College Hoops Preview: Arkansas vs. Texas

College Basketball

College Hoops Preview: Arkansas vs. Texas

• Matchup: Arkansas Razorbacks (0-0, 0-0) vs. Texas Longhorns (1-0, 0-0)
• Date: Nov. 9, 2018
• Time: 7 p.m. (est)
• Network: ESPN
• Location: Fort Bliss, Texas, USA
• Venue: Fort Bliss
• Seating Capacity: N/A

This year’s Armed Forces Classic, in which two programs play on a military base, features the SEC’s Arkansas Razorbacks against the Big XII’s Texas Longhorns. Despite not being ranked, Shaka Smart’s team has some pretty big expectations, most notably getting into March Madness. For Arkansas, they lost a ton of talent and will not have similar expectations as they did a year ago. Regardless of how many see these teams playing this year, they will get an early chance to prove themselves in this game.

Lost Pieces

Arkansas suffered a pretty big setback in losing their top two scorers from a year ago in Jaylen Barford and Daryl Macon. The Razorbacks will now turn to the young sophomore Daniel Gafford, who is the only returning player to average double-digit points per game last season. Perhaps what is more important for Arkansas in Gafford’s return is his rebounding ability. Arkansas is extremely thin in the paint, as Gafford will be looked upon to provide both offense and defense contributions.

The only other true big man that Arkansas has on their roster is freshman Ibrahim Ali. Ali actually sat out last season, mainly because he was keen on improving his overall game. He now steps on to this Arkansas roster as one of the team’s only two true players that can play down low. If Arkansas wants to compete this season, Ali will need to step up for this team.

Looking Good Longhorns

Easier said than done, however, because the Texas Longhorns were quite impressive on the glass in their season-opener. Texas defeated Eastern Illinois, in a game that saw most of the Longhorn players fill up the stat sheets. Matt Coleman III recorded 13 points to go along with seven assists and two steals. Elijah Mitrou had nine points to go along with six assists, six rebounds, and three steals! Jaxson Hayes had 16 points off the bench while Jase Febres was 50% from beyond the arc with three three-pointers.

The level of competition will obviously rise in this matchup, but everyone on the Texas Longhorns team contributed in some way against Eastern Illinois. It’s safe to say that Texas is playing very assertive team ball, and will be difficult to slow down for an inexperienced group such as Arkansas. Arkansas does have a way to exploit Texas, and that’s playing defense.

Texas had 16 turnovers in their game against Eastern Illinois, however, they created 19 themselves. Arkansas also ranked 263rd in points allowed per game last year, so it will be a lot to ask for Arkansas to stop what seems to be a fluent offense as of right now. Texas also shot 50% as a team from beyond the arc, a number they can come close to mirroring if Arkansas’ defense plays similar to last year.

Expect Texas to come fast out of the gates, because their schedule is actually pretty difficult moving forward. Texas must face North Carolina, Big South favorite Radford, Purdue, Grand Canyon, and Providence before the Big XII play begins. Shaka Smart will probably want to end this game as early as possible, with a somewhat difficult schedule looming in the distance.

Follow us on YouTube and Twitter

Photo Credit: Razorbacks Basketball via Twitter