No. 16/18 Arkansas Hosts Texas A&M On ESPN Super Tuesday

AT A GLANCE
Riding its second six-game SEC win streak in the last two seasons, No. 18/16 Arkansas will look to hold onto sole possession of second place in the SEC when it hosts Texas A&M on ESPN Super Tuesday. The Razorbacks are coming off their sixth win (6-2) in SEC play by five points or less, equaling the program record set in 1994-95, while they have won 10 straight games in February.

• No. 18 in the AP Top 25 & moved up one spot in USA Today Coaches poll (No. 16).
• Arkansas (No. 19) is one of five SEC teams in the ESPN RPI top 40.
• One of three teams (Duke & Virginia) with three top 35 RPI road wins.
• Arkansas’ 22-5 overall record and 11-3 SEC mark are both bests since 1997-98.
• Won 46 of its last 49 at Bud Walton Arena where it is 66-7 under Coach Anderson.

#RAZORFACT
Head coach MIKE ANDERSON’S 81 wins in his first 125 games at Arkansas are the second-most by a coach in his first 125 contests. Only Eddie Sutton had more with a 101-24 record.

GAMEDAY #RAZORFACTS

GAME

NO. 18/16 ARKANSAS (22-5, 11-3) VS. TEXAS A&M (19-7, 10-4)

DATE | TIME

Tuesday, February 24, 2015 | 8:05 P.M. CT

SITE | ARENA

Fayetteville, Ark. | Bud Walton Arena (19,200)

TV | VIDEO

ESPN

TALENT

Brad Nessler, Sean Farnham & Shannon Spake

AUDIO

Razorback/IMG Sports Network

TALENT

Chuck Barrett (P-B-P) & Scotty Thurman (Analyst)

LIVE STATS

www.ArkansasRazorbacks.com

SOCIAL

Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

HASHTAGS

#Fastest40 | #BeatTheAggies

STREAK

W5

LAST 5

5-0

AT HOME

15-1

STREAK

W5

VS. TEXAS A&M

97-53

STREAK

L1

@RAZORBACKMBB FAST BREAK FACTS
• No. 18 ranking equals its highest this season in the AP Top 25 while No. 16 in the USA Today Coaches poll is a season-best.
• In sole possession of second place in the SEC at 11-3.
• Best start through the first 14 SEC games since 1997-98.
• First time since 1997-98 that Arkansas has started 22-5.
• One of 16 teams in the country with 22 or more wins.
• Won 10 straight games in February and is 11-2 the last two seasons.
• Won 17 of its last 21 SEC regular season games dating back to last year.
• Own a 6-2 record in SEC games decided by five points or less and have won four conference games after trailing at the half, including three on the road.
• Own a 5-2 record in SEC road games, good for the second-most wins in program history.
• Won eight of its last 12 SEC road games dating back to last year … previous eight SEC road wins took 51 attempts.
• Currently No. 19 in the ESPN RPI with a 5-2 record against the top 50.
• One of three teams (Duke & Virginia) with three top 35 RPI road wins – SMU (No. 17), Ole Miss (No. 33) & Georgia (No. 34).
• No. 5 seed in the South Region in Joe Lunardi’s most recent Bracketology released on Feb. 23 that includes six SEC teams.
• Rank in the top 20 nationally in points (79.5/T-13th), assists (17.0/6th), assist/turnover ratio (1.4/11th) and turnover margin (+4.7/7th).
• Won 27 straight games when leading at the half.
• Lead the SEC in overall scoring (79.5) and in SEC games (74.9).
• Own an 18-0 record when forcing 15+ turnovers.

