Ranking rarity: Hogs set to host first top-25 game since 1998

Arkansas coach Eric Musselman celebrates with students following the Razorbacks' 75-64 victory over Florida on Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021, in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE — Twice within a two-week span in February 1998, the University of Arkansas basketball team hosted top-25 matchups in Bud Walton Arena.

The Razorbacks were ranked No. 14 when they beat No. 17 Ole Miss 100-87 on Feb. 5, and they were ranked No. 16 when they beat No. 13 South Carolina 96-88 on Feb. 13.

There hadn’t been another top-25 matchup in Walton Arena for 23 seasons.

Until tonight.

The No. 20 Razorbacks play No. 6 Alabama at 8 p.m. in Walton Arena. The game will be televised on ESPN2.

“The last time there was a top-25 matchup at Bud Walton, we won, so I want to keep that tradition going,” Arkansas senior guard Jalen Tate said. “It’s a big-time SEC game, so I’m definitely excited about this one, man.

“Especially at Bud Walton, with all the history the arena has. We’re going to be able to try to position ourselves to get a really good seed for the NCAA Tournament. So this environment, it’s hard not to get up for it.”

Alabama (18-5, 13-1) can clinch a share of the SEC regular-season championship by beating Arkansas (17-5, 9-4).

“It’s really a game for the conference championship is what we’ve told our guys,” Crimson Tide Coach Nate Oats said. “If we win it, we win the championship. If they win it, they’re still in the hunt.”

The Razorbacks lost at Alabama 90-59 on Jan. 16 in the teams’ first meeting this season.

“Their offense was like a Lamborghini and our offense was like a Prius,” Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman said. “We got our butts kicked. They played phenomenal. We didn’t.

“We obviously have to play a lot better basketball than we did in Tuscaloosa.”

Alabama hit 15 of 36 three-pointers compared to 4 of 21 for Arkansas. The Razorbacks shot 33.3% from the field (21 of 63) and had 18 turnovers.

“When I go back and watch that game, we weren’t ourselves honestly,” Tate said. “We’re a completely different team now.”

Arkansas senior forward Justin Smith returned to the lineup at Alabama after missing four games while recovering from ankle surgery. He played just 18 minutes and was 1 of 5 from the field.

Smith is averaging 14.8 points the past five games.

“Smith obviously wasn’t close to 100% coming off his injury,” Oats said. “He’s gotten a lot better since we played them. He’s a big reason they’ve gotten on a run.

“We’re going to have to match his energy and we’re going to have play him tough. He’s giving them really good minutes. He’s a big reason they’re the hottest team in the SEC.”

The Razorbacks have won seven consecutive SEC games since losing at Alabama.

“I think they’ve got a little bit of swagger about them now,” Oats said. “We beat them by a large margin here, but it could flip the other way fairly easily if we don’t bring an appropriate effort.

“I think we’ve got a mature group that understands that. At least I hope so.”

Alabama is led by seniors Herbert Jones, John Petty and Alex Reese.

“You look at Alabama, and I think they’re as talented as any team in the country,” Musselman said. “They have great offensive spacing. They have a great drive-and-kick game.

“They’re a matchup nightmare because of the shooting and the ability to beat people off the bounce. Their players fit their system really, really well. They’re a confident team. They’re active on both sides of the ball. Everybody always talks about Alabama’s offense, but their defense is phenomenal.”

Oats said that in reviewing tape of Alabama’s first game against Arkansas and the Razorbacks’ more recent games, the biggest difference he sees is how hard they’re playing.

LSU beat Arkansas 92-76 in the game before the Razorbacks played at Alabama, and Musselman said the practice two days before playing the Crimson Tide was the longest in his two seasons as coach. The Razorbacks wore weighted vests in many drills, as they would have in a training camp practice.

“If it affects us [at Alabama] it affects us, but over the course of the season, they’re going to remember that practice,” Musselman said at the time. “Are you going to go light on Thursday after playing the way we did? Or are you going to have your most difficult practice of the year? We went old school.”

Oats said that practice may have affected the Razorbacks at Alabama in the short term but helped them play the way they have during their SEC winning streak.

“Maybe their legs weren’t quick under them as much as they typically would have been,” Oats said. “But Coach Musselman was trying to make a point.

“I think the point he wanted to make was received, because they haven’t lost an SEC game since our game. I think he got his point across, like, ‘You’re going to play hard or you’re not going to play. There are going to be consequences.’

“They’re playing a lot harder now than they were before we played them the first time. We’re going to need to bring our ‘A’ game.”

Musselman topped that. He said the Razorbacks need to bring their “A+” game to have a chance to beat the Tide.

“If we think we’re going to play an A-minus game and win, I can already tell you the answer to that quiz,” Musselman said. “We ain’t winning. We have to play a great game to even give ourselves a chance to win.”

Instead of coming into the rematch with Alabama after a long, tough practice, the Razorbacks have had extra time to prepare for the Tide after Saturday night’s scheduled game at Texas A&M was canceled because of positive covid-19 tests, contact tracing and quarantining within the Aggies’ program.

The Razorbacks began preparations for Alabama on Saturday, several hours before they would have played at Texas A&M.

“The season is a grind and you don’t always have these cancellations, so I’m looking at it from a positive standpoint as much as I can,” Tate said. “Get that rest. Get those extra days in the gym. Take those extra days to get your body right, watch extra film.

“It makes your prep that much better, and I think it does prove beneficial.”