FAYETTEVILLE -- No. 20 Arkansas will be on the road to face No. 25 Alabama Wednesday night in Tuscaloosa.
Arkansas' Kenny Payne previewed the game on Tuesday in what should prove to be a key SEC contest for both squads. Arkansas (19-6, 9-3) and Alabama (18-7, 8-4) are both in the hunt to have the best record in the SEC. That currently belongs to No. 11 Florida (19-6, 10-2). In addition to Alabama, Vanderbilt, Kentucky and Tennessee are at 8-4 in SEC games. Payne has a lot of respect for the Tide.
"Well, you just said it," Payne said. "Alabama is one of the most potent offensive teams in the country. The way they shoot 3s, the way they can get out in transition, the pace of their offense is hard to simulate. The way they they pass the ball to each other, two dynamic guards, with other players around them that can really shoot the ball and score the ball. Our thing is to just be solid. They make contested 3s. They make tough shots. They're going to do that, but we want to see if they can do it for 40 minutes. That's our game plan."Payne was asked if the Razorbacks will try to match Alabama's fast pace or attempt to slow them down?"Well, it starts with transition," Payne said. "When you watch them play and you look at the tapes of what they're doing, they get stops and, even on makes, they push the ball up. So my guess is, I watched three games, four games, and out of the four games that I've watched, I've seen them make eight, seven 3s just out of transition alone. So how do you stop those baskets? How do you prevent them from getting those situations? It's vital to have success against them."Everyone expects the Razorbacks to lean on freshman Darius Acuff Jr. against Alabama as they do other games and for good reason. Acuff is averaging 34 minutes per outing. He's averaging 21.2 points, 2.9 rebounds, 6.3 assists to only 2.0 turnovers, 0.7 steal, 0.4 block, shooting 50.3% from field and 43.2% from deep."Well, he does a great job of just controlling the game, like you're saying anyway," Payne said. "His pace, his knack for reading defenses. He's seen every defense that teams have thrown at him, from trapping him to hard showing to switching bigs on him, guarding him, running jumps. He's seen every defense there is. He's done a good job to this point of really controlling and playing with pace and being poised as well."Since the Razorbacks are within one game of Florida and then a large group just behind them any talk of winning the SEC?
"No question," Payne said. "I think we talk about… We say it in a different way than what you just said. We talk about let’s continue to get better. We’re playing for something bigger. Let’s continue to build on what we’ve done. Whatever our weaknesses are defensively, offensively, let’s get better at that. Let’s each guy get better. Instead of putting it on one particular, let’s win the SEC, we talk about being our best, which is the same thing."
While Acuff is the obvious key member of the team, Billy Richmond III has stepped up big since moving into the starting lineup. In the 88-75 win over Auburn on Saturday night, Richmond poured in 25 points, 12-15 from field, three rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks. Richmond is averaging 9.6 points per game, but is doing it without hitting 3s. He is shooting 22.2% from distance this season and missed his only one in the Auburn game.
"I think Billy has done a great job in transition, getting out flying," Payne said. "I think Billy Richmond does a great job when defenses say okay, the numbers say you don’t shoot the 3 so we can back off you. Well, when you do that, similar to Giannis with Milwaukee, here’s a guy coming at you with a full head of steam. It’s hard to stay in front of that, and he’s figured that out. I think that he’s working on his jump shot. He’s getting better at it, but he doesn’t need the jump shot to be a 3. It can be a 2. As long as he shoots it with confidence, we’ll live with it. He’s playing some of the best basketball of his career. We’re proud of him. We still need more, and he’s been great right now."
Payne compared Richmond offensively to Los Angeles Lakers rookie Adou Thiero.
"Yes, some of that is true," Payne said. "Some of it also is having a feel for how to attack gaps, how to attack defenders. Some of it you can teach, some of it you just have to have a feel for it. For example, if the ball is coming to you and the defender’s on the top side, you catch it and rip it and see if the floor — if the ball ever hits your hand, that you have this gap and you take it. He’s just been playing off his instincts, playing off his motor, his energy and he’s tough to deal with when he’s playing that way."
The game will tip at 6 p.m. Wednesday night on ESPN.
