EL DORADO – In an exciting matchup on January 13, 2025, at the Star Arena, South Arkansas Community College (SouthArk) secured an 89-78 victory over Arkansas State Mid-South. Strong team play and standout individual performances propelled SouthArk to their triumph in front of a lively home crowd.

SouthArk took control early, outscoring Arkansas State Mid-South 43-31 in the first half. Although the visitors narrowed the gap in the second half with a 47-point effort, it wasn’t enough to overcome SouthArk’s consistent scoring and defensive strength. Key contributors included Lavion Owens, who led all scorers with 25 points while also grabbing 10 rebounds for a double-double. Jakourion Key added 22 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 steals, and Braylon Haynes chipped in 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 assists. SouthArk shot an efficient 48.5% from the field and a solid 44.8% from beyond the arc.

Despite the loss, Arkansas State Mid-South showed determination in the second half, but their efforts fell short against SouthArk’s balanced attack. With this win, South Arkansas Community College continues to showcase their potential and build momentum as they progress through the season.

Who: rv/rv Arkansas Razorbacks (11-4, 0-2 SEC) vs #8/8 Florida Gators (14-1, 1-1 SEC)
What: For the first time in program history, Arkansas opens league play (SEC and SWC) versus three-straight, top-25 teams.
When: Saturday – Jan. 11 – 3:00 pm (CT)
Where: Fayetteville, Ark. • Bud Walton Arena/Nolan Richardson Court (19,200)
How (to follow):
– TV/Stream: ESPN / Watch ESPN (Karl Ravech and Jimmy Dykes)
– Radio: Learfield Razorback Sports Network (Chuck Barrett and Matt Zimmerman)
– Sirius/XM: Sirius: 84 / XM: 84 || SXM App Channel 84
– Arkansas Gameday App
– Live Stats

– Arkansas Game Notes  
– Florida Game Notes
– SEC Notes/Stats

FAYETTEVILLE – Arkansas will close its two-game homestand by hosting #8 Florida on Saturday (Jan. 11). Tipoff is set for 3 pm (CT) and the game will be televised on ESPN.

Next week, Arkansas plays a pair of road games starting at LSU on Tuesday (Jan. 14) with tipoff set for 8 pm (CT).

NOTES:

Advertisement

Versus Florida

• Arkansas and Florida have met on 39 previous occasions, all since the Razorbacks entered the SEC for the 1991-92 season.
• Florida owns a 27-15 advantage in the series overall. However, Arkansas leads 10-7 in games played in Fayetteville, including a two-game winning streak.
• Last year, Florida won 90-68 in Gainesville. Arkansas got off to a slow start but used a 12-3 run to cut its deficit to 10 after a Joseph Pinion fastbreak basket with 6:56 left in the first half. However, Florida opened the second half with an 11-4 run to push its lead to 20 and never looked back. Florida, which led the NCAA in rebounding, held a 48-31 advantage on the boards including 15 offensive boards to out-score Arkansas 17-8 on second-chance points.

Playing #8

• This will be the second time this year Arkansas has faced a team ranked #$8 in the AP poll. In game two, then #16 Arkansas lost to then #8 Baylor, 72-67, in Dallas.
• All-time, Arkansas is 3-6 versus AP #8 teams.
• However, Coach Calipari is 7-2 all-time versus AP #8 teams. (2-0 at UMass • 1-0 at Memphis  •  4-1 at Kentucky  •  0-1 at Arkansas)

