The Razorbacks (12-7, 1-5 SEC) got their first conference win Wednesday against Georgia because of their relentless effort on the boards and their toughness, and they'll need to do it again when they face the Oklahoma Sooners (14-4, 1-4 SEC) on Saturday at Bud Walton Arena.
Arkansas finished the game versus Georgia +10 in the rebounding department, and it was the first time in Southeastern Conference play that the Hogs out-rebounded their opponent.
Assistant coach Chuck Martin met with the media Friday to preview Oklahoma and he said the win over Georgia showed how tough the team is.
"It’s a war every night, so for us to out-rebound them...rebounding is an indicator of toughness," Martin said. "If we can out-rebound Georgia in an SEC game the way we did the other night, it’s an indication that we have toughness."
The Hogs finished with 40 rebounds against Georgia, with 18 coming on the offensive end, a season-high. Martin said freshman wing Karter Knox, who finished with six rebounds and went to the free throw line 13 times, was especially impressive.
"We asked Karter and the other bigs, 'Hey, you’ve gotta commit to going to the glass and really try to put effort into this,'" Martin said. "I give Karter a lot of credit, and (Trevon Brazile), all our bigs, all of those guys, but I mention Karter because he’s the youngest of the group and for him to go rebound the ball in the manner he did and the moments he did, it’s great to see his development in real time."
Oklahoma presents less of a threat on the glass than any of the other teams the Hogs have faced this season. The Sooners rank dead last in the SEC in total rebounds at 32.8 per game and are dead last in both offensive (8.9) and defensive (23.9) boards per game. The Hogs, on the other hand, are ranked 10th in total rebounds, 13th in offensive rebounds and sixth for defensive rebounds.
Arkansas and Oklahoma have a common opponent in Georgia, which the Sooners faced on Jan. 11. The Bulldogs won 72-62, out-rebounded the Sooners 41-33 and had 16 second-chance points. Oklahoma had 10 offensive boards and only mustered six second-chance points in the contest.
Along with Knox, Arkansas has a plethora of players who are getting a taste of the SEC for the first time. Martin said there's a slight learning curve for those guys, and it appears they're coming around.
"For our young guys and our new guys who have never played in this league, it takes some time to get accustomed to the athleticism, the size, the physicality," Martin said. "I think we saw that the other night that they’re starting to make that adjustment."
It can't just be a one-off performance for this group on the glass, though. The Razorbacks have a ton of work cut out for them if they hope to play themselves back into the NCAA Tournament picture, and that starts with a matchup against the Sooners on Saturday.
"(Oklahoma is) a good team, they had some good wins early in the year," Martin said. "I think they beat Arizona early on in the year, I think Georgia Tech they beat early on in the year...so they’re a really good team. This is just an unbelievable league.
"They want to push the ball and get up and down in transition. Their guard play is really, really good. You know they’re going to come in here and be super, super physical, play really, really hard. So it’s an SEC game."
Saturday's game between the Razorbacks and Sooners will tip off from Bud Walton Arena at 7:30 p.m. CT and it will air on ESPN2.
