Preview – Hogs Open SEC Play at Rupp Arena vs. Kentucky

kylie magar January 3, 2024

FAYETTEVILLE – The Arkansas women’s basketball team (12-3) will open the 2024 Southeastern Conference slate at Kentucky (7-7) on Thursday at 6 p.m. Central Time. With Memorial Coliseum under a one-year renovation, the game will be played at Rupp Arena. The game will be broadcast on SECN+.

GAME INFORMATION

Dates: Thursday, Jan. 4
Time: 6 p.m. CT
Opponent: Kentucky
Location: Rupp Arena (Lexington, Ky.)
Watch: SECN+
Listen: Razorback Sports Network from Learfield
Arkansas Game Notes
Live Stats

STORYLINES

The Arkansas women’s basketball team ended the non-conference slate on a four-game winning streak to round out the first 15 games, 12-3
Arkansas defeated Incarnate Word, 67-48, which helped head coach Mike Neighbors achieve 132 wins at Arkansas, which is tied with Tom Collen for the third most by a head women’s basketball coach on The Hill
With 12 non-conference wins, the Hogs achieved 10+ victories in the non-conference for the second straight season, third under coach Neighbors, as well as 10th time in school history. The Hogs played all 15 non-conference games schools were allowed to play, being one of three in the SEC to schedule the full 15
Arkansas is now geared up for the SEC season, as the Hogs will open things up at Kentucky on Thursday. The Hogs will have the opportunity to play at Rupp Arena, as Memorial Coliseum is under a one-year renovation
Kentucky is one of the Hogs’ three home-and-away opponents this season. Arkansas will host the Wildcats at Bud Walton Arena later this month. The Hogs’ other two home-and-away opponents are Alabama and Missouri
In SEC opening games, Arkansas is 5-27, as well as 1-17 in road league openers. Its’ only win on the road in an SEC opener was at Mississippi State (W, 66-45) on Jan. 5, 2006
The Hogs are 15-26 in the all-time series against the Wildcats, coming off beating Kentucky on the road last season (W, 71-50) for the first time since 2003
Taliah Scott leads the Hogs in scoring with 23.0 points per game and is the only player in the SEC to average 20.0+ points per game. She is second in the NCAA in total points with 345, just trailing Caitlin Clark, as well as third in free throw makes (74), field goal attempts (272) and 3-point attempts (124), fourth in free throw attempts (90) and field goal makes (116) and eighth in points per game
Saylor Poffenbarger’s presence on the glass has been huge for the Hogs, as she leads the team and the league in rebounds per game (12.7) and defensive rebounds [er game (10.4). She is second in the NCAA in both categories and has pulled down 191 boards in just 15 games
Poffenbarger broke the school record for individual game rebounds with 23 against Florida State. Those 23 boards is the most pulled down by an NCAA DI men’s or women’s player this season and she has had four games with 19+ boards this year, which is the only time an Arkansas player has had that many 19+ rebound games in their career
Samara Spencer leads the team with 46 assists. Her 296 career assists is No. 15 on the career list
A huge factor in the Hogs’ success this season has been Maryam Dauda, who paces the team with 29 blocks
Makayla Daniels is the highest scoring point guard in school history with 1,619 points, which is the seventh most in school history, while holding a program’s most starts (137) and most games played (137). Daniels was selected on the All-SEC Preseason Second Team, as chosen by the league’s coaches

SCOUTING KENTUCKY

Kentucky finished the non-conference slate 7-7, having played six Power 5 schools with a notable win over Boston College (W, 83-81)
In the SEC Preseason Polls, the Wildcats were picked to finish 13th in the media poll and 14th in the coaches poll. Last season, Kentucky was 12-19 with a 2-14 mark in the SEC. Getting hot at the right time, the No. 14 seed Wildcats became the lowest seed to make the SEC Tournament Quarterfinals, beating Florida (W, 72-57) and Alabama (W, 71-58)
Ajae Petty leads the Wildcats, averaging a near double-double with 15.9 points and 9.9 rebounds per game along with a team-high 14 blocks
Maddie Scherr is averaging 15.8 points per game and leads the team with 18 steals
Brooklynn Miles has a team’s most 49 assists
Kyra Elzy is in her fourth season at the helm of the Wildcats, 12th overall, as she spent the prior eight seasons as an assistant coach and associate head coach (2008-12, 2016-20) at Kentucky
Elzy led the Wildcats to its 14th straight appearance in the SEC Tournament Quarterfinals last season and became the first Kentucky head coach to lead the team to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments. She led the Wildcats to an SEC Tournament title in 2022, just the second in program history

HISTORY AGAINST THE WILDCATS

Kentucky holds a 26-15 edge over Arkansas in the all-time series with 40 of the 41 games being played as SEC opponents
Thursday’s game is the 42nd of the all-time series, in which Arkansas is 4-16 on the road in Lexington
Arkansas is 2-3 in the last five meetings vs. Kentucky
Last season, the Hogs defeated Kentucky, 71-50, which marked Arkansas’ first road win vs. the WIldcats since 2003 (W, 70-60). In that game, Poffenbarger tied for a game-high 17 points with seven rebounds, three assists and two blocks, while Daniels registered 11 points and four assists. The team had 22 assists in the win

LAST TIME OUT

Arkansas wrapped up the non-conference schedule with a 67-48 win over Incarnate Word
With her 10th 20-point game of her freshman season, Scott led the game with 24 points along with three boards and a career-high four assists with a +/- of +21
Dauda recorded 11 of her 13 points vs. the Cardinals in the third quarter. She also added five rebounds and a career-high four blocks
With her fourth 19+ rebound game of the season (only Hog to do that in their career), Poffenbarger pulled down 19 boards and added nine points
Spencer had nine points and Daniels chipped in eight points, five rebounds and three steals
Neighbors registered his 132nd win at Arkansas, which is tied with Collen for the third most by a head coach in Arkansas women’s basketball history

UPCOMING

Arkansas’ home SEC opener will be against Georgia on Sunday, Jan. 7 for a 1 p.m. tipoff at Bud Walton Arena. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network.

MORE INFORMATION

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