After spending Thanksgiving week soaking up the sun, picking up two wins, and displaying attitude at the Maui Invitational Tournament, Arkansas basketball returns home to the Basketball Palace of Mid-America for a Monday night matchup with the Troy Trojans.
Currently, Troy ranks 165th in Ken Pom’s 2023 College Basketball Rankings with a 6-1 record. The ranking breaks down with the Trojans ranked 197th in adjusted offense and 134th in adjusted defense. (For comparison, Arkansas basketball is currently 40th in adjusted offense, fifth in adjusted defense, and 13th overall.)
However, Arkansas basketball fans should not view that data and think this is a game to take for granted. Please ask Florida State fans about that after seeing their Seminoles lose to Troy at home on November 14th.
Arkansas basketball cannot take a win against Troy for granted tonight.
Troy has a balanced scoring attack that the highly-ranked Arkansas basketball defense will hope to neutralize. Guard Duke Miles leads the team in scoring at 14.0 points per game, with guard Nelson Phillips in second at 13.6. However, neither guard stands taller than 6’3″, so head coach Eric Musselman will rely on his length in the backcourt to make life difficult for the Trojan guards.
While Troy does have a big win over Florida State on its resume, it also has a loss to St. Thomas (224th in Ken Pom’s rankings) in Zootown Classic in Missoula, Montana, so it remains to be seen which version of the Trojans will step onto Nolan Richardson Court tonight.
For the Razorbacks, Arkansas basketball is currently outscoring opponents by an average of 14.3 points per game, even with the final two games of the tournament in Maui being decided by a combined seven points.
Troy is a high-scoring team at 86 points per game, while Arkansas basketball only gives up an average of 63.3 to opponents. As has become par for the course in the Musselman era, the Razorbacks will look to set the tone with their defense.
Troy is a decent three-point shooting team at 36 percent per game. The Trojans will need to take advantage of that fact if they want to have a shot against the Hogs this evening. Arkansas is still only shooting 29 percent from deep.
This will likely be a win for Arkansas basketball, but the game might be closer than the names on the front of the jerseys would suggest.