Hoops How to watch to Arkansas-UNC Asheville, projected lineups, more

masonchoate · Dec 21, 2022

HawgBeat - How to watch to Arkansas-UNC Asheville, projected lineups, more

HawgBeat provides everything you need to know ahead of Wednesday's game between Arkansas and UNC Asheville.

arkansas.rivals.com

The No. 10 Arkansas Razorbacks will return home to Bud Walton Arena on Wednesday for a matchup with UNC Asheville.

Arkansas is coming off a dominant 76-57 win over Bradley on Saturday at Simmons Bank Arena in North Little Rock. With the holidays coming up and SEC play right around the corner, the Razorbacks are remaining locked in.

"I’m not going to talk about anything other than that with our team, anything other than how do we beat Asheville?," head coach Eric Musselman said Monday. "That’s really the one and only concern that we have right now as a group and as a team. We’ve had what I would consider a really good non-conference, and we have one other game before we get into SEC play, and then amongst that will be the Baylor non-con game, as well."

UNC Asheville is ranked No. 21 in the nation in 3-point percentage (39.2), and it has an experienced team that's won eight games so far this season. Arkansas is allowing opponents to hit from behind the arc at just a 26% clip this year.

Musselman and his squad will need to keep up that solid defense on the perimeter in this one.

"They’re a great three-point shooting team, they really are," Musselman said. "They shoot deep shots, they shoot quick shots in transition. They shoot shots with confidence, and (Tajion) Jones is a player that you’ve got to locate, find. He’s got 62 made field goals, and 37 of them are three balls, so it’s important to try to locate him as quick as possible and not allow #3 to get catch-and-shoot rhythm threes."

Along with Jones, the Bulldogs feature a prolific scorer in Drew Pember, who is averaging 19.7 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. The transfer from Tennessee hit a game-winner in UNCA's last time out to take down East Tennessee State.

"He presents a lot of problems," Musselman said. "Obviously the 17 made threes at 41.%. He’s an excellent free throw shooter at 85 plus. Then 89 free throws attempted. He’s blocked a lot of shots. Thirty blocks is a lot. A high steal rate. He can really run the floor. He’s done a good job as an assist player as well from the center spot. It’s not often you see somebody second on a team or third on a team in assists with 23."

As far as Arkansas' star player goes, freshman Nick Smith Jr. has been a topic of discussion over the past few days after he had some issues in Saturday's game against Bradley.

"He got taped at halftime, and then the tape felt a little uncomfortable," Musselman said after the game. "I just didn’t really feel the need to put him back in when he got taped up at halftime, and then left to get re-tapped. By that point I just felt like … And I discussed it quite a bit on bench with Coach Smart, because of his experience. Coach Argenal. The three of us talked about it. With the flow and the way the game was going, I just felt like there wasn’t a need to probably put him back in at that juncture."

Musselman also mentioned after the Bradley game that Smith's issue was nothing serious and that he expected him to play Wednesday. As of Monday, there was no update on Smith's status.

Here are details on how to watch/listen, notes, projected lineups, stats, odds and more for Wednesday's game between Arkansas and UNC Asheville:

Notes

~ This will be the first meeting between Arkansas and UNC Asheville.

~ Musselman is 3-0 versus Big South schools. His first career win – also his first collegiate game as a head coach – came against Coastal Carolina (now a member of the Sun Belt Conference). The game was on Nov. 13, 2015, and Nevada won, 73-56, in Honolulu, Hawaii. Musselman also defeated Radford while at Nevada and took down Gardner-Webb with the Razorbacks last season.

~ Arkansas is 10-1 to start this season. That marks the 23rd time in the program’s 100 years to start at least 10-1. Musselman has started at least 9-1 in all four seasons, including a 12-1 start in his first year with the Razorbacks.

~ Since Musselman's arrival at Arkansas, the Razorbacks have won 83 games. That is the most by any SEC team over the span with Auburn coming in second at 75

How to Watch/Listen

Who: No. 10 Arkansas Razorbacks (10-1, 0-0 SEC) vs UNC Asheville Bulldogs (8-4, 0-0 Big South)

When: Wednesday, Dec. 21 at 8 p.m. CT

Where: Fayetteville, Arkansas – Bud Walton Arena

Television: SEC Network (Dave Neal and Joe Kleine)

Stream/Online: Watch ESPN

Radio: Learfield Razorback Sports Network (Chuck Barrett and Matt Zimmerman)

Gameday Info and How to Listen

Online/Mobile: Razorback Gameday App

Sirius/XM: 146 (Sirius) / 192 (XM) || SXM App: Channel 963

Live Updates: Here

Projected Lineups

Arkansas

#0 - G Anthony Black - Fr., 6'7", 198 lbs.

2022 Stats per game: 34.1 min, 12.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.8 steals, 2.9 turnovers, 0.6 blocks, 53.3 fg%, 39.3 3fg%

#3 - G Nick Smith Jr. - Fr., 6'5", 185 lbs.

2022 Stats per game: 23.4 min, 12.8 points, 1.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.6 steals, 1.2 turnovers, 0.2 blocks, 38.9 fg%, 30.0 3fg%

#1 - G Ricky Gouncil IV - Jr., 6'6", 205 lbs.

2022 Stats per game: 36.3 min, 18.9 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.98assists, 1.7 steals, 2.3 turnovers, 0.2 blocks, 51.7 fg%, 31.6 3fg%

#13 - G/F Jordan Walsh - Fr., 6'7", 205 lbs.

2022 Stats per game: 23.4 min, 7.9 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.3 steals, 0.9 turnovers, 0.5 blocks, 51.6 fg%, 34.8. 3fg%

#15 - F Makhi Mitchell - Sr., 6'9", 230 lbs.

2022 Stats per game: 18.9 min, 7.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.4 steals, 1.0 turnovers, 1.3 blocks, 64.8 fg%

UNC Asheville

#0 - G Trent Stephney - Sr., 6'2", 173 lbs.

2022 Stats per game: 25.3 min, 6.0 points, 2.3 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.9 steals, 1.8 turnovers, 44.8 fg%, 30.4 3fg%

#3 - G Tajion Jones - Gr-Sr., 6'5", 210 lbs.

2022 Stats per game: 33.3 min, 14.8 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.7 steals, 1.3 turnovers, 0.4 blocks, 52.4 fg%, 48.1 3fg%

#1 - F Jamon Battle - Sr., 6'5", 207 lbs.

2022 Stats per game: 27.2 min, 10.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.4 steals, 1.8 turnovers, 59.6 fg%, 11.1 3fg%

#13 - F Nick McMullen - Jr., 6' 8”, 237 lbs.

2022 Stats per game: 20.4 min, 9.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 0.6 assists, 0.5 steals, 1.8 turnovers, 57.3 fg%, 25.0 3fg%

#4 - F Drew Pember - Sr., 6'10", 212 lbs.

2022 Stats per game: 31.2 min, 19.7 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 0.9 steals, 3.8 turnovers, 2.9 blocks, 50.0 fg%, 42.2 3fg%

Vegas odds:

Vegas: Arkansas is a -20.5 point favorite (BetSaracen)

ESPN: Arkansas has 95.0% chance to win