FAYETTEVILLE — It is once again time for Arkansas basketball to play its annual Red-White game.
Tip off of this year’s event is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT inside Barnhill Arena. The scrimmage won’t be televised or streamed, but admission is free.
This will be the first time fans will get to see the 2023-24 Arkansas basketball team in action. The Razorbacks return five players from last year’s Sweet 16 team, plus added a pair of blue-chip freshmen and seven players via the transfer portal. How those players are split up for the Red-White game can be found below.
It won’t be until Oct. 20, when it hosts Division II foe UT Tyler for an exhibition game, that Arkansas will play another team at Bud Walton Arena. The Razorbacks will also host Purdue, a preseason top-3 team, for their second exhibition on Oct. 28 before welcoming Alcorn State to Fayetteville for the season opener on Nov. 6.
With no option to watch Wednesday’s scrimmage, Best of Arkansas Sports will do its best to provide live updates, statistics and highlights from the Red-White game below…
LIVE UPDATES – 2023 Arkansas Basketball Red-White Game
Pregame Tidbits
Trevon Brazile will not play in the Red-White game as he continues working his way back from the torn ACL that ended his 2022-23 season after just nine games. That was expected after Eric Musselman told reporters last week that he was still about 2.5 weeks away from returning to full live action. That would put him back in time for the first exhibition game.
Khalif Battle, the transfer from Temple, was going through pregame warmups when he walked off the court gingerly with an apparent injury. He eventually returned to the floor in street clothes and on crutches, with his right foot in a boot.
Arkansas Basketball Starting Lineups
Red: G El Ellis, G Joseph Pinion, F Denijay Harris, F Chandler Lawson, F Jalen Graham
White: G Keyon Menifield Jr., G Layden Blocker, G Tramon Mark, G Jeremiah Davenport, F Baye Fall
3:40, 1Q – White 12, Red 6
Each team missed a 3-pointer (by Davenport and Ellis) to open the game and then missed a shot inside the arc. Davenport drilled a 3 on the game’s fifth possession to open the scoring and Ellis answered by going coast-to-coast for a layup.
Davenport has a reputation as a streaky shooter and he is showing that now with a 3 on White’s next trip down the court.
Baye Fall nearly had an offensive rebound after a missed 3 by Mark, but wasn’t strong enough to secure it and lost it on the way down.
Devo Davis checked in at the 5:17 mark after a hard foul by Pinion on a fast break by Davenport, who knocked down both free throws. He’s up to 8 points.
A nice drive and kick by Mark led to an open 3 by Davenport, who’s now up to 11 points.
END of 1Q – White 23, Red 15
After a missed free throw by Mark, Red got the rebound and Ellis made a nice pass down the court for a quick dunk by Chandler Lawson.
A nice drive and kick by Menifield didn’t directly lead to points because Blocker missed the 3, but Mitchell did a nice job crashing the glass and putting it back in for an and-1. He missed the free throw, but Davenport got the offensive rebound, kicked it out to Mitchell at the top of the key and made the 3.
On the other end, Menifield jumped a passing lane and got a fast break dunk out of it.
Red didn’t get back quick enough after Blake’s layup was blocked by Mitchell and it led to a fast break dunk by Blocker.
Pinion finally got a look from 3 and knocked it down from the corner.
Davis showed a lack of awareness at the end of the half because he dribbled the clock out to end the corner. The ball was inbounded with 13.5 seconds left and he didn’t seem to have any sense of urgency.
2:51, 2Q – White 31, Red 29
Musselman was apparently unhappy with what he was seeing out of Ellis and had Davis switch to the point for Red.
Mark just made a tough layup on a drive to the basket. Laid it up high off the glass and it went in. He’s done a nice job of attack the basket tonight.
Davis just locked up Davenport and forced a turnover. He saved the ball from going out of bounds and it led to a dunk by Pinion on the other end. It’s his second dunk of the night.
Davis is in his bad right now. He just drove and dished to Chandler Lawson for an easy layup. Beautiful pass.
After a couple of free throws, Pinion is up to 10 points on 4 of 4 shooting, with only one 3.
HALF – White 41, Red 41
For a big guy, Makhi Mitchell has pretty good handles. He’s driven to the basket a couple of times. This time it resulted in an and-1, but he missed the free throw.
Davenport is feeling it tonight. He drove for what appeared to be a layup, but stopped on a dime for a floater over Graham. On the next two trips down the floor, he drained 3s – one from NBA range on the wing, the other from the corner. He’s up to 19 points on 6 of 8 shooting, including 5 of 7 from deep.
Sandwiched between his floater and first 3, Pinion got open for another corner 3. He made another 3, this time from the wing, after an offensive rebound and kick out by Graham. He did not miss in the first half, finishing with 17 points on 6 of 6 shooting.
Davenport and Pinion combined to go 8 of 10 from long range in the first half, while the rest of the team was just 1 of 8.
HALFTIME STATS – Arkansas Basketball
4:50, 3Q – Red 49, White 48
It’s a small sample size, but Baye Fall looks like he has a ways to go in the strength department to be ready to contribute. He had the ball easily knocked away as he went up for a stick back early in the second half.
Really nice ball movement by the White team led to a corner 3 by Menifield.
Graham still has great touch around the basket, but he has only 6 points.
Musselman has stopped play to go out on the court and get on the players for not hustling down the floor. He is heated.
END of 3Q – Red 62, White 55
It took more than half of the third quarter, but Davenport just got his first look and it was a relatively open 3, but he missed.
Pinion also missed his first shot of the half, failing to connect on an open corner 3.
In a bit of a surprise, Denijay Harris is the fourth player in double figures. He got there on a fast break layup after jumping a passing lane. It turned into an and-1 when he was fouled by Arbogast. He made the free throw to give him 11 points.
A great pass in the paint by Graham led to an easy dunk for Lawson.
Ellis can almost get to the basket at will. He’s converted most of his opportunities, shooting 7 of 9. Only one of those attempts was from beyond the arc. He’s got 14 points.
4:38, 4Q – Red 75, White 59
White turned up the full court pressure, but Red still got the ball in and Ellis was able to get the ball up the floor.
Davis knocked down one of his patented mid-range jumpers despite getting fouled. He completed the 3-point play with a free throw. He only has 5 points, but has made some Deco-like plays through the scrimmage, even if it doesn’t show up in the box score.
Jalen Graham just knocked down a 3 from the wing. It came on a drive and kick by Ellis.
Another drive and kick by Ellis leads to a corner 3 by Davis. He’s got five assists.
FINAL – Red 88, White 70
Graham is up to 13 points after a dunk.
Pinion’s first bucket of the second half comes on a fast break layup courtesy a pretty pass by Davis.
Ellis just perfectly laid up an alley-oop for Graham. He’s made some really good passes and now has six assists with only one turnover.
Graham has also showcased some nice vision today. He just found Davis open on the wing for a 3 late in the shot clock. It was his fourth assist of the day.
Ellis nearly had his seventh assist of the day, but Davis couldn’t knock down the corner 3 in the closing seconds.
Arkansas Basketball Red-White Game Highlights
FINAL STATS – Arkansas Basketball Red-White Game
Arkansas Basketball Roster
Red Team
| # | Name | Pos. | Cl. | HT | WT | Previous School(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | El Ellis | G | S-Sr. | 6-3 | 180 | Quality Education Academy / Tallahassee C.C. / Louisville |
| 4 | Davonte Davis | G | Sr. | 6-4 | 185 | Jacksonville HS |
| 5 | Joseph Pinion | G | So. | 6-5 | 195 | Morrilton HS |
| 7 | Denijay Harris | F | S-Sr. | 6-7 | 200 | Columbus (Miss.) HS / SW Mississippi C.C. / Southern Miss |
| 8 | Chandler Lawson | F | S-Sr. | 6-8 | 210 | Memphis (Tenn.) Woodside HS / Oregon / Memphis |
| 11 | Jalen Graham | F | S-Sr. | 6-10 | 220 | Phoenix (Ariz.) Mountain Pointe / Arizona State |
| 45 | *Lawson Blake | F | Jr. | 6-10 | 240 | Fayetteville HS / Branson (Mo.) Link Year Prep |
White Team
| # | Name | Pos. | Cl. | HT | WT | Previous School(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Khalif Battle | G | R-Sr. | 6-5 | 185 | Trenton (N.J.) Catholic / Temple |
| 1 | **Keyon Menifield Jr. | G | So. | 6-1 | 150 | Phoenix (Ariz.) Prep / Washington |
| 6 | Layden Blocker | G | Fr. | 6-2 | 175 | Bel Air (Kan.) Sunrise Christian Academy |
| 10 | Baye Fall | F | Fr. | 6-11 | 200 | Accelerated Schools (Denver) |
| 12 | Tramon Mark | G | R-Jr. | 6-6 | 185 | Dickinson (Texas) HS / Houston |
| 15 | Makhi Mitchell | F | S-Sr. | 6-10 | 240 | Woodrow Wilson (Washington D.C.) HS / Maryland / Rhode Island |
| 21 | *Cade Arbogast | G | Sr. | 6-3 | 175 | Concord (Calif.) De La Salle HS / Lane (Ore.) C.C. |
| 24 | Jeremiah Davenport | G | S-Sr. | 6-6 | 215 | Hargrave Military Academy (Chatham, Va.) / Cincinnati |
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