Preview: #StripeOutLSU

AT A GLANCE
Less than 48 hours removed from clinching the No. 2 seed in next week’s SEC Tournament, No. 18/18 Arkansas will close out the regular season by hosting LSU on Saturday at Bud Walton Arena. The Razorbacks picked up their program record seventh SEC win by five points or less on Thursday night at South Carolina and will look to equal the program record for SEC wins in a season.

• Arkansas (No. 16) is one of five SEC teams in the ESPN RPI top 50.
• Six wins (6-3) against the RPI top 50 are tied for the 10th-most nationally.
• Ranked in both the AP Top 25 and USA Today Coaches Poll for the fourth straight week.
• Arkansas has improved its SEC Tournament seed by at least two spots three straight years.
• BOBBY PORTIS and MICHAEL QUALLS are the top scoring duo in the SEC at 33.0 ppg.

#RAZORFACT
Arkansas is 20-0 this season when forcing opponents into 15 or more turnovers. Opponents are averaging 17.8 turnovers at BWA while the Razorbacks have a +6.4 turnover margin.

GAMEDAY #RAZORFACTS

GAME

NO. 18/18 ARKANSAS (24-6, 13-4) VS. LSU (21-9, 10-7)

DATE | TIME

Saturday, March 7, 2015 | 1:05 P.M. CT

SITE | ARENA

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

TV | VIDEO

ESPN | WatchESPN App

TALENT

Mark Jones (PBP) & Len Elmore (Analyst)

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 | #StripeOutLSU

STREAK

W1

LAST 5

4-1

LAST 10

8-2

STREAK

W6

VS. LSU

32-26

STREAK

W1

ARKANSAS MADE
Seniors ALANDISE HARRIS and RASHAD MADDEN will be honored prior to Saturday’s game as they’ll take the floor at Bud Walton for the final time. Madden is the first Arkansas native in program history with 1,000 career points, 300 rebounds and 300 assists as a Razorback. The 36th player in program history with 1,000 points, he’s the 13th Arkansas native to accomplish the feat. Madden is fifth among active SEC players in points (1,058) and third in assists (351). A native of Little Rock, Harris has a combined 1,167 points over his collegiate career at Arkansas and Houston.

@RAZORBACKMBB FAST BREAK FACTS
• No. 18 in the Associated Press Top 25 for the third straight week and in both national polls for the fourth consecutive week and seventh time this year.
• Own a 67-7 record at Bud Walton Arena under coach Anderson.
• Clinched the No. 2 seed in the SEC Tournament and will play Friday at 6 p.m.
• Most overall wins (24) since 1997-98 and the most SEC wins (13) since 1994.
• One of 16 teams in the country with 24 or more wins.
• Won 19 of its last 24 SEC regular season games dating back to last year.
• Own a 7-2 record in SEC games decided by five points or less.
• Won four SEC games after trailing at the half, including three on the road.
• Currently No. 16 in the ESPN RPI with a 6-3 record against the top 50.
• One of eight teams with three top 50 RPI road wins – SMU (No. 19), Georgia (No. 34) & Ole Miss (No. 43).
• No. 5 seed in the South Region in Joe Lunardi’s most recent Bracketology released on March 6 that includes six SEC teams.
• Finished with a 6-3 record in SEC road games, equaling the program record set in 1993-94.
• Won nine of its last 14 SEC road games dating back to last year … previous nine SEC road wins took 52 attempts.
• Won 29 straight games when leading at the half.
• Rank in the top 20 nationally in points (79.1/9th), assists (16.8/7th), assist/turnover ratio (1.4/13th) and turnover margin (+4.6/6th).
• Lead the SEC in overall scoring (79.1) and in SEC games (74.9).
• Portis and Qualls have combined for 30+ points 19 times (15-4) and 40+ points in six games (6-0).
• Seniors RASHAD MADDEN and ALANDISE HARRIS each have 1,000 career points while Qualls is just 15 points away from 1K and Portis is 50 points shy.
• Own a 20-0 record when forcing 15+ turnovers.

First time since … 
24 Regular Season Wins  1994-95
24 Wins  1997-98
13 SEC Wins  1993-94
7-Game SEC Win  1993-94
6 SEC Road Wins  1993-94*
3-Game SEC Road Win Streak  1997-98
Winning SEC Road Record  1994-95
7 SEC Wins by 5 Points Or Less  1994-95^
Back-to-Back 20-Point SEC Wins  1993-94
Ranked To Start March  1999

^ – Program record
* – Equals program record

SERIES INFO.
All-Time Series: Arkansas leads, 32-26
Since Arkansas Joined The SEC: Arkansas leads, 28-21
At Bud Walton Arena: Arkansas leads, 15-5

Arkansas and LSU will meet once in the regular season for just the second time since the Razorbacks joined the SEC in 1991-92. The two teams split last year’s two regular season meetings while the Tigers have won four of the last five in the series Arkansas’ win last year at Bud Walton Arena stretched its home win streak to four games against LSU and 15-5 all-time at BWA.

