14–4 (6–3)	Frank Erwin Center Austin, Texas
February 3, 1979	No. 14	at Rice	W 68–50	15–4 (7–3)	Tudor Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
February 6, 1979	No. 14	No. 11 Texas A&M	W 60–56	16–4 (8–3)	Barnhill Arena Fayetteville, Arkansas
February 10, 1979	No. 14	TCU	W 108–65	17–4 (9–3)	Barnhill Arena Fayetteville, Arkansas
February 12, 1979	No. 14	at Baylor	W 71–62	18–4 (10–3)	Heart O' Texas Fair Coliseum Waco, Texas
February 14, 1979	No. 11	SMU	W 71–55	19–4 (11–3)	Barnhill Arena Fayetteville, Arkansas
February 17, 1979	No. 11	Houston	W 78–58	20–4 (12–3)	Barnhill Arena Fayetteville, Arkansas
February 20, 1979	No. 10	at Texas Tech	W 66–65	21–4 (13–3)	Lubbock Municipal Coliseum Lubbock, Texas
SWC tournament
March 2, 1979*	(1) No. 9	vs. (5) Texas Tech Semifinals	W 93–77	22–4	The Summit Houston, Texas
March 3, 1979*	(1) No. 9	vs. (2) No. 14 Texas Championship	W 39–38	23–4	The Summit Houston, Texas
NCAA tournament
March 11, 1979*	(2 MW) No. 7	vs. (7 MW) Weber State Second Round	W 74–63	24–4	Allen Field House Lawrence, Kansas
March 15, 1979*	(2 MW) No. 5	vs. (3 MW) No. 13 Louisville Sweet Sixteen	W 73–62	25–4	Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati, Ohio
March 17, 1979*	(2 MW) No. 5	vs. (1 MW) No. 1 Indiana State Elite Eight	L 71–73	25–5	Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati, Ohio
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

References

^ "HogStats.com :: Year-by-Year Results". HogStats.com. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
^ "HogStats.com :: Year-by-Year Results". HogStats.com. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
^ "1978-79 Southwest Conference Season Summary | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
^ "HogStats.com :: 1978-79 Arkansas Basketball Schedule". HogStats.com. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
^ Flaherty, Dan. "The Road to the 1979 Final Four". thesportsnotebook.com. TheSportsNoteBook.com. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
^ "December 25, 1978 AP Men's Basketball Poll - College Poll Archive - Historical College Football, Basketball, and Softball Polls and Rankings". CollegePoleArchive.com. College Poll Archive. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
^ "HogStats.com :: Year-by-Year Results". HogStats.com. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
^ Arkansas Basketball 2021-2022 Media Guide. Fayetteville, Arkansas: University of Arkansas. 2021. pp. 106, 114.
^ Arkansas Basketball 2021-2022 Media Guide. Fayetteville, Arkansas: University of Arkansas. 2021. p. 114.
^ "1978-79 Arkansas Basketball Schedule". HogStats.com. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
^ "HogStats.com :: 1978-79 Arkansas Basketball Schedule". HogStats.com. Retrieved January 20, 2022.

[1] "HogStats.com :: Year-by-Year Results". HogStats.com. Retrieved January 20, 2022.

[2] "HogStats.com :: Year-by-Year Results". HogStats.com. Retrieved January 20, 2022.

[3] "1978-79 Southwest Conference Season Summary | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 20, 2022.

[4] "HogStats.com :: 1978-79 Arkansas Basketball Schedule". HogStats.com. Retrieved January 20, 2022.

[5] Flaherty, Dan. "The Road to the 1979 Final Four". thesportsnotebook.com. TheSportsNoteBook.com. Retrieved January 20, 2022.

[6] "December 25, 1978 AP Men's Basketball Poll - College Poll Archive - Historical College Football, Basketball, and Softball Polls and Rankings". CollegePoleArchive.com. College Poll Archive. Retrieved January 20, 2022.

[7] "HogStats.com :: Year-by-Year Results". HogStats.com. Retrieved January 20, 2022.

[8] Arkansas Basketball 2021-2022 Media Guide. Fayetteville, Arkansas: University of Arkansas. 2021. pp. 106, 114.

[9] Arkansas Basketball 2021-2022 Media Guide. Fayetteville, Arkansas: University of Arkansas. 2021. p. 114.

[10] "1978-79 Arkansas Basketball Schedule". HogStats.com. Retrieved January 20, 2022.

[11] "HogStats.com :: 1978-79 Arkansas Basketball Schedule". HogStats.com. Retrieved January 20, 2022.

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v t e Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball
Venues	Schmidt Gymnasium (1923–1937) Men's Gymnasium (1937–1955) Barnhill Arena (1955–1993) Bud Walton Arena (1993–present)
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA national championship in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics