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FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas takes the court again Saturday for its second and final exhibition game, this time against a familiar opponent, the North Texas Mean Green.
Last season, the two teams met up in Bud Walton Arena for the second game of the year, with Arkansas winning 69-54. The Razorbacks took control early on before the Mean Green tied it at 19 with eight minutes left in the first half, but Arkansas regained the lead shortly after and never looked back.
Both teams went on to have successful seasons, as Arkansas made a run to the Elite Eight and North Texas beat Purdue in overtime in the NCAA Tournament, pulling off a 3-14 upset to reach the second round. The Mean Green got to the Big Dance by winning four games in four days to win the C-USA Tournament and earn the league's automatic bid.
Although its roster looks different after losing leading scorer Javion Hamlet and senior guard James Reese, North Texas is trying to build off its success from last season and seasons prior under coach Grant McCasland - who earned praise from Arkansas coach Eric Musselman.
"Number one, they're really well coached,” Musselman said. “They play at a pace where they're disciplined. They have good shot selection. You're talking about a team that wins, too.”
In four seasons as the head coach of the Mean Grean, McCasland has won 20-plus wins three times, with the lone exception being a trip to the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season when they won 18 games.
Playing against that level of competition as a charity exhibition game - a portion of the proceeds will go toward COVID-19 relief efforts - has its benefits.
“Having the ability to play an exhibition game against another Division I opponent I think is a really good thing for college basketball," Musselman said. "I think it will be good for North Texas. I think it will be good for us. There are other programs doing the same type thing, so I think it’s a good thing for sure.”
Even without Hamlet and Reese, North Texas presents a formidable challenge for the Razorbacks with some key roster additions and players whose roles have adjusted.
“(Thomas) Bell is what we call a flyer,” Musselman said. “He’s a great offensive rebounder that comes in from the weak side. He’s a left-hander who make some three balls.”
Bell averaged 10.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game last season and, at 6-foot-6, matches up well with Arkansas’ size.
“They’ve got some guards back like (Mardrez) McBride that can shoot the ball," Musselman continued. "They have a transfer from the University of Washington (Hameir Wright) who can make a three and has good length.
“As it has been the last couple of years with North Texas, they’re a very talented team, and a team that many feel are going to have a really good chance to make an NCAA Tournament again.”
Arkansas is definitely looking to have a bounceback performance after a disappointing showing against Division II foe East Central University in its first exhibition game.
“When I went back and watched the game tape, we actually played pretty hard,” Musselman said. “Which makes it a little scary that we weren’t able to create more separation in a home game.
“I think this team is a team that is going to grow from where we are. Now how much we are going to grow from where we were Sunday to Saturday I don’t know."
Despite having to come from behind to beat East Central and North Texas being a better opponent, Musselman is not overly worried about what happens in exhibitions.
“The reason you have exhibition games, the reason you have Red-White games, is to tinker with lineups, it’s to tinker with schemes," Musselman said. "It’s to have game tape so you can go back and evaluate and prepare for your best games. I’m much more worried about Mercer right now than I am North Texas. No disrespect to North Texas.”
Even though he’s not necessarily worried about this exhibition game, Musselman is fully aware that his team must improve on both ends of the floor.
"We’ve got to improve offensively on sharing the ball as a higher assist team," Musselman said. "We’ve got to improve defensively following the gameplan in our pick and roll coverages. We’ve got to get better weak side help, we’ve got to keep the ball out of the middle from a defensive standpoint."
Much like the first exhibition, Saturday's game won’t be broadcast on television or be available via streaming. However, fans in Little Rock (103.7 FM) and Fort Smith (95.3 FM) can listen to it on the radio, plus it can be heard on the Arkansas Razorbacks Gameday App and the TuneIn app.
Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. CT inside Bud Walton Arena.
