Preview and Thread: Hogs Look To Defend Homecourt Against A&M

Time: 3 p.m. CT

TV: ESPN

Line: Arkansas -3, O/U: 147

Last Time Out

A barrage of three pointers and offensive rebounding sunk Arkansas in their first meeting in College Station. Arkansas was in it at halftime but a strong run out of the gates in the 2nd half gave A&M the win. A&M has since recovered from a poor SEC start as well, After starting 0-5 in conference play, they’ve found some of that magic from non conference play and have rebounded nicely.

Projected Starters

Same starting five for A&M from the first matchup, although they will be without senior Duane Wilson who put up some good numbers on the bench last time out. Arkansas had Daryl Macon on the bench last time but that experiment has since ended.

3 Key Stats

As mentioned earlier, three point shooting and offensive rebounding were the thorns in Arkansas’ side. Although at the final whistle, A&Ms percentages weren’t that extreme, Arkansas just can’t let them have a hot streak like they did. They will also need to keep Tyler Davis off the boards, he had 11 of those 16 offensive rebounds.

So the three keys for Arkansas are pretty black and white, rebound, defend the three, and get help from a third scoring option. Most likely Daniel Gafford or Anton Beard, who both had quiet games last time against the Aggies.