FIRST TIME SINCE …
11 SEC Wins > 1997-98
6-Game SEC Win > 2013-14
5 SEC Road Wins > 1994-95
3-Game SEC Road > Win Streak 1997-98
Winning SEC Road Record > 1994-95
6 SEC Wins by 5 Points Or Less > 1994-95
Back-to-Back 20-Point SEC Wins > 1993-94
Ranked in February > 1999

SEC WINNING WAYS
For the second straight year, Arkansas has produced a six-game SEC win streak. Last year’s six-game win streak came at the very end of the season and combined with their 11-3 SEC record this year, the Razorbacks are 17-4 in their last 21 league contests. Below is a look at the rest of the SEC’s record the last 21 conference games.

Arkansas 17-4
Kentucky 17-4
Florida 13-8
Georgia 13-8
Texas A&M 13-8
Ole Miss 12-9
LSU 11-10
Tennessee 11-10

ESPN SUPER TUESDAY SUCCESS
Over the last two seasons, Arkansas has posted a 2-0 record on ESPN Super Tuesday. Last year at Bud Walton Arena, MICHAEL QUALLS supplied one of college basketball’s most memorable highlights of 2013-14 when Arkansas defeated No. 13/12 Kentucky in overtime. With Brad Nessler, now-Arkansas women’s basketball head coach Jimmy Dykes and Shannon Spake on the call, Qualls delivered a put-back dunk with 0.2 seconds left in OT for the 87-85 win. The play landed at No. 1 on the #SCtop10. On SEC-opening night at Georgia in January, Nessler, Sean Farnham and Spake were on the call for Arkansas’ 79-75 road win in which they erased a 13-point deficit.

COACHING MATCHUP
@RazorbackMBB
Head Coach: Mike Anderson (Tulsa ‘82)
Record at Arkansas: 81-44 (4th Season)
Overall Record: 281-142 (13th Season)
Vs. Texas A&M: 1-7

Texas A&M
Head Coach: Billy Kennedy (Southeastern Louisiana ‘86)
Record at Texas A&M: 69-56 (4th Season)
Overall Record: 280-235 (17th Season)
Vs. Arkansas: 2-2

STARTING 5 QUICK 5 HITS
#31 | Anton BEARD (G)
• Named SEC Freshman of the Week on Monday.
• Started the last seven games (6-1), averaging 9.6 points.
• Averaging 12.7 points on 7-of-9 from three the last two games.
• Reached double figures seven times in SEC play after once in non-conf.
• Taken a team-high 13 charges.
#00 | Rashad MADDEN (G)
• 34th all-time in program history with 1,027 career points.
• His 128 assists are the most by a Razorback since 2008-09.
• Seventh all-time in assists (334), just seven back of Alvin Robertson.
• Team leader with a plus/minus rating of +247 on the year.
• Second in the SEC in assists (4.7) and free throw percentage (.875).
#24 | Michael QUALLS (G)
• Eighth in the SEC in scoring at 15.4 points per game.
• T-2nd in the SEC with nine 20-point games, including eight at home.
• Owns two of the top four scoring performances by an SEC player this year.
• Has appeared on the #SCtop10 12 times in his career.
• Increased scoring average by 10.8 points since his freshman season.
#02 | Alandise HARRIS (F)
• Returned to the starting lineup 10 games (9-1) ago.
• Three of four double figure games in SEC play have come on the road.
• Scored 1,140 points over his career at Arkansas and Houston.
• Went 7-for-8 from the field for 15 points during SEC road win at Georgia.
• Out of his 20 double figure outings at Arkansas, 12 have come off the bench.
#10 | Bobby PORTIS (F)
• Two-time SEC Player of the Week.
• Watch List for the Naismith Trophy and the Wooden Award.
• Averaging 18.1 points and 9.5 rebounds in SEC play.
• SEC leader in double-doubles (8) in league action.
• Career-best 22 straight games in double figures.

PARTY OF THREE
Freshman ANTON BEARD became the third different Razorback to earn a weekly award from the conference office this season when he was named SEC Freshman of the Week on Monday. Beard averaged 12.0 points and 3.5 assists as Arkansas put together its third straight 2-0 week. Beard’s 24 points over the two games came on just nine field goal attempts.