The once-again shorthanded Hogs had no issues taking down in-state foe, UCA, in their last outing. Their second half performance against No. 24 Michigan inspired quite a bit of confidence – even though they almost gave up the 18-point lead towards the end of the game.
It can be difficult to have takeaways from games against opponents ranked so lowly, but Arkansas performed exactly as they were supposed to in a game like this – even without the help of Adou Thiero who has been a leader for the team all season. The transfer forward was still reportedly dealing with illness, so it doesn’t seem to be a long-term issue.
The biggest storyline heading into the Razorbacks’ game against the UCA Bears was the presence of former Farmington standout, Layne Taylor. The freshman is leading the Bears in scoring this season, including scoring 13 points on 40% from long range against the Razorbacks in North Little Rock.
Now, Arkansas will once again be faced with former in-state high school standouts leading the opposing team. This is perhaps less notable for the current Razorbacks on the team considering none of them are Arkansas natives, but it may be nice for some fans to see familiar faces – and a great experience for the players themselves to face the primary college team they heard about for their whole childhood.
The North Carolina A&T Aggies are currently 3-9, including wins over non-Division-I Cheyney and two teams that rank outside the top 350 in the NET rankings. They’ve now lost seven straight games, their last coming against Coastal Carolina (No. 258 in the NET).
The game between the Razorbacks and the Aggies is scheduled to tipoff from Bud Walton Arena at 1:30 pm on Saturday, Dec 21 and will be televised on SEC Network.
What to Expect from North Carolina A&T
The Arkansan duo leading the aggies are a pair of high-scoring guards: Landon Glasper (Fayetteville) and Ryan Forrest (Marion). The duo is a couple of years removed from their time playing in The Natural State, but both have seemingly found a home in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Glasper is among the nation’s best scoring threats, averaging 19.0 PPG on over 35% from long range. In his last outing, a loss against Coastal Carolina, the 6-foot-2 junior tallied 29 points on 3-of-7 (43%) shooting from distance.
The younger brother of former Razorback RJ Glasper, Landon has a chance to pull off a potentially unprecedented feat. It appears no Fayetteville High graduate has ever shown out against the Razorbacks on the Hogs’ home court.
Fayetteville High, of course, has produced a few good to great Razorbacks over the years with the likes of Ronnie Brewer, Jr., Kikko Haydar and Manuale Watkins.
And a few FHS stars have gone out of state. Examples include:
- Played at Kansas State from 1972-76
- Only game vs Hogs game was at KSU
- Finished with 0 points and 5 fouls
- Later served as an assistant for Eddie Sutton at UA
Nick Bradford
- Played at Kansas from 1996-2000
- Never played vs Arkansas
- Played role in Ronnie Brewer Jr. almost becoming a Jayhawk
Fred Gulley
- Averaged 16.4 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.3 steals and 2.8 assists per game as a senior at FHS
- Played at Oklahoma State 2009-2012
- Never played vs Arkansas as a Cowboy, but after three seasons transferred to the UA
- After college career, traveled the world for a company he co-founded:
Below is the only instance we could find in which a Fayetteville High grad played against Arkansas in Fayetteville.
Payton Willis
- Averaged 15.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.5 steals per game (and shot 44.7% from three) in his junior season at FHS
- Played at Vanderbilt 2016-18, Minnesota in 2019-20 and 2021-22 and College of Charleston in 2020-21
- Went 0 for 6 from field at UA in 2018
So, at first glance, it appears that Landon Glasper could make some history simply by scoring a bucket in Bud Walton Arena.
Prior to this game, it had been the other Arkansan, Ryan Forrest, who had been leading the team in scoring. In his first 10 games of the season, the 6-foot-4 sophomore averaged 19.4 points per game – including three games of at least 25 points. His most recent outing, however, included a 4-point performance, dropping his season average down to only 18.0 PPG.
Still, both guards are legitimate scoring threats with above average three-points shooting. They’ve combined to account for nearly 50% of their team’s total points this season. However, they both average at least 2.3 turnovers per game and combine for only 3.3 assists per game.
This should be a prime opportunity for the Razorback guard duo of Boogie Fland and DJ Wagner to feast on both ends of the court, but especially defensively. Fland tallied five steals in the recent win over UCA, and his badgering presence on the defensive side of the ball should be in full effect again in this one.
Jahnathan Lamothe – another 6-foot-4 guard – rounds out the list of players scoring double digits for the Aggies with 12.2 per game. He’s the team’s second most prolific shooter behind Glasper, hitting over 35% of his 4.8 long-range attempts per game. This matchup has Johnell Davis’s name written all over it.
Nikolaos Chitikoudis is the team’s best rebounder with a notable 8.2 boards per game – including 2.8 offensive rebounds. However, he’s only listed at 6-foot-6, so it’s likely that either Adou Thiero (assuming he returns from his illness) or Trevon Brazile would be matched up with the tenacious forward when they share the court with Aidoo.
The Aggies essentially only have two other “big men” that play regular minutes: a 6-foot-8 junior in William Felton and a 6-foot-11 freshman in Efstratios Kalliontzis. Felton has started each of the six games he’s appeared in for the Aggies, but he hasn’t played since before Thanksgiving. He had been averaging 6.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.
