FAYETTEVILLE — Those trying to find the Razorbacks in the initial NET rankings that dropped ahead of the Arkansas vs Furman game found themselves scrolling for a while Monday morning.
With a 5-3 record, they are all the way down at No. 117, which is easily the their worst ranking in the metric during the Eric Musselman era. That means quite the climb lies ahead of Arkansas, beginning with Monday’s game against the Paladins.
| Season | Initial | High | Low | Selection Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | No. 23 | No. 21 | No. 51 | No. 43* |
| 2020-21 | No. 24 | No. 11 | No. 39 | No. 14 |
| 2021-22 | No. 44 | No. 20 | No. 98 | No. 20 |
| 2022-23 | No. 25 | No. 10 | No. 31 | No. 21 |
| 2023-24 | No. 117 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT and it will be streamed on SEC Network-Plus and ESPN-Plus.
Even though the Paladins (3-4) were picked to win the SoCon and knocked off Virginia in the NCAA Tournament last season, they debuted in the NET rankings at No. 160, making them a Quadrant 3 opponent for Arkansas.
That means a win probably won’t move the needle much, but a loss would be crushing. The Razorbacks already have a loss to UNC Greensboro on their resume and can’t really afford any more slip ups. (The Spartans are actually a Q2 loss right now, sitting at No. 73 in the NET, but there’s a good chance they eventually drop into the Q3 range.)
It also doesn’t help that three of Arkansas’ wins have come against teams outside the top 200 — Alcorn State (No. 325), Old Dominion (No. 227) and Stanford (No. 211) — and another was against No. 154 (Gardner-Webb).
Even last week’s huge upset win over Duke is currently a Q2 win for the Razorbacks because the Blue Devils debuted at No. 37. They have to climb into the top 30 to become a Q1 win.
Arkansas does have a solid Q1 opportunity awaiting this weekend in the form of a neutral site matchup with Oklahoma (No. 19), but it can’t worry about that until getting through Monday’s game.
Best of Arkansas Sports will provide updates, highlights and stats from Arkansas vs Furman below…
(READ NEXT: Check out our in-depth preview of the Arkansas vs Furman matchup)
LIVE UPDATES — Arkansas vs Furman
Furman is without leading scorer Marcus Foster (19.8 ppg) because he was injured against Princeton.
14:26, 1H – Arkansas 16, Furman 12
Brazile opens the scoring by knocking down a jumper around the free throw line. However, Furman answered with a deep 3.
After Lawson scored in the paint, he got a fast break layup following a steal.
Once again, though, Furman knocked down a 3. In fact, it knocked down back-to-back contested looks from beyond the arc.
Battle is first off the bench, replacing Davenport.
A great pass by Davis led to a nice reverse layup by Ellis. That came after Furman finally missed a shot.
Battle knocked down a 3 to give him 1,000 career points, but once again, Furman answered with a 3.
Lawson knocks down a 3 and he’s already up to seven points.
Ellis came up with a steal and Arkansas had a chance to add to its lead on a fast break, but his behind the back pass bounced off an Arkansas player and went out of bounds.
That sends us to the first media timeout. Furman is 4 of 4 from deep, but 0 of 4 from inside the arc. The Hogs, meanwhile, are 7 of 10 from the floor.
11:34, 1H – Arkansas 20, Furman 17
Tramon Mark checks in out of the timeout. It’s his first action since his scary injury in the Bahamas.
Furman finally missed a 3, but it got the offensive board and eventually knocked one down from way deep.
Every time the Paladins try to get the ball around the basket, it goes poorly – either resulting in a turnover or deflected pass or something like that. It took about 7 minutes before they finally made a 2-point shot.
Mark knocks down a mid-range jumper for his first points of the day. He was feeling it and tried a deep 3, but it didn’t fall. He made up for it by making a nice play on the other end, blocking a mid-range jumper from behind.
7:51, 1H – Arkansas 27, Furman 24
A questionable call gave Furman a jumper and the ball via a foul, but Arkansas forced a turnover on the ensuing possession. It took a few tries, and a steal when the Paladins came away with a rebound, but the Hogs eventually turned it into points.
A turnover by Mark led to another corner 3 by Furman. That’s six 3s by the Paladins.
Davis knocks down a 3 to push the Hogs’ lead to five.
In the span of a few minutes, Mitchell has drawn three fouls. One of them was 94 feet away and another was outside the 3-point arc.
Furman scores through contact and will have a shot at a 3-point play out of the timeout.
4:13, 1H – Arkansas 37, Furman 27
Furman has pulled within two a few times, but couldn’t get over the hump. It actually had a decent look at a 3 to take the lead, but it didn’t fall.
Davenport missed a 3, but Lawson grabbed the offensive board and put it back up. That gives the Hogs some breathing room.
Oh my. Lawson blocked a shot, Davis grabbed the rebound and fired ahead to Davenport, who threw a lob to Brazile, who managed to grab it and throw down the alley oop. What a play – and it involved four of the five Hogs on the floor. That led to a timeout by Furman.
HALF – Arkansas 40, Furman 35
Out of the timeout, Furman knocked down a 3 from the top of the key.
After a few scoreless possessions by both teams, Furman hit yet another corner 3. It has eight 3s so far.
Mark ended the drought with a bucket off the glass.
Really nice play by Ellis. He missed a tough reverse layup, but grabbed his own rebound and immediately went back up, drawing a foul. He made 1 of 2 free throws.
Whew, what a block by Brazile.
Oh my, a powerful block by Blocker on a fast break. However, Furman managed to come away with the ball and ended up making a bucket in the closing seconds of the half.
15:25, 2H – Arkansas 50, Furman 45
Battle started the second half and made a great move to drive the baseline for a layup.
A great feed led to an easy bucket for Furman, but Davis answered with a great feed to Lawson for a layup through contact. He made the free throw to convert the 3-point play and get to 10 points.
However, Lawson fouled a driver on the other end, leading to a 3-point play opportunity. However Furman missed the free throw.
Battle has such a quick first step. He’s really attacking the basket so far this half. The latest drive resulted in two free throws.
Wow. Furman just fired a 3 over Brazile and knocked it down. That makes it a five-point game.
Battle missed a 3, but Graham’s offensive rebound gave Arkansas another chance. The ball ended up in Battle’s hands again and this time he drove to the basket, drawing a foul. He made 1 of 2 free throws.
Battle has seven of the Hogs’ 10 points so far this half.
11:10, 2H – Arkansas 62, Furman 52
Great pass by Davis results in Blocker getting fouled. He won’t get an assist for that, but still a nice play by Devo. Blocker missed both free throws, though.
Arkansas went more than four minutes without a field goal, but Battle ended the drought with a 3.
The Hogs are in the bonus at the 14:11 mark.
Battle just thread the needle to Mitchell, who finished to give him an assist.
Whew. Davis just pushed the ball up the floor to Brazile, who managed to finish a layup while being fouled. His body was all contorted, but it fell. He completed the 3-point play to push the lead to 11.
Furman answered with a corner 3. The Paladins started scorching hot, but have cooled off quite a bit.
A really nice back cut led to an easy layup for Furman. That cuts the lead to six.
Lawson scores through contact to send us to the U12 media timeout. That stretches the lead to 10, pending a free throw when play resumes. He’s up to 12 points on 5 of 6 shooting to go with 3 rebounds, 3 blocks, 1 assist and 1 steal.
7:31, 2H – Arkansas 76, Furman 59
Lawson knocks down the free throw to complete the 3-point play.
Mark gets a steal and takes it all the way for a fast break layup.
Now Battle gets a steal, but he was fouled on the drive to the basket. He made both free throws. Suddenly the lead is 15.
Battle just crossed his defender and knocked down a wide open 3. He’s up to 20 points on 6 of 8 shooting.
After Furman goes 1 of 2 at the free throw line, Brazile made a wide open 3 to push the lead to 20.
The Paladins scored a couple of buckets, but Brazile made another 3, this time from the opposite wing and with a defender in his face.
4:30, 2H – Arkansas 81, Furman 68
Battle knocks down a 3 to give him a season-high 23 points. He had previously scored 21 four times.
Furman just went 0 of 2 at the free throw line to give everyone in the crowd a free brownie.
Furman knocks down another 3 to pull within 11 with about 5 minutes remaining. It’s still hanging around.
Blocker drove base line and made a tough layup just ahead of the shot clock buzzer. The officials went to the monitor to check if it was a shot clock violation, but replay showed he got it off with about 0.2 on the clock.
FINAL – Arkansas 97, Furman 83
On the next possession, Blocker drove right by his defender and threw down a dunk.
Now Blocker blocks another shot – his second of the game.
Brazile just had to limp off the court. He’s holding his left ankle. A replay showed he rolled it going for a rebound.
Musselman gets a technical with 1:38 remaining and the Hogs leading by 15. However, that led to five free throws to cut the lead to 10.
After the timeout, Arkansas beat the press and Blocker was fouled. He made 1 of 2 free throws.
Davis made a couple of free throws, but Furman answered with a 3 + a foul. The 4-point play cuts Arkansas lead to seven with 1:12 to play. Furman calls a timeout.
Arkansas beat the press and it led to an easy bucket for Lawson. He’s up to 17 points.
The Razorbacks finished it off at the free throw line, with Lawson and Blocker adding dunks in the closing seconds.
FINAL STATS
HALFTIME STATS
Starting Lineups
| Furman Basketball | Arkansas Basketball |
|---|---|
| #0 – PJay Smith – G | #3 – El Ellis – G |
| #1 – JP Pegues – G | #4 – Davonte Davis – G |
| #13 – Garrett Hien – F | #24 – Jeremiah Davenport – G |
| #15 – Tyrese Hughey – F | #2 – Trevon Brazile – F |
| #24 – Alex Williams – F | #8 – Chandler Lawson – F |
How to Watch Arkansas vs Furman
Date: Monday, Dec. 4
Location: Bud Walton Arena (Fayetteville, Ark.)
Tipoff Time/TV: 7 p.m. CT (SEC Network+ / ESPN+)
ESPN BPI: Arkansas has an 89.2% chance of winning, favored by 15.2 points.
Odds/Betting Line: Arkansas, -11.5 | O/U 158.5
SEC Basketball in the NET Rankings
Here’s where the entire SEC fell in the initial NET rankings of 2023-24…
12. Alabama
15. Texas A&M
17. Tennessee
29. South Carolina
33. Auburn
40. Mississippi State
45. Kentucky
65. Florida
95. Ole Miss
114. Missouri
117. Arkansas
148. Georgia
165. LSU
276. Vanderbilt
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