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Missouri basketball at Arkansas: Prediction, scouting report

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Missouri basketball at Arkansas: Prediction, scouting report


For Missouri basketball, a victory on Saturday would be sweet, as it would be its first victory in the Southeastern Conference and redemption over an old rival.

The Tigers (8-18, 0-13) will take on Arkansas (13-13, 4-9) at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville. The teams previously faced off on Jan. 31 at Mizzou Arena, where the Razorbacks, from start to finish, dominated the Tigers in a 91-84 victory, leading by as much as 23.

More: 4 things that will be at the top of the new Missouri athletic director’s to-do list

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On Tuesday, Missouri led and kept it close against No. 5 Tennessee before falling 72-67 for its 13th consecutive loss in the SEC.

Since playing the Tigers, Arkansas is 2-3 in February. The Razorbacks, led by head coach Eric Musselman, defeated Georgia but also fell to LSU, Tennessee, and Mississippi State. Most recently, Arkansas won 78-71 at Texas A&M on Tuesday.

Ahead of Saturday’s matchup (11 a.m., ESPN2), here are three things to keep an eye out for as the Tigers seek their first league victory against Arkansas.

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Mabor Majak vs. Mekhi Mitchell

If Missouri wants to come away victorious on Saturday, it can’t let Makhi Mitchell flourish again. In the previous matchup, the 6-foot-10 forward scored a season-high 19 points against the Tigers. Since then, he’s topped that mark twice, each in the past two games, tallying 21 and 22 points at Mississippi State and Texas A&M. 

Protecting inside the arc will be a big test for the Tigers, and Dennis Gates will likely have to depend on center Mabor Majak. The 7-foot-2 post player from Juba, South Sudan, played a season-high 22 minutes against Tennessee, recording four defensive rebounds. 

“He’s very unselfish,” Dennis Gates said. “He’s given his body, he’s given whatever it is. It’s not even about offense. He’s out there fighting and giving us the emotional boost that most leaders do. He can do it silently, he can do it through action, and it can be the smallest things that stand out. He’s very connected to all of his teammates.”

Sean East II’s hot streak is key this time around against the Razorbacks

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Fueling Missouri’s fight in its previous two games has been a resurgence of Sean East II. The graduate point guard has tallied 49 combined points and generated 23 attempts at the free throw line. 

East scored just 11 points in the Tigers first matchup against Arkansas before suffering a knee contusion at Vanderbilt, forcing him to miss the following two games, which MU lost by a combined 43 points. The Tigers can’t afford a no-show from their best scorer, and the past week has shown that he isn’t slowing down anytime soon.

Can Missouri keep its focused on defense?

Arkansas’ 91 points on Jan. 31 is the second-most allowed by Missouri in SEC play. 

Fast forward to Tuesday, and Missouri forced a top-50 scoring offense in Tennessee to miss its first 11 shots. The Volunteers’ offensive efficiency rating heading into their matchup with the Tigers ranked 16th in the nation according to KenPom.com.

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“We said if our offense wasn’t there, that the defense had to pick up, it’s got to multiply. If we weren’t making shots, we weren’t going to let them make shots,” Missouri’s Noah Carter said Tuesday. “And that’s kind of what our mindset was, and it wasn’t expected to go that long. I think the score was 2-1 at the first media [timeout] and a little bit after that, but it was about getting our defense together, and if we’re not scoring, we can’t let them score.”

The Razorbacks’ offensive efficiency rating ranks 129th in the nation at 108.7. Remaining aggressive and dialed in on the defensive end is something worth watching.

Score Prediction

Arkansas 73, Missouri 67: Missouri has played better since the last time it faced the Razorbacks with inspiring efforts against Mississippi and Tennessee. But the Tigers are just 2-14 all-time at Bud Walton Arena and haven’t won in the opposing gym since Nov. 28.



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Arkansas

Arkansas' 4 Republican US House members face challenges from Democratic rivals

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Arkansas' 4 Republican US House members face challenges from Democratic rivals


LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas’ four Republican U.S. House members face challenges in this year’s election from Democratic rivals who are mounting uphill battles to break the GOP’s hold on the state’s federal delegation.

