#16 Arkansas (1-0) vs. #8 Baylor (0-1)

The John Calipari Arkansas era began with a 76-60 win over Lipscomb on Wednesday. As for Baylor, they opened their season up on Monday night with a surprising 101-63 loss in Spokane against Gonzaga. Baylor did not mess around with their schedule this season, especially early, with their first two games being against top 20 opponents. They need to get this one or the fans might get restless early. Arkansas is still figuring some things out, but they have some strengths that can cause some issues for Scott Drew’s squad.

Baylor was all out of sorts on Monday night. They never settled in against Gonzaga and got run out of the gym. Their guards struggled to contain the ball and did not shoot it well. Gonzaga got whatever they wanted whenever they wanted it. Baylor’s interior defense was not strong either, with Gonzaga’s three big men combining to score 38 points. The Bears had their issues on Monday night, but they did have some bright spots. Freshman guard Rob Wright out of Montverde looked explosive off the bench. He wound up playing 30 minutes and scoring 12 points while dishing out 6 assists. The backcourt depth for the Bears will bode well for them, especially if they get Langston Love back from his ankle injury in this game. As of now, it sounds like he will be a game-time decision. VJ Edgecombe and Jeremy Roach need to be better, and I believe they will be. Roach is too experienced and Edgecombe will be one of the best freshmen in the country. If Baylor is going to be successful in this game, they are going to need Norchad Omier and Josh Ojianwuna to step up on the defensive end against the bigger frontcourt of Arkansas and their guards are going to need to give them more on both ends of the floor.

Arkansas coasted to their win against Lipscomb. Johnell Davis and Boogie Fland appeared to be the two best offensive players for the Razorbacks as they combined for 32 points and played 36 minutes a piece. The use of the frontcourt was rather surprising. Zvonimir Ivisic and Adou Thiero started while Jonas Aidoo and Trevon Brazile came off the bench. This was the complete opposite of what was anticipated. Aidoo is coming back from an injury so he only played 7 minutes, while the other three bigs all played around 20 minutes a game. Aidoo is the real interior threat for this Arkansas team, while the other three are a little bit softer and hang out on the perimeter more than they bang around in the paint. The rotation seems uncertain at this point for Coach Calipari and they still have to learn to play together with an entirely new team including 3 freshmen who are playing good minutes. If Aidoo were playing a normal workload, the outlook on this game would be much different, but Arkansas will have to rely more on their guards again on Saturday night.

Areas to exploit for Baylor:

Baylor will have the advantage in the backcourt in this game. Their guards are very skilled offensively and the Arkansas guards are not known for their defense. After four full days to prepare for this game, Baylor has had time to sit and think about what happened on Monday night. With the experience of Roach and Edgecombe’s projected talent, these guards should bounce back in a big way in their home opener against the Razorbacks.

Areas to exploit for Arkansas:

Arkansas has the size to give Baylor problems just like Gonzaga did. Baylor allowed 16 offensive rebounds to the Bulldogs on Monday and Arkansas has one of the bigger frontcourts that Baylor will play all season. The Razorbacks should be able to expose this part of the Baylor defense and take advantage of creating extra possessions. Arkansas should also be able to play through the post and dominate points in the paint against this team, but their bigs sometimes become a little too perimeter-happy. They can use their size to their advantage, but the bigger question is whether they will.

The Final Word:

Baylor got embarrassed in their season opener, so the team and their crowd will be hungry and energized to get back on track against a team that still seems to be figuring things out. Arkansas certainly didn’t light the world on fire in their first game under John Calipari, and with Aidoo coming back from injury, he was unable to take on a full workload. They also are not a good enough three-point shooting team, as expected coming into the season, shooting just 4 of 19 on Wednesday. The talent of Baylor’s backcourt will come up big in this game with big games from Roach and Edgecombe. Arkansas’ unwillingness to play inside out and effectively crash the offensive boards will prevent them from exposing the biggest weakness of the Baylor defense. Baylor’s guards are also much better on the defensive end than they showed on Monday, so they should come out prideful and ready to disrupt the Razorback attack. Scott Drew is too good of a coach to have all week to prepare and get his team back in the right mindset going into this top-20 matchup. Expect Baylor to take down Arkansas to turn their week around from the disaster that it started as.