FAYETTEVILLE -- The Arkansas Razorbacks will get a shot at payback when they play Oklahoma State at Walton Arena today in the Big 12-SEC Challenge.
When the teams met Jan. 28, 2017, in Stillwater, Okla., it wasn't much of a challenge for Oklahoma State.
The Cowboys won 99-71 in Gallagher-Iba Arena after jumping out to a 14-2 lead.
It was the most points scored by a University of Arkansas, Fayetteville opponent in Mike Anderson's seven seasons as coach.
"They just took us to the woodshed," Anderson said. "But that has no bearing on this game here. This is a different year."
It may be a season later, but there are eight Razorbacks who played against Oklahoma State last season.
"They beat us pretty bad," Arkansas senior forward Trey Thompson said. "Obviously, we remember that loss. It was probably the worst loss we had last year as a team.
"We're just looking forward to getting a chance to play them again and come out and get better and get another win."
Oklahoma State Coach Mike Boynton was a Cowboys assistant coach last season.
"It was probably as well as we played all year that day in Stillwater," Boynton said. "So sure, there's an emotional component in preparation for those guys, because they've got a few players back who were on that team, and they remember the feeling walking off the court.
"They want to make sure that doesn't happen again."
Oklahoma State (13-7) beat No. 12 Oklahoma 83-81 in overtime last week at home after losing to the Sooners 109-89 on Jan. 3.
"It's no different than what we experienced last Saturday here," Boynton said of the Razorbacks' mindset. "Our guys were dialed in partly because we got out butts kicked in Norman just a couple weeks ago.
"So there's a component of that, but at the same time, the game will be totally decided on who plays the best that day. Who is most focused on their game plan, who can execute the best. That's what's going to determine the game.
"The emotion maybe to start the game will be a factor, but the game will settle in after the first media timeout or so and then it'll be a normal basketball game like always."
Anderson said he's sure the Razorbacks will be ready to play.
"At this time of the year all games are really, really big," Anderson said. "This one here is the next one on our schedule, but I'm sure they're looking forward to it."
Senior guard Daryl Macon, who led the Razorbacks (14-6) with 25 points in their 80-77 double overtime victory at Georgia on Tuesday night, was held scoreless at Oklahoma State last season when he shot 0 of 8 from the field.
"Daryl didn't play well at all in that particular game," Anderson said. "We had a bunch of guys that didn't play well.
"But this is a different team and hopefully it's a different focus. We'll continue to try to get better and continue to try to find ourselves in terms of how we want to play defensively.
"That's the message I've been trying to get to our guys. The offense will come and go. We've got to be good defensively."
Arkansas had been 0-4 on the road before winning at Georgia and overcame a 16-point deficit against the Bulldogs.
"I think it was a great road win for us," said Razorbacks senior guard Jaylen Barford, who scored 24 points. "I think we proved a lot of people wrong. We've just go to try to continue to prove people wrong and just be ourselves and play hard."
While the Razorbacks were winning at Georgia, the Cowboys lost at No. 14 Texas Tech 75-70 on Tuesday night.
"I think they're an NCAA Tournament team, " Texas Tech Coach Chris Beard, who led the University of Arkansas-Little Rock to the 2016 NCAA Tournament, said of the Cowboys. "They're really good.
"Mike's doing a great job. I think it's one of the most under-told stories in college basketball this year, the job he's doing. He gets the job at Oklahoma State and they lose two of their best players in Big 12 history in [Jawun] Evans and [Phil] Forte, then they have the FBI deal kind of looming early.
"But Mike's just kept them grounded and playing great basketball."
Oklahoma State fired assistant coach Lamont Evans in September as a result of an FBI investigation into bribery in college basketball. No Oklahoma State players were ruled ineligible and Boynton has said he expects to remain as coach.
"I mean, all the credit goes to my kids, my staff," Boynton said of the FBI probe not becoming a distraction. "First of all, I've got a resilient bunch who from day one, they tried to just focus on the things we know we can control, which is our effort, our attitude about things and try to represent Oklahoma State the best way possible every time we take the floor."
Oklahoma State senior forward Jeffrey Carroll, who scored 20 points against Arkansas last season, is averaging a team-high 16.2 points.
"We've got to make him work for it," Anderson said. "I think he's a guy that can step out and shoot the basketball. He's a guy that gets to the hole. He gets a lot of offensive rebounds. He gets to the free throw line quite a bit.
"So we've got to really pay attention to him, whether we're man or we're in a zone. We've got to be where he is and make it very, very difficult for him to score."
Sports on 01/27/2018