Hogs look to stretch win streak to nine

Arkansas guard Isaiah Joe celebrates during the first half of Tuesday’s game against Austin Peay in Bud Walton Arena. - Photo by Andy Shupe of the NWA Democrat-Gazette
Arkansas guard Isaiah Joe celebrates during the first half of Tuesday’s game against Austin Peay in Bud Walton Arena. - Photo by Andy Shupe of the NWA Democrat-Gazette

FAYETTEVILLE -- Not since the University of Arkansas won a national championship in basketball during the 1993-94 season have the Razorbacks won their first nine games.

This season's Razorbacks (8-0) will try to match that when they play Western Kentucky (6-3) at 6:30 p.m. tonight at E.A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, Ky.

It's a promising start for Arkansas considering it was a preseason pick to finish 11th in the SEC and has a new coach in Eric Musselman.

Auburn, which is ranked No. 14 and rallied to beat Furman 81-78 in overtime on Thursday night, is the only SEC team besides Arkansas to be undefeated.

"I'd rather be 8-0 than 0-8, I know that," Musselman said. "I think it's great for our players because I think it helps with buy-in to stuff that we're doing.

"I think the most important thing is that our guys that put in a lot of work over the summer feel like we're building and getting better each game.

"We've had some really good moments and then we've had some really teachable moments where maybe I haven't been in the greatest mood or feel like we've got some holes we've got to continue to address."

The Razorbacks' most notable victory so far has been 62-61 in overtime at Georgia Tech on Nov. 25 in their only road game.

Arkansas is ranked No. 29 nationally by KenPom.com -- a popular statistics and analysts website -- but the Razorbacks' strength of schedule is No. 275 with seven of their victories coming in Walton Arena. Their opponents have an average ranking of No. 163 with Georgia Tech having the highest spot at No. 69. Northern Kentucky is second at No. 116.

Those numbers don't mean much of Western Kentucky coach Rick Stansbury.

"I think Eric's done a great job with that team," said Stansbury, whose Hilltoppers are the preseason pick to win the Conference USA title. "First off, any time you're 8-0, every coach in America would take that no matter who you've played or where you've played them at.

"Nobody's figured out yet how to beat Arkansas yet, so that's impressive."

The Hilltoppers beat the Razorbacks 78-77 last season in Bud Walton Arena and have three starters back who combined to score 58 points in that game with sophomore center Charles Bassey (21), senior guard Jared Savage (20) and junior guard Taveion Hollingsworth (17).

Returnees for Arkansas include sophomore guard Isaiah Joe, who led the Razorbacks with 19 points against Western Kentucky last season, junior guards Mason Jones (15) and Jalen Harris (13) and sophomore guard Desi Sills (9).

"We both have a lot of players back, but you can't look at last year's teams for us or Arkansas," Stansbury said. "We're different, and Arkansas is put together totally different with a new coaching staff."

Western Kentucky will have the edge inside with the 6-11 Bassey, but Stansbury said the Razorbacks present matchup problems with a smaller lineup that often features four guards with the big man being 6-6 senior Adrio Bailey or 6-8 sophomore Reggie Chaney.

"People talk about how Arkansas doesn't have a lot of size," Stansbury said. "But they have the advantage most nights offensively with that quickness.

"Defensively you can offset a lack of size with quickness, too, which Arkansas has been able to do. So they're a really difficult team to play against on both ends."

Musselman said the Hilltoppers like to play a 1-3-1 zone defense at times, which the Razorbacks faced against Georgia Tech.

"We've added three different offensive sets against the 1-3-1," he said. "That will hopefully help our guys understand where the windows are in that thing."

Stansbury said senior point guard Jimmy Whitt, a graduate transfer, has been a huge addtion for Arkansas.

"I think Whitt's probably been the difference in their team," Stansbury said. 'He gives them a really versatile guy who can do a lot of things, and he's got a lot of experience. They've got moving parts and versatile guys that play multiple positions."

Musselman is the first Arkansas coach to win his first eight games in his debut since Eugene Lambert started 10-0 during the 1942-43 season, but he said the approach continues to be focusing on one game at a time.

"That's who we are this year," Musselman said. "We're not a team that can look forward to anything. We're not a team that can look backward on anything.

"We've got one thing to worry about, and that's Western Kentucky."

The Hilltoppers, No. 94 in the KenPom.com rankings, are 611-173 all-time in E.A. Diddle Arena and 38-10 in Stansbury's four seasons, including 3-0 this season.

"We'll have a terrific crowd here," Stansbury said. "Kind of like Arkansas does at home.

"People love basketball here. They're passionate about basketball. We've got a pretty good team to go with it."

Sports on 12/07/2019

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