Preview and Gamethread: Arkansas vs. Colorado State

Time: 9 p.m. CT

TV: CBSSN

Line: Arkansas -6.5

Location: Moby Arena; Fort Collins, CO

The Hogs are heading to Fort Collins early in the season and are expected to come out with a win.

Wait you’ve already heard that before?

No this one is different. This one is the hoop Hogs heading up to Moby Arena, although the situation isn’t that dissimilar. Arkansas is the favorite but is not overly superior that an upset isn’t out of the question. It’s also the first true road game for a lot of freshman, which has spelled doom for a lot of teams.

The Hogs have plenty of size at the guard positions in this one, especially Mason Jones, who should feast with this lineup in. The Rams can counter that with Kris Martin, who has only played in the three most recent games due to injury, but has been very strong off the bench.

You might also recognize former Hog Doobie Jenkins. His time in Fayetteville was short lived, but has found a nice role with the Rams. He’s averaging 9.3 points per game and is making two shots from deep per game.

Nico Carvacho is the only player on the roster with the size to matchup well with Daniel Gafford. Outside of that the Rams can really only go with Zo Tyson, who is giving up a few inches and nearly 40 pounds. So yeah, Gafford should have a good time.

Arkansas’ big advantage in this one can come in terms of pace. The Rams slow things down as evidenced by their 205th ranking in Tempo. Arkansas wants to push the ball and will have to do so by creating turnovers against a team that has done a good job of protecting the ball all season. That is going to be the challenge in the game for the Hogs. Otherwise, Arkansas is going up against a defense that has struggled mightily this season. Their lack of size has been a hinderance this year and they’ve given a high percentage of shooting inside.