Preview – Arkansas Returns Home for First of Four

kylie magar November 30, 2022

FAYETTEVILLE – The Arkansas women’s basketball team (8-0) is coming back home to Bud Walton Arena whilst being on its best start to the season in the Mike Neighbors era and best since 2016. Arkansas hosts Troy (3-3) on Thursday night as a part of the team’s celebration of Native American Heritage. The game is the first of four straight home games for the Razorbacks to wrap up the home non-conference slate.

GAME INFORMATION

Date: Thursday, Dec. 1
Time: 7 p.m.
Opponent: Troy
Location: Bud Walton Arena
Watch: SECN+
Listen: Razorback Sports Network from Learfield
Promotion: Native American Heritage Appreciation
Tickets: Click HERE
Arkansas Game Notes
Live Stats

STORYLINES

Arkansas is still undefeated at 8-0 and is one of 27 unbeaten teams in the country (one of three in the SEC)
The team’s eight wins is tied for the most in the country
Arkansas received votes in the AP Poll with 36, just missing a spot in the rankings
Razorback great Chelsea Dungee returns to The Hill, but this time on the opposition as an assistant for Troy. She left Arkansas as the career leader in scoring average, free throws made and free throws attempted. Her 1,903 points for the Razorbacks is the third most in program history
The Razorbacks are coming off a Paradise Jam Reef Tournament Championship after finishing that tournament in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands 3-0
Makayla Daniels was named Tournament MVP after having averaged 17.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.0 steals per game. Chrissy Carr also made a spot on the All-Tournament Team after averaging 14.7 points and 5.0 rebounds per contest, as well as tallying eight 3-pointers
Arkansas has commenced the year 8-0, which is the best start for the program during the Mike Neighbors’ era. This matches the best start for the program since 2016-17 when that team started the year 8-0
Neighbors is freshly coming off two big milestones in his coaching career. He earned his 200th career win against Northern Arizona last Thursday and his 100th victory at Arkansas against Kent State on Nov. 17
A win on Thursday would help the Razorbacks begin the year 9-0, which would be the best start since 2013-14, as that team began the year 13-0
Four Razorbacks are averaging double-digits
Erynn Barnum leads the team with 16.8 points and 7.9 rebounds per game
Samara Spencer has racked up 36 assists to lead the team, while averaging 12.8 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. Her assists per game is fifth in the SEC and her 36 total assists is 29th
Barnum and Daniels share the most steals on the team with 16 each. Daniels also is second on the team in points with 13.8 points per game and is No. 26 on the all-time scoring list (1,124 points)
Carr is the fourth Razorback in double digits in scoring with 12.4 points per game
Barnum’s field goal percentage leads the SEC and is 15th in the country. She gets to the line as many times as anyone in the country, ranked second in the SEC and third in the NCAA (57)
The team is leading the SEC in 3-point attempts (201), as well as second in free throw makes per game (18.5), free throw attempts per game (29.5) and 3-pointers per game (7.9)
Arkansas teams in the past few years have not been known for rebounding the ball effectively, but that has changed, as the Razorbacks have outrebounded opponents in all eight games so far. Arkansas leads the league in defensive rebounding percentage (.807)
With Neighbors in charge, the Hogs are coming off back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances (should be back-to-back-to-back had the COVID-19 pandemic have not cancelled the 2020 tournament) and four consecutive winning seasons. Neighbors also has the most wins of any collegiate coach with 10 years of experience
The Razorbacks were projected to finish fourth in the SEC Preseason Media Poll and tied for fifth in the SEC Preseason Coaches Poll. Daniels represents Arkansas on the Preseason Second Team (Coaches poll)

SCOUTING TROY

The Trojans are 3-3 going into Thursday’s game with their most notable win coming against BYU (68-62) at the Hawaii North Shore Showcase
Troy is No. 12 on the latest Mid-Major Poll
Five Troy players are averaging double digits, led by Makayla Hallmon who has put up 11.3 points per game in their first six contests
Tai’Sheka Porchia leads the team in rebounding with 6.2 per game
Sharonica Hartsfield has a team’s most 25 assists and 20 steals
Troy is projected to win the Sun Belt with 12-first place votes, as voted on by the league’s head coaches
Felmas Koranga was voted as the Sun Belt Preseason Player of the Year and earned a spot on the Preseason All-Sun Belt First Team. Koranga averaged a double-double of 12.6 points and 10.7 rebounds per game, while leading the team with 50 steals last season
Jashanti Simmons was named to the Preseason Third Team
Troy is coming off an impressive 24-9 season, which ended in a trip to the WNIT. The Trojans lost in the first-round against Alabama (82-79) and came short of earning an NCAA Tournament bid after losing to UT Arlington (76-61) in the championship game
Chanda Rigby is in her 11th season as a head coach of an NCAA DI team. She has a career 195-121 record at Troy and has built an incredible mid-major program that has won the Sun Belt in five of the last seven years

HISTORY AGAINST THE TROJANS

Thursday will be the first time these two teams will meet in the series

LAST TIME OUT

Arkansas went 3-0 at the Paradise Jam Reef Tournament in St. Thomas to win the event. The team defeated Northern Arizona (82-73), Clemson (76-62) and No. 25 Kansas State (69-53) to bring home the trophy
Daniels was named MVP and Carr was tabbed to the All-Tournament Team
Daniels led the way with 17.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.0 steals per game. Her most notable performance was her 21 points and five rebounds against Clemson
You could tell Carr really liked to shoot in that gym at the University of the Virgin Islands. She registered 14.7 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. She hit eight 3-pointers, including five in the Razorbacks’ win over Clemson. Her 18 points against Kansas State, her former team, led the game
Barnum is continuing her impressive start, having averaged 12.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.3 steals and 1.0 block per game. She tallied 17 points and three steals in the championship game against Kansas State and 14 points, nine rebounds and five steals for a +28 efficiency vs. Clemson
Saylor Poffenbarger is starting to find her stride and averaged 12.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.0 steal per game across those three games. She had a career-high 15 points with nine boards against Clemson and a career-high six assists against Kansas State
Samara Spencer averaged 12.0 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.3 steals per game at the Paradise Jam. She was Player of the Game after the win over Northern Arizona, pacing the team with a career-high 27 points, four rebounds and four steals
All five starters averaged double digits in scoring throughout the week at the Paradise Jam

UPCOMING

Arkansas continues its homestand by hosting Oral Roberts on Sunday, Dec. 4 for a 2 p.m. tipoff. The game marks the first Signature Sunday of the year, where fans can get the team’s autographs following the game. Coverage of the contest will be broadcast on SECN+

MORE INFORMATION

For more information about Arkansas Women’s Basketball, follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @RazorbackWBB and on Facebook at Facebook.com/RazorbackWBB. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel, “Kickin’ It In The Neighborhood” for an inside look at the Razorback women’s basketball program and check out The Neighborhood podcasts at CoachNeighbors.com.