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The Arkansas Razorbacks (14-7, 3-5 SEC) will have the opportunity to get a much-needed win over Texas A&M (15-6, 7-1) on Tuesday night inside Bud Walton Arena.
Texas A&M presents a solid Quadrant 2 opportunity for Arkansas, who currently sits with a 2-1 record in Quad 2 wins, which relates to the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings that are so important come postseason time. As of Tuesday morning, the Razorbacks are ranked No. 28 in the NET, and Texas A&M ranks No. 42.
After a crushing 67-64 loss at Baylor on Saturday, Head Hog Eric Musselman remains confident in his team despite a slew of players being banged up.
“I don’t know how much we can do between now and Tuesday in practice,” Musselman said. “But I know that these guys are going to fight through injuries and show great toughness and grit. That’s what they’ve been doing and they’ll continue to do that, these guys that are in uniform right now.”
Included on the list of players that will not play for the Hogs are Nick Smith Jr. (knee) and Trevon Brazile (torn ACL). Musselman revealed after the Baylor game that some of the team’s top contributors are “banged up” — Ricky Council IV, Anthony Black, Davonte Davis and Makhel Mitchell.
The Hogs will have to play through injuries, though, as a veteran Texas A&M team is coming to town riding high after winning nine of its last 10 games. Musselman credited Aggies head coach Buzz Williams’ squad for getting the job done in conference play.
“It’s a team that, again, is playing really well in conference play,” Musselman said. “The last two years they’ve struggled in non-conference and once they’ve gotten to conference play they’ve played with great confidence. And it’s a team that plays really, really hard.”
Getting a win on the road at Baylor was always going to be a tough challenge, but the Hogs seemed fit for the occasion even though they fell short. Returning to Fayetteville to play in front of the home crowd might be just what the doctor ordered.
“I think we’re going to want to get a dub, want to go back home to our crowd and play in front of our fans,” forward Jalen Graham said. “We want to get on a roll and start getting on a win streak. We have to get hot soon. So, we want to turn this around pretty fast.”
Here are details on how to watch/listen, notes, projected lineups, stats, odds and more for Tuesday’s game between Arkansas and Texas A&M:
Notes
~ Texas A&M is Arkansas’ most common opponent in program history. The Aggies join Baylor as the only team on this year’s Razorback schedule that also appeared on Arkansas’ first season of basketball (1924-24) when the three schools were members of the Southwest Conference.
~ In Arkansas’ inaugural season of basketball, the Razorbacks lost on back-to-back days at Texas A&M, falling 35-37 on Feb. 20 and 32-17 on Feb. 21 to the Aggies.
~ Arkansas and Texas A&M have met on 164 previous occasions and will play again in 16 days (at A&M on Feb. 15). The next closest, most common Razorback opponents are Texas and SMU, each at 155 games.
~ The Razorbacks own a 105-59 advantage in the series, and the Hogs are 60-15 in games against the Aggies in Fayetteville. The 105 wins ties for the most wins for Arkansas versus any opponent. Arkansas also has 105 wins against TCU. The only other team Arkansas has 100-plus wins again is Rice (104).
~ The Hogs have a slight 10-8 advantage in the series since A&M joined the SEC in the 2012-13 season. Arkansas is 8-1 against the Aggies in Bud Walton Arena since A&M joined the SEC.
How to Watch/Listen
Who: Arkansas Razorbacks (14-7, 3-5 SEC) vs Texas A&M Aggies (15-6, 7-1 SEC)
When: Tuesday, Jan. 31 at 6:00 p.m. CT
Where: Fayetteville, Arkansas – Bud Walton Arena (19,200) / Nolan Richardson Court
Television: ESPN2 (Karl Ravech, Jimmy Dykes, Marty Smith)
Stream/Online: Watch ESPN
Radio: Learfield Razorback Sports Network (Chuck Barrett and Matt Zimmerman)
Gameday Info and How to Listen Online/Mobile: Razorback Gameday App
Projected Lineups
Arkansas
#0 – G Anthony Black – Fr., 6’7″, 198 lbs.
2022-23 Stats per game: 34.0 min, 12.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.8 steals, 3.0 turnovers, 0.5 blocks, 44.8 fg%, 32.8 3fg%
#4 – G Davonte Davis – Jr., 6’4″, 185 lbs.
2022-23 Stats per game: 32.6 min, 10.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.4 steals, 2.0 turnovers, 0.2 blocks, 40.2 fg%, 28.8 3fg%
#1 – G Ricky Council IV – Jr., 6’6″, 205 lbs.
2022-23 Stats per game: 34.9 min, 17.2 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.5 steals, 2.4 turnovers, 0.2 blocks, 46.5 fg%, 29.1 3fg%
#13 – G/F Jordan Walsh – Fr., 6’7″, 205 lbs.
2022-23 Stats per game: 23.6 min, 7.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 1.0 steals, 1.1 turnovers, 0.5 blocks, 45.3 fg%, 27.7 3fg%
#15 – F Makhi Mitchell – Sr., 6’9″, 230 lbs.
2022-23 Stats per game: 21.1 min, 7.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 1.0 steals, 1.1 turnovers, 1.4 blocks, 64.6 fg%, 100.0 3fg%
Texas A&M
#4 – G Wade Taylor IV – So., 6’0″, 185 lbs.
2022 Stats per game: 26.8 min, 14.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.8 steals, 2.5 turnovers, 41.9 fg%, 34.9 3fg%
#23 – G Tyrece Radford – Sr., 6’2″, 195 lbs.
2022 Stats per game: 29.9 min, 13.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 0.8 steals, 1.7 turnovers, 0.3 blocks, 42.1 fg%, 32.4 3fg%
#0 – G Dexter Dennis – Gr-Sr., 6’5″, 210 lbs.
2022 Stats per game: 27.2 min, 8.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 1.0 steals, 1.1 turnovers, 0.6 blocks, 37.1 fg%, 26.1 3fg%
#15 – F Henry Coleman III – Jr., 6’8″, 245 lbs.
2022 Stats per game: 26.5 min, 10.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.9 steals, 1.4 turnovers, 0.2 blocks, 55.0 fg%
#34 – F Julius Marble – Jr., 6’9”, 245 lbs.
2022 Stats per game: 21.2 min, 9.8 points, 4.0 rebounds, 0.4 assists, 0.5 steals, 1.2 turnovers, 0.3 blocks, 57.2 fg%
Vegas odds:
Vegas: Arkansas is a -4.5-point favorite (BetSaracen)
ESPN: Arkansas has 71.1% chance to win
Headlines
(some information courtesy of Arkansas and Texas A&M Communications)