Republican U.S. Reps. Rick Crawford, French Hill, Steve Womack and Bruce Westerman are seeking reelection in the heavily GOP state. Republicans have held all of the state’s U.S. House and Senate seats since 2013.

Crawford, who has represented the 1st Congressional District since 2011, faces a challenge from Democratic nominee Rodney Govens. The 1st District covers eastern Arkansas and includes the cities of Jonesboro, West Memphis and Helena-West Helena. Libertarian Steve Parsons is also running for the seat.

Crawford is a senior member of the House Agriculture Committee and has said he will seek the top Republican spot on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in the next Congress.

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Govens, a Cabot resident who has worked in the telecommunications industry, has called for improving the Veterans Administration system and foster care across the country. Crawford has said he wants to address the nation’s debt by enacting permanent spending controls.

Hill, who was first elected to the 2nd District in 2014 and is vice chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, is running against Democratic nominee Marcus Jones. The 2nd District seat covers central Arkansas, and it includes Little Rock.

Democrats have tried unsuccessfully in recent years to try to reclaim the district, hoping to rely heavily on turnout in Little Rock despite the state’s further lurch to the right. The majority-GOP Legislature in 2021 redrew the redistrict lines, moving thousands of predominantly Black voters out of the 2nd District.

Hill has focused heavily on immigration in his reelection, calling for more border security, and on measures he says will help tackle inflation. Jones is a retired Army colonel who served as senior Army adviser to the Arkansas Army National Guard at Camp Robinson. Jones has called for expanding the child tax credit and legislation to increase rural health care access.

Womack, a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, was first elected to the 3rd District in 2010 and is running against Democrat Caitlin Draper, a clinical social worker from Fayetteville.

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The 3rd District covers northwest Arkansas and includes the cities of Fayetteville, Springdale and Fort Smith.

Womack, the former chairman of the House Budget Committee, was the only one of the state’s House members to face a primary challenge in March, defeating state Sen. Clint Penzo. Womack had the backing of the state’s top Republicans in that contest, including GOP Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Womack has cited border security as a priority and has said he believes he has the experience to find bipartisan solutions in a closely divided Congress.

Draper, like other Democrats running for House seats in Arkansas, has said she supports legislation at the federal level protecting access to abortion following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision striking down Roe v. Wade. She has also said cited climate change and health care as top issues.

Libertarian Bobby Wilson is also running for the seat.

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Westerman, who chairs the House Natural Resources Committee, was first elected to the 4th District in 2014. He is running against Risie Howard, an attorney from Pine Bluff.

The 4th district covers southern Arkansas and includes Pine Bluff, Hot Springs and Texarkana.

Westerman, a former state legislator and the only forester in the House, has touted his work on forestry legislation and said his priorities in the next Congress also include energy and mining issues. Howard has said she wants to strengthen the Affordable Care Act and protect Social Security.



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Arkansas wins 53rd cross country conference championship | Whole Hog Sports

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Arkansas wins 53rd cross country conference championship | Whole Hog Sports





Arkansas wins 53rd cross country conference championship | Whole Hog Sports







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Why Ole Miss Should Beat the Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday | Locked On Ole Miss Podcast

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Why Ole Miss Should Beat the Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday | Locked On Ole Miss Podcast


Today’s Locked On Ole Miss Podcast discusses why Lane Kiffin and the Ole Miss Rebels will beat the Arkansas Razorbacks in Saturday’s matchup. This will be the next opportunity to play clean football, and I think they will put it together against the Hogs and Sam Pittman and cut down on the penalties that have been allowing teams to stay in the game.

This matchup is absolutely massive for the Rebels because of what it means in the season as a whole, and Taylen Green against the Ole Miss defense will draw everyone’s eye. People look at the Arkansas stats and assume this is a typical Bobby Petrino team, and that isn’t quite right. John Nabors of Locked On Razorbacks said that if Ole Miss goes up by 14, it is over because this team is not a play-from-behind team.

In our final segment of the day, we give our final thoughts on Ole Miss vs. Arkansas and talk about expectations for Saturday and why everything points to an Ole Miss win, but Ole Miss fans before a trip to Fayetteville have seen this movie before.

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