MBB Preview: Arkansas vs Abilene Christian

December 20, 2023

Who: Arkansas Razorbacks (7-4, 0-0 SEC) vs Abilene Christian Wildcats (5-6, 0-2 WAC)
What: This is the second meeting between Arkansas and Abilene Christian, both in the Eric Musselman era.
When: Thursday – Dec. 21 – 6:00 pm (CT)
Where: Fayetteville, Ark. • Bud Walton Arena/Nolan Richardson Court (19,200)
How (to follow):
– TV/Stream: SEC Network /Watch ESPN (Kevin Fitzgerald and Joe Kleine)
– Radio: Learfield Razorback Sports Network (Chuck Barrett and Matt Zimmerman)
– Sirius/XM: 386 Sirius / 386 XM / 967 SXM App
– Arkansas Live Stats
– Razorback Gameday App
– Muss Tix Transfer Program

– Arkansas Game Notes
– Abilene Christian Game Notes

FAYETTEVILLE – After a 17-day absence, Arkansas returns to Bud Walton Arena to host the Abilene Christian Wildcats on Thursday (Dec. 21). The game will be televised on SEC Network and tip time is scheduled for 6:00 pm (CT).

As a reminder, if you have tickets and cannot attend a Razorback home game, you are encouraged to use the Muss Tix Transfer Program.

After ACU, the Razorbacks will not play again until Dec. 30 (hosting UNC Wilmington) and then will open SEC play on Jan. 6 (hosting Auburn).

NOTES:

This will be the second meeting between Arkansas and Abilene Christian. The Razorbacks won the initial match-up, 85-72, almost three years to the day ago (Dec. 22, 2020). In that game, David Patrick served as interim coach for the Hogs as Eric Musselman missed the game due to COVID-19 close contact tracing protocols.
Arkansas raced out to a 22-point, first-half lead thanks to 16 points from Desi Sills (who finished with 18 points). JD Notae (who had 19 points) took over with 17 points in the second half.
Moses Moody led the way for the Razorbacks with 21 points. Justin Smith added 10 rebounds and Jalen Tate had seven boards and five assists.
Arkansas is coming off a 69-66 win over Lipscomb. Arkansas is just 18-19 in the Muss era when scoring less that 70 points. HOWEVER, Arkansas is 66-5 in the Muss era when holding opponents below 70 points.
Arkansas is 5-0 when shooting at least 50% from the field and, unbelievably, is 1-0 when shooting between 30-39.9%, beating Stanford despite shooting 30.3% from the field.
On the other end, Arkansas is 4-0 this season when holding opponents between 30-39.9%.
Despite playing each other just three short years ago, only four players on either roster are still around.
ARK: Davonte Davis (played 5 minutes with a steal and a rebound)
ACU: Immanuel Allen (played 23 minutes with two points and 2 assists)
ACU: Airion Simmons (played 18 minutes with nine points and 5 rebounds)
ACU: Cameron Steele (played 22 seconds)

For more information on Arkansas Men’s Basketball, follow @RazorbackMBB on Twitter.