NCAA Sweet 16 Preview: #4 seed Arkansas vs #1 seed Gonzaga

Mike Cawood March 23, 2022

Who: #17/18 (4 seed) Arkansas Razorbacks (27-8) vs #1/1 (1 seed) Gonzaga Bulldogs (26-3)
What: NCAA Championship Sweet 16 – West Regional
When: Thursday – Mar. 24 – 6:00 pm (CT)
Where: San Francisco, Calif. – Chase Center (18,064)
How (to follow):
– TV: CBS (Jim Nantz, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill and Tracy Wolfson)
^ Online: NCAA Tournament Central
– Radio: Learfield Razorback Sports Network (Chuck Barrett and Matt Zimmerman)
– Radio: Westwood One Network (Ryan Radtke and Steve Lavin)
^ Sirius/XM: Westwood One Broadcast: Sirius: 135 || XM: 202 || Online Channel: 965
– Live Stats: NCAA Tournament Central

– Arkansas Game Notes
– Gonzaga Game Notes

SAN FRANCISCO – The NCAA West Region is the only one to have the top four seeds advance past the first weekend. The fourth-seeded Arkansas Razorbacks will face the #1 overall seed Gonzaga in the Sweet 16 on Thursday (Mar. 24). Tipoff at the Chase Center – home of the Golden State Warriors – is set for 6:00 pm (CT) and the game will be televised on CBS.

Game two of the West Region Sweet 16 will feature #2 seed Duke versus #3 seed Texas Tech.

Arkansas is making its 13th NCAA Sweet 16 appearance and second straight. This is the first time Arkansas has made consecutive Sweet 16 berths since earning three straight in 1994, ’95 and ’96. Last year, Arkansas advanced to the NCAA Elite 8 before falling to eventual national champion Baylor.
This will be the second time Arkansas and Gonzaga have met. The previous meeting came on Nov. 27, 2013, in the Maui Invitational with the Bulldogs winning 91-81.
Arkansas has not played in San Francisco since Jan. 2-3 in 1948. Arkansas is 1-1 all-time in San Francisco – playing on back-to-back nights of the San Francisco Tournament.
San Francisco is 1,843 miles from Fayetteville but the Bay Area is/or was home to several Razorbacks.
Moses Moody — the program’s first one-and-done and an NBA Lottery pick — is in his rookie season playing in the Chase Center with the Golden State Warriors.
Head coach Eric Musselman spent eight years living in the Bay area. From 2002-04, he was head coach of the Sacramento Kings. From 2006-07, he was head coach of the Golden State Warriors. From 2007-10, he remained the area, working as a radio/TV analyst. Both his sons — Michael and Matthew — grew up in the area and attended Monte Vista HS (Danville, Calif.).
Assistant coach Keith Smart spent 10 years coaching the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors. In fact, his “home-base” is still Dublin, Calif., (east of Oakland) where he still owns a home.
Assistant coach Clay Moser was an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings.
Assistant coach Gus Argenal is a native of Concord, Calif., and attended De La Salle HS) … His brother, Justin was head coach at De La Salle HS for five years and is now head coach at Dominican University (San Rafael, Calif.). Gus and his wife, the former Hannah Turner, played basketball at UC Davis (2001-04).
Recruiting coordinator Ronnie Brewer, a Razorback All-American and 2006 NBA first-round pick, played nine seasons in the NBA. His 10th and final season of professional basketball was with the Santa Cruz Warriors.
Sophomore guard Cade Arbogast is a native of Concord, Calif., and attended De La Salle HS – playing for Gus’ brother Justin.
Arkansas is 2-11 all-time when playing the #1 team in the nation, including a win over #1 Auburn this season.
Arkansas is 0-5 vs the nation’s top-ranked team in the NCAA tournament including losses to North Carolina (2008 2nd Rd), UMass (1996 Sweet 16), UCLA (1995 NCAA Championship Game), Indiana State (1979 Elite 8), Kentucky (1978 Final Four).
OVERALL, a ranked Arkansas team has played a ranked opponent 93 times. Arkansas is 44-49 all-time when ranked and playing a ranked opponent, including a 24-28 mark when ranked and playing a ranked team on a neutral court.

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