College students, get a year of HawgBeat coverage for just $11.95! Request details via email from your school account (.edu) to andrewhutchinson413 (at) gmail (dot) com.
Arkansas shocked the college basketball world by knocking off No. 1 Gonzaga on Thursday.
With the win, the Razorbacks advanced to the Elite Eight for a second straight year, but they also hit some significant statistical achievements.
Here’s a look at a few of them…
~It is the second time this season that Arkansas has beaten the No. 1 AP team — something it had done just once in its history before this year. The Razorbacks’ 80-76 overtime win over Auburn was their first win over a top-ranked team since beating North Carolina and Michael Jordan in Pine Bluff back in 1984.
~Arkansas is the first team in 13 years and just the 10th team ever to notch two wins over a No. 1 team in the same season since the AP Poll started in 1949. As seen in the chart below, six of those teams did it against the same opponent.
~In addition to doing it against two different opponents, Arkansas is the first team in college basketball history to beat a No. 1 team during the regular season and during the NCAA Tournament.
~Prior to Thursday’s win, Arkansas had been 0-10 against 1 seeds since the NCAA Tournament went to its current seeding format in 1979.
~This is the fourth time in school history that the Razorbacks have reached the Elite Eight in consecutive seasons. They also did it in 1978 and 1979, 1990 and 1991, and 1994 and 1995. In each of the previous three instances, they made it to the Final Four in at least one of the seasons.
~Jaylin Williams grabbed 12 rebounds against Gonzaga, giving him 354 for the season. That broke Derek Hood’s single-season UA record of 349 set back in 1998-99. His 9.8 rebounds per game rank fifth on the UA single-season list.
~The 6-foot-10 big man also scored 15 points to give him his 15th double-double of the season, including three straight in the NCAA Tournament. According to HogStats.com, only two other Razorbacks have had multiple points-rebounds double-doubles in the Big Dance during their careers: Corliss Williamson (4) and Sidney Moncrief (3).
~With 21 points against Gonzaga, JD Notae has now scored 646 points this season. That moves him past Martin Terry (633 points in 1971-72) and into 10th place on the UA single-season list. He needs just two more to pass Ron Brewer (647 in 1977-78) and 15 more to pass Moncrief (660 in 1978-89).
~Thursday was Eric Musselman’s 100th game as Arkansas’ head coach. He is 73-27 in those games. For comparison, Eddie Sutton won 79 of his first 100 games with the Razorbacks and Nolan Richardson won 59 of his first 100 games.
