Although Gardner-Webb gave the No. 14 Arkansas basketball team a bit of a fight early Friday night, the veteran Razorbacks quickly got back in sync in order to rout their second non-conference opponent of the season, 86-68.
The Hogs will try to make it three in a row Monday night, facing Old Dominion for the first time in the two schools’ histories. The Monarchs, who hail from Norfolk, Va., and are a member of the Sun Belt Conference, will bring a 1-1 record into Bud Walton Arena. They opened the season at home with a win over Virginia Wesleyan, before falling at Ball State, 73-68, on Saturday.
After dispatching Alcorn State, 93-59, in the official season opener last Monday night, the Hogs had to put up a bit more of an effort to down the Runnin’ Bulldogs on Friday night. Arkansas trailed 13-5 less than four minutes into the game, and trailed by two with 5:24 to play in the first half. Their experience then took over, as the Razorbacks closed the half on a 19-5 run, taking a 48-36 advantage at the intermission.
This year’s Hogs are loaded with veteran players, as nine members of the team are either graduates or seniors, including a prize patch of transfers that Eric Musselman landed in the offseason.
Old Dominion has an experienced, guard-heavy team, led by 6-foot-4 junior guard Chaunce Jenkins, who is averaging 18 points and 4.5 rebounds through the first two games.
“They play small and play really fast,” Musselman said. “Identifying the ball as quickly as possible will be important. Keeping the dribble drive in front of us is going to be the key to the game. We can’t give up straight line drives because they’re really good attackers off the bounce.”
While Gardner-Webb’s dribble-penetration tested the Hogs defense in the last game, Arkansas’ front line picked up the slack with 15 combined blocked shots. The Razorbacks were also efficient shooting the ball, making 50 percent from the floor, including 7 of 18 from three-point range. They also held Gardner-Webb to 34.7 percent shooting.
Arkansas will have to play much the same way against ODU, who will likely try to speed up the flow and try to get the Razorbacks’ big men in foul trouble.
Temple-transfer Khalif Battle is leading the Hogs in scoring through two games, despite not starting either game. The 6-foot-5 grad student, has made the most of his role, coming off the bench, and has been the early spark the Hogs have needed. Three of Arkansas’ top four scorers, so far, have been new additions via the portal – including Houston-transfer Tramon Mark and Louisville-transfer El Ellis.
Arkansas will host another mid-major on Friday night, as UNC Greensboro comes to the Bud for the second year in a row. The Hogs will then head to the Bahamas for the Thanksgiving break to play in the prestigious Battle 4 Atlantis tournament. The Razorbacks will open the invitational against Stanford on Nov. 22.