Potentially Two Men Down, Razorbacks Face Toughest Test

No. 7 Duke comes to Bud Walton as Hogs looking to find footing in recent struggles

Author:
Daniel Shi
Updated:
Nov 29, 2023 8:57 AM EST
Original:
Nov 28, 2023

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Not much has gone right for Arkansas since Thanksgiving. The team lost back-to-back games for the first time this season in the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas. The Razorbacks also dropped out of the AP Top 25 for the first time all season. The Hogs only received 10 votes in the most recent poll after starting the season at No. 14.

All that can be forgiven if Arkansas can pull the upset against No.7 Duke. The Blue Devils come to Fayetteville having only lost to No. 2 Arizona and look to drop the Razorbacks' record to .500, meaning the Hogs will have lost three of their last four.

However, if Eric Musselman's team comes out on top, it will happen with the status of two key players up in the air. The Razorbacks refused to designate an injury status for guard Tramon Mark after he was carted off the floor with 1:12 remaining against North Carolina. Musselman did say Mark is continuously being evaluated.

"T-Mark was in a wheelchair on the travel day," Musselman said on Monday. "Danyelle (Musselman's wife) and I went and visited him Sunday night just to check on him. He’s gotten tests done. MRIs done. Obviously, he had the stuff done in The Bahamas, but he’s still being evaluated. There’s a spine specialist coming in today at 2 o'clock."

The Hogs have also not seen forward Jalen Graham since he played five minutes in the 86-77 win over Old Dominion as he continues to battle back spasms. He did not make the trip with the team to the Bahamas and reportedly was unable to participate in a pro evaluation earlier this year.

"Nah," Musselman said when asked for an update on Graham. "No update at all."

Arkansas will have to contend with the talents of 7-foot center Kyle Filipowski, who leads the Blue Devils in points, rebounds, steals, blocks, field goal percentage (minimum 25 attempts) and free throw attempts.

The Razorbacks will need to lean on their experience facing Purdue center Zach Edey and the success the Hogs had in an 81-77 win in the charity event. Edey was held to just 4-for-8 from the floor and committed five fouls in 24 minutes.

"They’re both elite rebounders," forward Trevon Brazile said. "You’ve got to keep them both off the glass. That’ll be a tough task for the bigs and the guards."

Filipowski will be joined by stellar guard play in the Duke backcourt in the form of Tyrese Proctor and Jeremy Roach, both averaging in double figures and combining for nearly eight assists per game. Jared McCain rounds out the backcourt as the best deep ball threat early in the season, shooting 12-for-28.

"You look at this team and their center [Filipowski] is a lottery pick," Musselman said. "Proctor, one of their guards/wings is a lottery pick. So we’re playing against two lottery picks. And No. 1, [Caleb] Foster is an early Mid-20 type pick based on mock drafts. So we’re playing against three draft picks that’ll all probably happen before 20. So we’re playing against a really good basketball team with some guys that made a decision to come back and play college basketball."

The Hogs will contend with a plethora of Duke talent in the inaugural ACC/SEC Challenge. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:15 p.m. Nov. 29 and will be broadcast on ESPN and fuboTV .