Arkansas Has Tough Opening Stretch

• Arkansas opened the SEC slate at #1 Tennessee, hosted #23 Ole Miss on Wednesday and hosts #8 Florida on Saturday.
• The Razorbacks have never opened conference action (SEC nor SWC) by facing three-straight, top 25 opponents. The closest was playing three ranked opponents in games 2, 3 and 4 to open the 2022-23 SEC season. In 1999-00, Arkansas closed the regular season by facing six-straight, top-25 opponents (going 2-4) vs #11 Florida (L, 80-71) on Feb. 15, vs #16 LSU (L, 78-67) on Feb. 19, vs #24 Vanderbilt (W, 78-63), at #18 Kentucky (L, 60-55) on Feb. 26, at #11 Tennessee (L, 73-66) and vs #19 Auburn (W, 64-55).
• The last time Arkansas played three-straight, top-25 opponents was twice in the 2022-23 season. First, games 2, 3 and 4 of the of the 2022-23 conference season, Arkansas faced #20 Missouri (W, 74-68) on Jan. 4, played at #22 Auburn (L, 72-59) on Jan. 7 and hosted #4 Alabama (L, 84-69) on Jan. 11. Later, the Razorbacks closed the regular season by playing at #2 Alabama (L, 86-83) on Feb. 25, at #2 Tennessee (L, 75-57) on Feb. 28 and vs #23 Kentucky (L, 88-79) on Mar. 4.
• Overall, Arkansas has only played at least three-straight, top-25 opponents in the regular season 8 times including twice in 2022-23 (see above), once in 2002-03 (at #4 Florida, vs #22 Alabama, at #23 Miss State), once in 2001-02 (at #15 Georgia, vs #5 Florida, at #7 Alabama), once (technically twice) in 1999-00 (see above), once in 1998-99 (at #23 Florida, vs #6 Kentucky, vs #2 Auburn), once in 1990 Preseason NIT (vs #15 Oklahoma, vs #6 Duke, vs #3 Arizona) and once in 1980 Alaska Shootout (#11 Mizzou, #12 LSU, #13 North Carolina).

Some Good News

• In 2022-23, when Arkansas played three straight, top-25 teams in games 2, 3, and 4 of the SEC season, the Razorbacks went 1-2 by beating #20 Mizzou and losing to #22 Auburn and #4 Alabama. Overall, Arkansas started that season 1-5 in league play but finished the year by making its third-straight Sweet 16.
• In 2021-22, Arkansas started league play 0-3 but finished 13-5 in the league and reached the NCAA Elite 8.
• In 2020-21, Arkansas started league play 1-3 to start and was 2-4 in the league after six conference game. The Hogs won its final 13 league games, finishing 13-4 in the SEC, and reached the NCAA Elite 8.
• The SEC has had at least one team make the NCAA Tournament field during five of the last six seasons after an 0-2 conference start when the Big Dance has been held including Florida (2024) • Texas A&M (2024)  •  Miss State (2023)  •  Arkansas (2022)  •  Mississippi State (2019)  •  Tennessee (2018)  • Texas A&M( 2018)

Adou is Now #1

• Adou Thiero, who was 7-of-12 from the field versus Ole Miss, now leads the SEC, and ranks 20th in the NCAA, in field goal percentage at 60.8%. He has shot over 60% from the field in 8 of his 14 games. He is shooting an impressive 68.6% (81-118) from inside the 3-point arc.
• Last time out, Thiero led the team with 17 points, nine rebounds and two steals. Thiero has led the team in scoring a team-best seven times, led the team in rebounding a team-best eight times and led the team in steals a team-best seven times.

For more information on Arkansas Men’s Basketball, follow @RazorbackMBB on X.

FAYETTEVILLE –  The Arkansas Razorbacks (11-4, 0-2 SEC) remain winless in conference play after a tough 73-66 loss to No. 23 Ole Miss (13-2, 2-0 SEC) on Wednesday night. Despite a strong start and home-court advantage, Arkansas couldn’t hold off the Rebels, who surged ahead in the second half to secure the win.

The Razorbacks opened with a commanding 10-5 lead, setting the tone for a competitive first half. Arkansas led for most of the period until Ole Miss tied the game at 36-36 on a Sean Pedulla three-pointer with just 31 seconds remaining in the half. That shot marked a pivotal moment, as it was the last time Arkansas held a lead in the game.

Coming out of halftime, Matthew Murrell’s layup gave Ole Miss an early advantage in the second half. Although Arkansas guard Boogie Fland quickly answered with a jump shot to tie the game at 38-38, the Rebels responded with a three-pointer from Davon Barnes, putting them ahead for good.

Ole Miss extended its lead in the final moments, with D.J. Wagner’s layup bringing the score to 72-64 with just 21 seconds remaining. Arkansas managed to close the gap slightly, but the Razorbacks couldn’t convert critical opportunities, leaving them with another SEC loss.

For Arkansas, the loss highlights the challenges of conference play and the need for resilience as they seek their first SEC win under legendary coach John Calipari. The Razorbacks will look to regroup and capitalize on their next opportunity to break into the conference win column.

Advertisement