FAYETTEVILLE — The matchup between Arkansas and Arkansas-Little Rock has something in common with Razorback head coach Mike Neighbors' golf game: the number two.
When the Razorbacks (12-1) and Trojans (2-7) meet in North Little Rock on Saturday at 1 p.m. it will be just the second time the programs have met on the hardwood.
That doesn't mean the two coaches aren't familiar with each other.
"I know how he coaches defense. He got us down in a stance for about five straight days and didn't let us up," Neighbors said.
Neighbors is talking about UALR head coach Joe Foley and his personal experience with Foley's coaching style. When Neighbors was in high school he attended an Arkansas Tech men's basketball camp with some friends. At the time Foley was a men's assistant with Arkansas Tech. Foley was in charge of Neighbors' building and he made sure they knew how to play defense.
Flash forward a few years and once Neighbors made it into the college coaching ranks he began to get to know Foley as a friend. "I would say once at least every other year we met on the golf course in some shape, form or fashion," Neighbors said.
Foley and Neighbors share a special moment on the links together. Neighbors has hit two holes-in-one in his golfing career, and one of them was with the Trojans head coach.
"We'd gotten eliminated from the coaches shootout. So we were going back to play. We got there on No. 2 at Paradise (Valley Athletic Club) and hit a ball. It was kind of hitting into the morning sun and none of us saw it. We got up on the green and were still looking for the ball, and there was mine in the hole," Neighbors said with a grin.
While Neighbors has had plenty to smile about recently. The Razorbacks are coming off consecutive games in which they defeated Tulsa by 50 points and Northwestern State by 60 points. He knows this game in North Little Rock is important to the program. He even went so far as to say playing the Trojans, "was a must for us."
UALR has had success under Foley this decade with five NCAA tournament appearances, four Sun Belt tournament championships and eight 20-win seasons. Meanwhile, the Razorbacks have mustered two NCAA tournament appearances, zero conference championships and four 20-win seasons.
"They've been the best team in the state for a long time. I'm not stupid enough not to realize that," Neighbors said. "They've been in the NCAA Tournament, they've won games. Nobody wants to play Little Rock in the tournament. Nobody wanted to see them in their bracket."
The Trojans (2-7) aren't looking like an NCAA Tournament team this year, but Neighbors said it takes some time for Foley's teams to start clicking. "They run a motion... It's a lot of times why you see their teams start out two or three wins to six or seven losses. It takes a while for them to figure it out, and then they always win 24 or 25 games and they figure it out. We're not going to fall for the old banana in the tailpipe trick and fall for their record to be an indicator."
The Trojans' motion offense allows them to play a different brand of basketball than the Razorbacks, "He's not going to stand up and call a play the entire game... I'll be up calling a lot of actions. He'll be sitting their not, but there's lots of ways to win at this game, his has been very successful. But it's fun to see the two styles match up," Neighbors said.
The Razorbacks will play their first regular-season game in North Little Rock since 2014, a 71-65 victory over Oklahoma, and their first game against the Trojans since a 74-54 victory in 1977.
Neighbors wanted a game in the Little Rock area to help with recruiting. "I thought it was imperative that we get the presence down there and it was just a bonus that it happens to be UALR."
Neighbors likes the game because he says when you look at it there are conference foes that could be closer to in-state recruits depending on where they live. "It wasn't an excuse for kids in that part of the state to feel like their parents wouldn't get a chance to see them play locally. So we needed to take that away from those kids in that part of the state."
Neighbors' teams at Arkansas have not performed well in their last game before Christmas. Two years ago the Razorbacks lost 89-43 in Tempe, Ariz., against Arizona State, four days before Christmas. Last year the Razorbacks beat the Tulsa Golden Hurricane in Tulsa 61-59, five days before Christmas.
"I think all but about six of us are leaving from Little Rock to go home for the holidays, so you have kids worrying do they have everything packed for that. A lot of that is managing this week of being in finals and heading into the holidays," Neighbors said.
The Razorbacks recently started playing in-state schools that are a part of the University of Arkansas System. The Arkansas baseball team played regular-season games against Arkansas-Pine Bluff and UALR earlier this year. The softball, volleyball and men's and women's tennis teams also played at least one in-state school within the past year. The Razorback football team announced an upcoming game against UAPB in 2021.
If the Arkansas and UALR matchup is to have more contests on the hardwood than Neighbors' hole-in-ones, the Razorback head coach wants his team to play well.
"I think the future will only depend on how well we play when we go down there," he said.