Scouting Report: Arkansas vs Kansas preview, prediction

After an encouraging 10-point victory over Illinois in the first round, the 8-seed Arkansas Razorbacks will have to work a quick turnaround and attempt to take down the 1-seed Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa.

The matchup marks the third straight season that Arkansas has ran into a 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament. In 2021, Arkansas fell to 1-seed Baylor, the eventual national champion, in the Elite Eight round. Last year, the Razorbacks upset the overall 1-seed Gonzaga Bulldogs in the Sweet 16.

"We talked this morning at breakfast," head coach Eric Musselman said. "We talked about our experiences playing Baylor. We talked about our experiences playing Gonzaga. Some of the things that we did really well, some of the things that maybe we could have improved on against Baylor.

"We talked about the mentality that you need to have going into this particular game. I don't know what -- not good luck to play three number ones in three years. I don't know if that's ever happened before. But if it has happened before it certainly hasn't happened with many programs."

Musselman and his squad are hoping to work some more March magic this season, but it will be a tall task against a Kansas team that boasts the Big 12 Player of the Year (Jalen Wilson), Defensive Player of the Year (Dajuan Harris Jr.) and Most Improved Player (KJ Adams Jr.).

"Obviously Kansas, one of the best teams in the entire country," Musselman said. "Great job sharing the basketball, moving the basketball. One of the highest assist teams; 16th in the country in assists. Great basket cutters. Great movement without the ball. They do a great job setting flare screens."

Along with the lengthy list of award winners in the Big 12 conference, the Jayhawks have a very talented freshman in Gradey Dick, who did it all in the 96-68 first round win over Howard. Dick scored 19 points and added 11 rebounds, five assists and three steals.

"Star players in Gradey Dick and obviously Jalen Wilson, and then great point guard play," Musselman said. "You know, you can see this is a ball club that has clearly defined roles. Their starting five is as good as any starting five in the country, if not the best starting five in the entire country."

Arkansas freshman Jordan Walsh said he's familiar with the game of both Dick and Wilson, as he's had run ins with both in the past.

"JWil, I've seen him play a lot growing up in Dallas, so got a lot of chances to be able to play him and do all that," Walsh said. "And Gradey the same way. So I come with experience in that regard. Obviously roles are different, it's a different situation, but I may know a couple more moves that they do that our team doesn't know.

"So me being able to share that with our team to give them a little bit more of an upper hand could make the whole difference in a game."

On the sideline, Kansas might be without head coach Bill Self for the fifth straight game as he recovers from a reported heart catheterization, which resulted in two stents being placed for the treatment of blocked arteries.

Assistant coach Norm Roberts has filled in as interim head coach, and Roberts didn't have an update on Self's availability on Friday.

"Coach is doing well," Roberts said. "It's a day-to-day situation with him and everything, but he's doing good. He was in practice with our guys just a little while ago and coaching them, so we will see what happens."

While the situation is unfortunate for Kansas, Roberts said the normal preparation process hasn't seen much change.

"It's the same that we always do," Roberts said. "We have scouting report. We meet probably two times a night and go over different scenarios and what we want to do and how he wants us to play both offensively and defensively.

"So we haven't had any extra meetings and those things. As a staff we always collaborate and work together and everybody has input on what we think would be the best situation for us."

Here's a closer look into Kansas' stats, metrics, projected lineups, efficiency ratings, plus a prediction ahead of Saturday's game, which is set to tipoff at 4:15 p.m. CT on CBS: