Arkansas should be on full alert before conference play begins.
The Razorbacks have seen a steady diet of challenging games since the beginning of the season, and another one is on the way when UNC Wilmington visits on Saturday in Fayetteville, Ark.
Only Jets fans thought Aaron Rodgers was coming back
Arkansas (8-4) has won four of its last five games, though it needed a comeback last week to overcome Abilene Christian 83-73.
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“Since we got back from our Christmas break, it has allowed us to clean up some things offensively,” Arkansas coach Eric Musselman said. “It allowed us to, hopefully, to see some of the holes we have in areas (where) we need to have growth.”
UNCW (9-2) has created a nice opening couple of months of the season, the highlight being a win at Kentucky. That’s the only team from a power conference that the Seahawks have faced.
“We’ve had enough time to dissect many of their games,” Musselman said. “They’ve got a great record. It’s a team that is very, very dangerous. They’ve got some veterans on this team.”
UNCW forward Trazarien White is averaging 19.3 points per game. He has made 57 percent of his shots from the field. He had a season-high 27 points in the Kentucky game and matched that in the most recent game against Marshall.
“They have a great star in White, who can really score,” Musselman said. “They know their roles. They play with a good pace offensively.”
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UNCW is 5-1 in road games. This will be the middle assignment in a stretch of five consecutive road outings. The Seahawks defeated Georgia Southern and Marshall prior to the Christmas break.
“We have grown, we have matured, we have gotten better,” UNCW coach Takayo Siddle said.
The Seahawks often do wholesale substitutions, with five new players heading to the court.
“I thought our guys coming in did a tremendous job,” Siddle of the Marshall game.
In 11 of their games this season, the Razorbacks have been led in scoring by either Tramon Mark (16.9 points per game) or Khalif Battle (15.3)
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This will be the last game before conference play for both teams — Arkansas in the Southeastern Conference and UNCW in the Coastal Athletic Association.
Arkansas offensive line signee Bubba Craig is expected to report Fayetteville this weekend for the spring semester.
Craig, 6-6 and 315 pounds, of Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College picked the Hogs over Temple, Liberty, Texas -San Antonio and others.
On3.com industry ranking list him the No. 1 interior offensive lineman and No. 23 overall junior college prospect.
Nickname: Bubba
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Favorite thing about playing on the O-line: Moving people
Football has taught me: Patience
My parents stay on me to: Be great at whatever I do
My favorite childhood memory: Building a fort in my yard. It fell over because I was like 10 years old and my siblings and I didn’t know we were doing but ut was still cool.
How Arkansas addressed receiver position in transfer portal
Arkansas offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino lost plenty of production in the passing game to the transfer portal and NFL Draft following the 2024 season.
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With starting quarterback Taylen Green set to return for a second season in Fayetteville, the Hogs had to find the 6-foot-6 passer some new weapons. Star receiver Andrew Armstrong is on his way to the NFL, veterans Isaac TeSlaa and Tyrone Broden are out of eligibility, and speedster Isaiah Sategna transferred to Oklahoma.
Along with those departures, younger prospects Dazmin James and Davion Dozier also elected to hit the portal, which left plenty of recruiting for Petrino, receivers coach Ronnie Fouch and head coach Sam Pittman.
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Armstrong led all Southeastern Conference players with 78 receptions for 1,140 receiving yards in the regular season, but it was really a one-man show with him all season.
TeSlaa added 545 receiving yards and Sategna was second on the team with 37 catches. At 6-foot-7, Broden could never break through as a true difference maker, as he caught just 15 passes for 197 yards and barely played late in the year.
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Of the players the Hogs are set to return at wide receiver — Jordan Anthony, CJ Brown, Krosse Johnson, Bryce Stephens, Monte Harrison and Shamar Easter (moved from tight end to receiver for Liberty Bowl) — the production from 2024 only combined for a total 18 receptions, 243 yards and one touchdown.
Incoming freshmen such as Warren (Ark.) product Antonio Jordan and Missouri City (Tx.) four-star Ja’Kayden Ferguson are intriguing prospects, but it was clear the Hogs needed to add talent in the transfer portal.
So far, the Razorbacks have signed five transfer portal wide receivers. Three of them put together very solid seasons in 2024 for their respective programs, while one — former four-star and Pine Bluff native Courtney Crutchfield — redshirted and the fifth, Ismael Cisse, was a contributor at Stanford.
Arkansas Wide Receiver Production
Note: Courtney Crutchfield is not part of the table, as he did not record any statistics in 2024.
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O’Mega Blake (6-foot-2, 180 lbs) began his career at South Carolina, where he spent three seasons and caught 20 passes for 251 yards and two touchdowns. At Charlotte in 2024, Blake caught five passes for 205 yards and three scores in the Nov. 23 win over Florida Atlantic.
Hailing from Fresno State, Raylen Sharpe (5-foot-9, 165 lbs) is very familiar with Petrino. Sharpe spent 2022-23 at Missouri State, where Petrino was head coach from 2020-22. Sharpe caught 73 passes for 991 yards and seven touchdowns at Missouri State in 2023.
Kam Shanks (5-foot-8, 180 lbs) will more-than-likely be the favorite to return punts after leading the nation with 329 punt return yards and two punt return touchdowns this season. Shanks caught five passes for 31 yards and one score in the Sept. 14 loss at Arkansas.
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After being committed to Arkansas for nearly seven months out of high school, Courtney Crutchfield signed with Missouri and redshirted after appearing in just two games in 2024. He was rated by Rivals as the No. 2 overall recruit and No. 1 wide receiver in the state of Arkansas in the 2024 recruiting class.
The latest addition to the class, Cisse signed with the Razorbacks on Monday evening following a visit over the weekend. He logged 381 snaps as a freshman in 2024, per Pro Football Focus. Cisse is a former three-star recruit out of Cherry Creek High School in Englewood, Colorado.
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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Overshadowed by Arkansas’ 52-point offensive performance was the difficulties the Razorbacks had stopping Tennessee guard Chaz Lanier, who scored 29 points on 10-for-20 shooting, including five threes in a 24-point loss against the No. 1 Volunteers.
Now, the Hogs must deal with a quartet of guards against No. 23 Ole Miss. All four can score in the “randomness” of coach Chris Beard’s system. The Rebels’ top four scorers, Sean Pedulla, Jaylen Murray, Matthew Murrell and Dre Davis are all listed as guards and average double figures.
“These guys run motion,” assistant coach Chin Coleman said. “It’s all random and it’s all different and so, while they’re moving and cutting and screening, you’re going to have to guard every kind of screen there is in the game of basketball. That motion is unpredictable. The freedom of movement, cutting, screening. It’s hard to scheme against. It’s hard to scout.”
Arkansas also must contend with an Ole Miss team that wins the turnover battle on both ends of the floor. The Rebels commit the ninth-fewest turnovers in the country (9.3) and are third-best in turnover margin (+7.0).
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“We want to stay on the attack and make plays for one another and not have a lot of live-ball turnovers,” Coleman said. “Those are the ones that we can’t defend against. We want to make teams play against our set defense, which is one of the best in the country. If we can do that and not have live ball turnovers, we’ll be fine.”
Tennessee forced the Razorbacks to commit 15 turnovers, picked up 10 steals and turned it into 13 points. Ole Miss ranks fourth in the SEC at 10.2 steals a game.
Tipoff between Ole Miss and Arkansas is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday and will be broadcast on ESPN2.
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