WACO, Texas — Baylor has won more games in the nine-year history of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge than any other team.
The No. 17 Bears take a 7-2 Challenge record into their game against the University of Arkansas at 3 p.m. today in the Ferrell Center.
Florida leads SEC teams with a 6-3 record in the Challenge with the Big 12’s Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech also 6-3.
Arkansas is 4-4 in Challenge games with all the victories at home and all the losses on the road.
The Razorbacks beat Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, TCU and West Virginia at home. The losses have been at Iowa State, Oklahoma State (twice) and Texas Tech.
The Big 12 has a 48-41 overall record against SEC teams in the Challenge, though the SEC has won the head-to-head matchups the last two years, going 5-4 in 2021 and 6-4 in 2022.
Only nine games were played in 2021 because the Kentucky-Texas matchup had to be canceled because of covid-19.
Today’s games mark the final installment of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. Starting next season SEC teams will have a Challenge series against the ACC.
“Both of us want to represent our leagues well and want to represent our schools well,” Baylor Coach Scott Drew said of taking on Arkansas. “At the end of the day, it’s the last [SEC/Big 12] Challenge, and you want to finish it right.”
McDonald’s teammates
Baylor guard Keyonte George was a McDonald’s All-American teammate on the West squad last year with three Razorbacks — guards Anthony Black and Nick Smith and forward Jordan Walsh.
The Razorbacks and Bears also each have a signee from this year’s McDonald’s teams, which were announced on Tuesday.
Center Baye Fall, who signed with Arkansas, and guard Ja’Kobe Walter, who signed with Baylor, also will be West teammates when the 2023 McDonald’s All-Star Game is played March 28 in Houston.
Last time
Arkansas and Baylor last played in the 2021 NCAA Tournament when the Bears beat the Razorbacks 81-72 in an Elite Eight matchup in Indianapolis. Baylor then beat Houston and Gonzaga at the Final Four to win the national championship.
The only current Razorback who played against Baylor in 2021 is starting junior guard Davonte Davis, who had 14 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists in 32 minutes.
The Bears have two starters — senior guard Adam Flagler and senior forward Flo Thamba — who played against the Razorbacks two years ago.
Flagler had 10 points, 4 steals and 3 assists in 27 minutes, and Thamba had 4 points and 4 rebounds in 13 minutes.
Three-point improvement
The Razorbacks hit 39.7% of their three-pointers (27 of 68) the previous four games to raise their season average to 30.8% (100 of 325).
Arkansas hit 7 of 18 three-pointers at Vanderbilt, 7 of 17 at Missouri, 8 of 20 against Ole Miss and 5 of 14 against LSU.
“I just think guys have really been putting in the work,” Razorbacks Coach Eric Musselman said. “We’ve talked about the importance of getting in the gym outside of practice and getting reps in.”
Davonte Davis leads the Razorbacks with three-point baskets in the four-game span at 8 of 17, with Anthony Black 6 of 13 and Jordan Walsh 4 of 10.
Mitchell day-to-day
Arkansas senior center Makhel Mitchell has been listed as day-to-day this week after injuring his right foot last Saturday in the Razorbacks’ 69-57 victory over Ole Miss.
Mitchell dressed out Tuesday night when Arkansas beat LSU 60-40, but he didn’t play — and there was no chance he was going to play, Coach Eric Musselman said after the game.
“Was out for sure,” Musselman said. “The suiting up, I just felt like we’ve got enough dudes in street clothes.”
Razorbacks on the bench not dressed out were sophomore forward Trevon Brazile, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in the ninth game against North Carolina-Greensboro, and freshman guard Nick Smith, who will miss his 10th consecutive game and 16th of the season dealing with a knee injury.
“ ‘Can you just suit up so that when I look down there, I think I have another body?’ ” Musselman said he asked Mitchell. “And he was like, ‘Yeah, sure Coach.’ Because he did not have his shoes tied, I promise you on that.”
Crowd salute
Razorbacks Coach Eric Musselman grabbed a microphone immediately after Arkansas beat LSU and thanked the fans for coming to Walton Arena despite a snowstorm that hit the area Tuesday night.
The crowd appeared to be about 12,000 and filled most of the arena’s lower bowl with some fans also in the upper deck.
“I had a friend in from Palm Springs [Calif.] and another one in from Atlanta, and I told them they’re going to see an incredible atmosphere,” Musselman said. “And they were like, ‘Well, how is that going to happen with the weather?’ And I said, ‘Just watch.’
“Throughout the day, we kept getting ticket requests from friends and people we know, and I thought that was pretty intriguing, because I kept asking the staff, ‘You guys got any extra tickets?’ And I kept waiting for people to say, ‘Yeah, I got extra tickets.’ Then everybody said, ‘No, people keep calling us.’
“I grabbed the mic just because I felt like they deserved a huge thank you, because the weather is not good out there right now.”
New team for Bridges
Baylor junior forward Jalen Bridges will play Arkansas in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge for the second consecutive season, but with a different team.
Bridges transferred to Baylor from West Virginia, which lost at Arkansas 77-68 in Walton Arena in last season’s SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
Bridges, who had 6 points and 6 rebounds in 25 minutes against the Razorbacks, is averaging 9.6 points and 5.7 rebounds for Baylor.