Arkansas basketball closes the regular season Saturday morning at Alabama. Tipoff is set for 11 a.m. on ESPN.
The Razorbacks enter the weekend at 15-15 overall and 6-11 in SEC play after a 94-83 home win over LSU on Wednesday. A loss to the Crimson Tide would give Arkansas its first losing record entering postseason play since the 2009-10 season.
Alabama is 20-10 on the season and 12-5 inside the league. The Crimson Tide are in a four-way tie for second place with Auburn, Kentucky and South Carolina.
Alabama earlier this week lost 105-87 at Florida. It has lost three of the last four games after an 11-2 start to conference play.
Curtis Wilkerson and Scottie Bordelon are back with a handful of things to keep an eye on Saturday when the Razorbacks meet the Crimson Tide. This is the 4-Point Play:
• Arkansas facing familiar faces in new places
Arkansas fans should be plenty familiar with a pair of Alabama’s top transfer contributors: Grant Nelson and Aaron Estrada.
Nelson starred at North Dakota State and went for 17 points and six boards against the Razorbacks in last season’s season opener at Bud Walton Arena.
The versatile 6-11 forward was heavily pursued by the Hogs in the transfer portal and visited Fayetteville over the summer before ultimately choosing the Crimson Tide.
Nelson is averaging 11.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game as a full-time starter for Nate Oats this season.
Estrada heavily contributed to one of the low points of the Eric Musselman era at Arkansas when he went for 22 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists in Hofstra’s upset win over the Hogs in North Little Rock during the 2021-22 season.
The 6-3 combo guard has been a key cog for Alabama this season, averaging 13.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game.
— Curtis Wilkerson
• Can the Hogs make life difficult for Mark Sears?
The 6-1 guard in his second season at Alabama after transferring from Ohio is the best scorer on the most efficient offense in the country.
According to KenPom data, the Crimson Tide have scored 127.0 points per 100 possessions this season. Sears is the head of the snake, averaging an SEC-high 21.1 points per game on 50.9% from the field.
KenPom also has Sears listed 10th in its national player of the year ratings. Arkansas has its hands full.
Sears has scored in double figures in all but one game this season (9 points vs. Missouri on Jan. 16). Since then, he’s put up 22.9 points on 48.4% shooting, 4.5 assists and 7.4 free throws per game. Sears had 33 points in the loss to the Gators.
In two career games against the Razorbacks, Sears has averaged 19.5 points, 2.5 assists and 10 free throws. Per KenPom, he is drawing 6.2 fouls per 40 minutes played inside the SEC and shooting 92.3% at the line.
The game’s outcome may very well come down to how well Arkansas keeps the crafty lefty in front.
— Scottie Bordelon
• Can Razorbacks make the math work?
The last time I checked, three is more than two. With that in mind, it is going to be interesting to see if Arkansas can make the math work and keep pace with Alabama on Saturday.
The Crimson Tide rank second in the country with 11.3 made three-pointers per game on 30.5 attempts from long distance.
Arkansas ranks 298th among Division-I teams at 6.1 triples per game on just 18.9 attempts.
Alabama gets 37.3% of its total points via the three. The Razorbacks rank 300 spots lower at 22.6%.
How can Arkansas make up the difference? Sure, stringing together defensive stops would be a nice place to start, but piling up the free throws attempted will be critical as well.
The Hogs rank third in the country in free throw rate and second in made free throws per game (19.8).
Meanwhile, Alabama ranks 12th in the SEC with 19.7 fouls whistled per contest.
— Curtis Wilkerson
• Will Khalif Battle carry the offense again?
It’s been well-documented the last couple of days that the Temple transfer is on a scoring tear unlike any the SEC has seen in decades.
In the last 4 games, Battle has averaged 35.3 points on 56.5% shooting and 43.3% from deep. He’s also hit his 15.8 free throw attempts at a 92.1% rate.
Will he continue to get a good whistle from the officiating crew in Tuscaloosa? If the Crimson Tide are unable to contain him off the dribble, they could be in for a long game.
For Oats, the game plan is simple. But it’s easier said than done.
“We’ve got to keep him out of the paint without fouling him,” Oats said Friday. “Arkansas’ traditionally been good at putting their best players in good isolation situations where they’re able to go 1-on-1 with good matchups.”
According to CBB Analytics, his scoring rampage, aside from free throws, has featured a healthy mix of perimeter jumpers and buckets in the lane. Battle is a combined 8 of 12 from deep on the left wing and top of the key, and he’s 20 of 30 in the lane, including 12 of 16 at the rim.
“He’s playing as well as anyone in the country right now,” Oats added. “He’s also the guy [for the Razorbacks] who shoots efficient shots.”
— Scottie Bordelon