By Otis Kirk
FAYETTEVILLE -- No. 15 Arkansas will put its perfect record in Bud Walton Arena on the line Wednesday when it hosts No. 4 Alabama.
Arkansas (12-3, 1-2) is 8-0 in Bud Walton Arena, but Alabama (13-2, 3-0) will be a severe test. At this time, Arkansas continues to play without freshman guard Nick Smith Jr. and won't have forward Trevon Brazile the rest of the season.
While it appears like a mismatch on paper, excuse Eric Musselman if he isn't buying that. On Feb. 24, 2021, No. 6 Alabama rolled into Bud Walton and lost 81-66. The same Alabama team had beaten Arkansas 90-59 in Tuscaloosa on Jan. 16 earlier that season.
"I think in this league, any time you play another ranked team," Musselman said. "Certainly walking out of Auburn’s arena the other night I felt like from their perspective that was a really big game for them, and a really big win for them. One of the guys on staff had mentioned that their staff had said it was one of the top four wins they’ve had in that building.
"So yeah, I think our win last year against Auburn, our win against Alabama, the game you’re referencing (from two years ago). I think anytime that … Our win against Missouri this year, because they were ranked. I think anytime that somebody’s playing really good basketball and you get a win, there’s probably an extra excitement level for the fanbase when the opposition is ranked."
Alabama is coming off a 78-52 win over Kentucky this past Saturday. They have also defeated Ole Miss and at Mississippi State for their perfect start in the SEC. Outside the SEC. Alabama has won at No. 1 Houston 71-65 so playing on the road isn't a problem for them.
"It starts with having a lottery pick in (Brandon) Miller," Musselman said. "At his size, he's playing the 3-spot at 6-9. He can shoot over people. He'll handle the ball in pick-and-roll. He'll be a screen setter in pick-and-roll. He’ll be a ghost screener in pick-and-roll. I mentioned his ability to follow his own misses, which is a unique characteristic. You’ve got to locate him early because he’s got deep, deep range.
"(Noah) Clowney is a really good player, too, as a young player that’s playing really well, then you add in (Mark) Sears, who is a player who’s got experience and plays really well as a scorer because he can makes threes. You look at a guy like (Jahvon) Quinerley, who is now coming off the bench for them. He’s been a starter for a lot of his career and now he’s coming off the bench and providing a spark for them off the bench, and they’ll shoot a lot of threes, but they also are really good getting to the basket. Really good dribble-drive team. And there’s a reason they’re ranked fourth in the country because they’re really, really good and they have a really difficult non-conference schedule. They did an awesome job winning those games that they scheduled. They’re a really confident team."
The Razorbacks outrebounded Auburn 45-32 despite losing 72-59. Musselman talked about Arkansas' improved rebounding efforts.
"I think we've been rebounding the ball good on both ends of the floor," Musselman said. "Auburn is a really good rebounding team. Obviously, Alabama is a really good rebounding team when you think about Clowney, 15, and 14 (Charles Bediako) and 23 (Nick) Pringle. (Noah) Gurley and all those guys get off the ground. Miller does a phenomenal job getting his own rebound, old-school, follow your shot. He does a great job of that. So, we're going to have to rebound certainly on Wednesday at six o'clock against a really, really good, aggressive rebounding team in Alabama."
The one bright spot for the Hogs at Auburn was the play of Anthony Black. He battled foul trouble and it limited him to 30 minutes, 11 seconds. He finished with 23 points, seven rebounds, four assists, one steal and a block. Musselman was asked if Black would have played all 40 minutes if not for the foul issues?
"If he wasn’t in foul trouble I guarantee you he would have played 40 minutes," Musselman said. "That’s a good observation and a true one. He’s just played really good basketball. He’s in great shape and is able to do that.
"I thought he was phenomenal offensively, much like he was for us in Maui. Where we needed some points and he was extremely aggressive both in the half-court and in transition."
This isn't the first time Musselman's team has gotten off to a slower start in the SEC and they always seem click before the end of the season.
"First of all, just because it’s happened that way the last two years doesn’t mean that that’s going to happen this year," Musselman said. "You look at our road games towards the end of the year, you’ve got to go at Tennessee and you’ve got to go at Alabama. But I will say this, and I learned it a long time ago from my father, your schedule often dictates wins and losses at times, as well.
"Auburn’s won, what, 26 straight at home? So it’s not just Arkansas going in there and feeling that that’s a difficult place to play. There’s 26 opponents before us in a row that didn’t win there. LSU’s playing good basketball. They lost to Kentucky by one on the road. Missouri’s obviously played great basketball. If the commissioner said we were only playing through four games and that was the SEC schedule, then it wouldn’t be very good for us the last couple years or this year. But luckily, we have a full schedule, and so you gotta see how it all plays out."
Wednesday night's game will tip at 6 p.m. in Bud Walton Arena and the game televised on ESPN2.
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