The Arkansas Razorbacks open the 2019 season under the new leadership of former Nevada head coach Eric Musselman on Tuesday night in Bud Walton Arena against the Rice Owls.
Arkansas won both of its exhibition games in the preseason against Arkansas-Little Rock and Southwestern Oklahoma State but the real test begins tonight.
Here's everything you need to know to get ready for tipoff:
Important Times:
Doors open: 5 p.m.
Tipoff: 7 p.m.
Streaming/Radio:
Online: SEC Network+ (WatchESPN)
Radio: IMG/Razorback Sports Network/Sirius 984 (Chuck Barrett+Matt Zimmerman)
From the Head Hog Eric Musselman:
"They are really well coached. Scott Pera is a really good coach. They run a lot of screen, re-screen action, so we’re going to have to defend pick and rolls really well. The nucleus of their team is all returning. They are a scary team because of experience."
"You know I think as coaches all of us would like a little more prep time, especially if you are new trying to get your team ready. But I do think our players are ready to play a game. I think we are as ready as we could be trying to implement a new system and stuff. I think they’re tired hearing me and so we need to start playing games for sure."
Rice Owls to Know:
Rice returns nine letterwinners and four starters from last year's squad that finished 13-19 overall and 8-10 in Conference USA.
Ako Adams: Adams is the returning starting point guard for the Owls. He's a left and the team's leading three-point shooter. He averaged 11.2 points per game with 2.7 assists in 2018 while shooting 90.5% from the free throw line.
Trey Murphy III: Murphy, at 6-foot-8, is a very large shooter for the Owls who took 80% of his shots last season from behind the arc, making 42.1% of them for an average of 8.8 points per game.
Chris Mullins: Mullins had a solid freshman year for the Owls, averaging 12.0 points per game. He tied point guard Adams in assists per game at 2.7 and tacked on 1.3 steals per game as well.
Robert Martin: Coming off the bench for Rice last season, the now-senior still averaged over 25 minutes a night. Standing at 6-foot-6, Martin was one of Conference USA's leading rebounders with 6.2 boards per game on top of 12.2 points per game.
Vegas Line:
Arkansas -17.5, O/U 155
Razorbacks Cumulative Preseason Stats:
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