Tag: Arkansas Alcorn State

Beyond the Box Score: Hogs cruise in season opener over Alcorn State

The 14th-ranked Hogs made quick work of Alcorn State behind stellar shooting and stifling defense. Here’s a look at some key numbers from Monday night’s win.

For the fifth time under [autotag]Eric Musselman[/autotag], No. 14 Arkansas basketball took care of business to open the season. The Hogs were able to cruise to an impressive 93-59 victory over Alcorn State on Monday night inside Bud Walton Arena.

It was a pretty routine season-opener for this Arkansas basketball program, as the Hogs remain a perfect 31-0 in such games at Bud Walton Arena. All 15 players on the roster, including walk-ons Cade Arbogast and Lawson Blake, were able to see the floor and 12 of 15 Razorbacks scored.

While the Braves weren’t able to keep this game close, they did give Musselman and his team a laundry list of things to improve on before Friday night. Couple that learning experience with the fact that the Hogs were still able to win in convincing fashion while avoiding injury, and that’s makes Monday night the definition of a success.

Let’s take a look a closer look at some of the numbers behind Arkansas’ season-opening victory.

What Eric Musselman said after Arkansas beat Alcorn State in season opener

Arkansas won’t play 13 guys all year long, but Monday gave Musselman a chance to see who brings what.

Arkansas coach Eric Musselman has been used to running his bench deep in his four previous seasons coaching the Razorbacks, especially in the early season.

On Monday, in Arkansas’ 93-59 win over Alcorn State to start the season, nothing changed in that regard. Every player on the Arkansas roster saw action in the blowout.

What was different a bit, though, was Musselman playing all of his scholarship players within the first 11 minutes. All but two of them scored, but it was also a sign that either Musselman believes in the whole roster or he is a ways from figuring out the rotation.

Either way is fine if the Razorbacks keep playing like they did Monday.

Check out what Musselman had to say after Arkansas’ season opener below. Note: remarks are paraphrased.

No. 14 Arkansas rolls Alcorn State to kick off season

Three different Arkansas players scored in double figures, led by Khalif Battle’s 21 points in just 19 minutes.

Arkansas won’t be able to out-athlete every team on its schedule in the 2023-24 season, but when it came, the Razorbacks are awfully impressive.

The No. 14 Hogs never had a moment of figurative sweat in their season-opener Monday night in Bud Walton Arena, easing past Alcorn State in runaway fashion, 93-59.

Things were so easy so quickly that coach Eric Musselman played all 13 of his available scholarship players within the game’s first 11 minutes. One of the expected suspects led the way.

Trevon Brazile, in his first game since December when he torn his ACL, scored 13 points, grabbed six rebounds and sent home three highlight-reel dunks to show why, even despite his only nine games last year, both the SEC coaches and media named him first-team All-SEC.

Khalif Battle and Tramon Mark led Arkansas in scoring with 21 and 16 apiece. Battle made 3 of his 6 attempts from 3-point range and Mark made 4 of his 6.

Ultimately, only two scholarship players who saw action for Arkansas did not score.

The Razorbacks’ second game of the season is Friday when the Razorbacks host Garnder-Webb.

Hog hoops to open regular season against defending SWAC champs

The Razorback basketball team will open the regular season tonight against Alcorn State.

After three straight trips to the Sweet 16, including Elite Eight appearances in 2021 and 2022, the newest version of the Arkansas basketball team will officially hit the home court Monday night at 7 p.m. to host Alcorn State.

The No. 14 Razorbacks won both of their exhibition games, including an 81-77 overtime win over No. 3 Purdue in Bud Walton Arena on Oct. 28.

Now, Arkansas opens the regular season against a Braves team that has won the past two Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) regular-season championships. The Razorbacks are 5-0 all-time against Alcorn State, all played in Fayetteville.

This is the second time Arkansas has hosted the Braves in a season opener, dating back to the 2009-10 season, when the Hogs won 130-68 and Rotnei Clarke scored a school-record 51 points in the win, while making an SEC-record 13 of 17 from beyond the 3-point arc.

Alcorn finished 18-14 last season and won the conference with a 15-3 mark, before losing to North Texas in the NIT. They are projected to finish third in the SWAC this season under fourth-year head coach Landon Bussie, who is 41-44 with the Braves.

They are a solid opening opponent for the Razorbacks, but the game will not likely be very close, as Arkansas is favored by 23 points. The Braves do return 6-foot-7 senior forward Jeremiah Kendall, a preseason first-team All-SWAC selection, who averaged 11.1 points and 6.7 rebounds per game last season.

Arkansas went 22-14 overall and 13-3 at home last season, shooting 46.6 percent from the field and 31.3 percent from 3-point range in Bud Walton. The Razorbacks have won 49 straight home openers, dating back to 1974-75, and are a perfect 30-0 in the Bud for home openers.

Alcorn State at Arkansas: How to Watch, Stream and Listen

Arkansas basketball’s season officially gets underway tonight against Alcorn State. Here’s how you can watch, stream and listen to all the action.

[autotag]Eric Musselman[/autotag]’s Razorbacks will be in action inside the “basketball palace of mid-America” tonight for their first game of the 2023-24 regular season.

The Alcorn State Braves, out of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), come to town for the sixth ever meeting between the two schools. Arkansas leads the all-time series 5-0, with all of those games coming in Fayetteville.

While the Braves don’t offer much in terms of name-recognitions, excitement and anticipation is very high for the Razorbacks this season. The Hogs are fresh off of a thrilling 81-77 overtime win against No. 3 Purdue to end their exhibition season. That means we should still expect a rather strong crowd for tonight’s season-opener in Bud Walton Arena.

Tip-off for Arkansas basketball’s regular season is set for 7:00 p.m. Here’s how you can watch, stream or listen to all of tonight’s action from Fayetteville.