COACHING MATCHUP
@RazorbackMBB
Head Coach: Mike Anderson (Tulsa ‘82)
Record at Arkansas: 83-45 (4th Season)
Overall Record: 283-143 (13th Season)
Vs. LSU: 3-5

LSU
Head Coach: Johnny Jones (LSU ‘84)
Record at LSU: 60-35 (3rd Season)
Overall Record: 265-197 (15th Season)
Vs. Arkansas: 3-3

STARTING 5 QUICK 5 HITS
#31 | Anton BEARD (G)
• Named SEC Freshman of the Week on Feb. 23.
• Started the last 10 games (8-2), averaging 8.0 points.
• Hit 10-of-20 from three-point land the last six games.
• Reached double figures seven times in SEC play after once in non-conf.
• Taken a team-high 13 charges.
#00 | Rashad MADDEN (G)
• 32nd all-time in program history with 1,058 career points.
• His 145 assists are the most by a Razorback since 2008-09.
• Tied for fifth all-time with 351 career assists.
• Team leader with a plus/minus rating of +245 on the year.
• Second in the SEC in assists (4.8) and free throw percentage (.875).
#24 | Michael QUALLS (G)
• Just 15 points shy of 1,000 for his career.
• Eighth in the SEC in scoring at 15.3 points per game.
• T-3rd in the SEC with nine 20-point games, including eight at home.
• Has appeared on the #SCtop10 13 times in his career.
• Increased scoring average by 10.7 points since his freshman season.
#02 | Alandise HARRIS (F)
• Returned to the starting lineup 13 games (11-2) ago.
• Four of six double figure games in SEC play have come on the road.
• Scored 1,167 points over his career at Arkansas and Houston.
• One of six players in the SEC with 25 steals and 25 blocks.
• Also has career totals over 500 rebounds and 100 blocks.
#10 | Bobby PORTIS (F)
• One of three high major players averaging 17.5 points and 8.5 rebounds.
• Two-time SEC Player of the Week.
• Averaging 18.5 points and 9.0 rebounds in SEC play.
• SEC leader in double-doubles (8) in league action, a program record.
• Career-best 25 straight games in double figures.

CLOSING IN ON HISTORY
In less than two full years as a Razorback, sophomore BOBBY PORTIS has already put his name in the conversation with some of Arkansas’ elite players in program history. With at least three games left, Portis is closing in on a few more records.
• Just 50 points and 15 rebounds shy of becoming the first player in Arkansas history with 1,000 points and 500 rebounds as a sophomore.
• Trying to become the third player in program history to reach the 1,000-point plateau as a sophomore. TODD DAY did so in 1990 and SCOTTY THURMAN accomplished the feat in 1994.
• Portis’ 25-game double figure scoring streak equals Todd Day’s 25-game streak over two seasons from the end of 1990-91 into 1991-92.

BP MODE
Currently in the top 5 of the SEC in scoring (17.7/2nd), rebounding (8.5/4th), offensive rebounds (3.4/2nd), defensive rebounds (5.1/5th) and field goal percentage (.562/1st), sophomore BOBBY PORTIS has continued to etch his name in the Arkansas record books.

• First player in program history with five straight double-doubles in SEC regular season action.
• Program record eight double-doubles in SEC play.
• First player in program history with 30 points and 10 rebounds in an SEC game against Vanderbilt with 32 points and 11 boards.
• Became the first player in program history to go for 18+ points and 7+ rebounds in six straight games since CORLISS WILLIAMSON did during his sophomore season in 1994.
• Just the fifth player to record multiple 30-point games in his career against SEC opponents, joining TODD DAY (4), JANNERO PARGO (3), SCOTTY THURMAN (3) and JONATHON MODICA (2).

SEC WINNING WAYS
Over the last two years, Arkansas has produced a seven-game and 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 13-4 SEC record this year, the Razorbacks are 19-5 in their last 24 league contests. Below is a look at the top records in the SEC over the last 24 conference games.

Kentucky  20-4
Arkansas  19-5
Georgia  15-9
Florida  15-9
Texas A&M  14-10
LSU  13-11
Ole Miss  13-11
Tennessee  12-12