Senior guard Devante Davis is set to return to the court for the Arkansas basketball team on Saturday, while sophomore Trevon Brazile‘s status is still up in the air.
Davis, the longest tenured Hog on the roster, hopes to give the Razorbacks a well-needed boost as Georgia visits Bud Walton Arena for a 5 p.m. tipoff. It will be the first time in two weeks that the Hogs have played a home game.
“We’re excited to have Devo back, and I think he’s excited – he’s been working hard, he’s had a great week of practice,” Head Coach Eric Musselman said. “He feels like he is back to where he was, from a conditioning standpoint. He’s been a part of four really good years, and we’re certainly looking forward to having him back.”
The 6-foot-10 Brazile, who was the team’s top rebounder before going down on Jan. 3 against LSU, reinjured his knee after offseason surgery to repair a torn ACL. The timetable for his return remains unknown.
Arkansas (11-11, 2-7 SEC), who enters Saturday’s game as a two-point favorite by Vegas odds, has struggled mightily out of the gate in conference play, including a 76-66 loss at Georgia on Jan. 18. Musselman has instituted some new plays this week, hoping the new looks can improve the outcome.
“If they work we will use them again, but we’ve got to make shots and we’ve got to make good entry passes,” Musselman said. “You’re not going to change a lot in a week, but certainly we’ve added some tweaks and some other things. We’ve added four or five different wrinkles to some things that maybe we need to take more advantage of, especially when you play a team a second time.”
Junior Tramon Mark has been the Razorbacks’ go-to threat for most of the season and will likely be the offensive catalyst again. The Houston transfer is currently fifth in the SEC in scoring with 17.8 points a game, and has topped 20 points the past two games.
Mark led the Hogs with 24 points and seven rebounds in the first meeting with the Bulldogs. He went 10-of-10 from the free throw line, and also led the team in steals, assists and blocked shots in that game.
Georgia (14-9, 4-6 SEC) also limps in with four straight losses, including Wednesday’s 75-62 defeat at Mississippi State.
Arkansas is 26-17 all-time against Georgia, all coming since the Razorbacks joined the SEC in 1991, including 13-3 in games played in Fayetteville.
Saturday’s game will air on the SEC Network, with Razorback legend Joe Kleine providing the color commentary, along side Mike Morgan.