Kalliontzis has appeared in nine games for the Aggies, averaging only 1.6 points and 1.3 rebounds per contest. In the team’s last outing, the 6-11 forward was one of only two players to enter the game off the bench, so it appears the Aggies might be hurting for depth less than midway through the season.
Other notable players in North Carolina A&T’s rotation:
- Camian Shell (5-10, JR) | 8.3 PPG, 3.9 APG, 2.5 RPG, 43% 3P
- Jalal McKie (6-5, SO) | 4.0 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 48% 2P
What to Expect from Arkansas
Freshman phenom Boogie Fland is fresh off winning the SEC Player of the Week for his performances against Michigan and UCA. He averaged 18.0 points, 8.0 assists, 3.0 rebounds, and 3.5 steals per game while hitting over 36% from beyond the arc over the last week.
The Hogs’ lead guard has struggled slightly shooting inside the arc, hitting less than 45% of his non-three-point shots. However, his elite assist-to-turnover ratio (5.3 over the last week) shows that he’s still performing his duties as the primary point guard regardless of some typical freshmen shooting struggles.
Jonas Aidoo seems to finally be getting back to full strength after playing only 21 total minutes across the first six games of the season. He’s averaging 10.7 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks on 57% from the field across 26 minutes over his last three games.
This is undoubtedly a major reason why the Hogs have seemingly turned a corner over the last three halves of basketball despite still not having a fully healthy team for a single game this season between rolled ankles and unrelated illnesses.
North Carolina A&T does not have any high-level big men with the size to handle Aidoo in the paint – much like the UCA Bears that allowed the Razorback center to shoot 6-of-6 from the field on his way to 13 points and 4 rebounds in his last outing.
DJ Wagner has continued his hot shooting streak against the Bears as well. He hit some head-turning shots from the perimeter to spark the Hogs’ comeback against Michigan. The Kentucky transfer is now averaging 14.5 points and 5.5 assists while shooting over 57% from the field and 71% from behind the 3-point line.
His emergence as a go-to shot-maker – and perhaps more importantly, a secondary facilitator beside Fland – is as big for the Hogs as Aidoo’s return to health. Fland has been playing what feels like too many minutes given the SEC gauntlet awaiting, including three games with at least 37 minutes played already this season. Even in the blowout over UCA he logged 34 minutes.
It’s become almost impossible to bench Boogie due to his stellar playmaking ability as the team’s leading facilitator, but having guys like Wagner, Johnell Davis, and even Adou Thiero step up as secondary ball handlers and facilitators should provide the Hogs with some relief when they face teams with defenders capable of slowing down Fland.
What to Watch: Arkansas vs North Carolina A&T
With seven days between games, the Hogs have a good chance to be healthier than they’ve been in any other game all season. This is especially true for the Razorbacks’ front court rotation consisting of Trevon Brazile, Zvonimir Ivisic and Aidoo.
These three have had perhaps the fewest chances to settle into their roles as a three-headed monster at the center position. They looked really good against UCA, but it’s hard to put much stock into a game like that.
This matchup against the Aggies is a very similar situation and a great opportunity for the three big men to take another step forward in learning to play together.
It doesn’t hurt that North Carolina A&T currently ranks No. 359 in defensive rebounds per game – largely due to their lack of size and depth in the front court. The Hogs currently rank No. 16 in offensive rebounds with 7.9 per game. Each of the three bigs are averaging right around one offensive rebound per game – and Adou Thiero leads the team with 1.6 per game.
Arkansas vs North Carolina AT&T should never be in doubt, so getting healthy will be the number one priority for the Hogs. If there’s any one aspect of the game where Arkansas can really take advantage of a weaker matchup it’ll be on the offensive glass.
Game Prediction
Arkansas only has two games left until a brutal SEC slate starts, but there will still be 14 days between this matchup and their first conference game against Tennessee. If the SEC matchup was a bit closer, this game might be considered more of a trap game, but the Hogs should be able to fully focus on putting together another complete game against an inferior opponent.
The full nine-man rotation will be together with no minute restrictions for the first time this season. The players individually have played enough with each other by now to not expect any sort of gel period with the full roster available, but this is the perfect matchup to experiment with new lineups that Calipari might want to revisit going forward.
Thiero will make his return in bold fashion with a few fastbreak dunks like fans have seen against several other mid-major opponents this season. Fland will continue his stellar play with Wagner and Fland continuing to provide threats from the perimeter.
Expect Landon Glasper to finally break through as a Fayetteville High scoring points on the court of his hometown’s big boys, but Arkansas should take this game with little to no issues. It’s clear the talent Calipari brought in this offseason is starting to gel just in time.
Arkansas wins, 88-59.
How to Watch
Date: Saturday, December 21
Tipoff Time/TV: 1:30 pm CT
Location: Bud Walton Arena (Fayetteville)
ESPN BPI: Arkansas is favored to win by 25.1 points.
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Landon Glasper’s highlight reel:
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More coverage of Arkansas basketball from BoAS:
