By Otis Kirk
FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas (17-9, 6-7) will be at Bud Walton Arena on Saturday to play host to Florida at 1 p.m. on ESPN2.
The Hogs were on a hot streak until they ran into Mississippi State and Texas A&M. They enter Saturday's game with a two-game losing streak that includes the loss to Mississippi State this past Saturday in Bud Walton Arena.
Florida (14-12, 7-6) defeated Ole Miss 79-64 Wednesday night so they will bring a one-game winning streak into Fayetteville. However, the Gators have lost standout Colin Castleton to a broken hand. He was leading the Gators with 16.5 points, 7.9 rebounds and three blocks per game.
Arkansas' Eric Musselman is familiar with injuries having lost Trevon Brazile for the season and Nick Smith Jr. for much of the year. Musselman was asked about the impact losing Castleton will have on the Gators?
"Probably the same impact … we’ve had Brazile out the whole year," Musselman said. "If you look at injuries, it allows opportunities for other guys to play. Florida played a really good last 15 minutes of the game today against Ole Miss. Todd Golden is a very good coach. They have a talented roster. Somebody else will get an opportunity, and their style of play, I thought, in the second half tonight, I thought they adjusted really well. They still have a big guy inside in No. 33 (Jason Jitoboh) — a big, strong player. They’ll have a little bit more probably perimeter players on Saturday."
Jitoboh is a 6-foot-11, 300-pound senior center who is averaging 2.4 points and 1.3 rebounds each game. In the win over Ole Miss, Jitoboh came off the bench to score four points, pull down two rebounds, dish out a pair of assists and one steal.
In the win on Wednesday night, guard Myreon Jones led the Gators with 15 points, eight rebounds, one assist and two steals. Saturday's game is a big one for both squads trying to play their way into the NCAA Tournament.
"Yeah, I mean, we’ve got to try to play for 40 minutes," Musselman said.
The Gators are known as a defensive team among the best in the SEC regarding that aspect of the game. Musselman talked about how the Hogs will deal with that.
"Well, I think shot selection is always- You can always start with that," Musselman said. "You can always go to pace of play. And you're right. Every night, I mean, I told the staff before the game, every night it seems like they come in and we tell the team that we're facing one of the nation's best defensive teams.
"I mentioned Todd Golden, I've got tremendous respect for him. He's a coach that comes from the St. Mary's tree of Randy Bennett. I've known Todd since he played in college at St. Mary's, and obviously Coach Bennett was a graduate assistant when I played at San Diego. So those guys playing for Coach Bennett, he's one of the best defensive coaches in college basketball and has been that way for over 20 years. So they have really, really solid defensive principles, and Florida's a hard team to score on."
As noted after putting together a winning streak that included a blowout win in Lexington, the Hogs have fallen back on hard times. The loss to Mississippi State was only the second one in Bud Walton this season. Is Musselman confident this team can -get back on track?
"Every game we have is hard," Musselman said. "I mean, this team's still got to grow in a lot of areas, and we only have five games to go, so we've got to get ready for Florida."
This game is big for the Razorbacks because after this the remaining games are Georgia at home, Alabama and Tennessee on the road and then Kentucky at home.