Ahead of No. 16 Arkansas basketball's charity exhibition game against No. 1 Kansas on Friday inside Bud Walton Arena, Razorback associate head coach Kenny Payne met with media Thursday to preview the matchup between the Hoop Hogs and Jayhawks.
In his first meeting with the media since being hired by first-year head coach John Calipari this offseason, Payne went in-depth on the team and the clear excitement of fans in the days leading up to the exhibition.
"It's the start of the season and when I look outside the door out the window right now, I see kids camping out and getting their campsites ready and and all of that," Payne said Thursday. "It lets you know that it's basketball season and it’s an exciting time. They’re camping out now, and the game is tomorrow night at eight o'clock, so that says a lot."
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A NCAA Tournament Round of 32 participant a season ago that finished with a 23-11 (10-8 Big 12) overall record, Kansas has seen its fair share of newcomer transfers to pair with its talented returning core. While fans may be familiar with names like center Hunter Dickinson and guard Dajuan Harris Jr., Payne said the Jayhawks are a different team this time around.
"We’ve watched a couple (games) of the stuff they did last year," Payne said. "I love it because there’s a philosophy amongst coaches that (you have) your principles, your defensive principles, your offensive principles.
"We don’t know what they’re going to run, so our principles have to be tight and have to be on point, because we don’t know what they’re going to run. We don’t know what offense Coach (Bill) Self has put in, if he’s changing anything from a year ago. We know he’s got a really good team and we’re going to have to adjust to some things that he may be doing that’s different that he may want to add to his team."
Legendary Kansas head coach Bill Self discussed the format of Friday's contest, which may feature different situational work along with regular game action.
“I think we’re going to play quarters, so that way nobody can foul out and we can reset fouls, I think,” Self said during Big 12 Media Day on Wednesday. “Because I think Arkansas may be beat up, too, a little bit. But I anticipate us playing most of the situations out of the quarters, but maybe have it be more of a practice-type situation where coaches can actually walk around and show things on the floor, do some things.
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"So, a real game? I’m not anticipating, even though we’ll keep score. But I’m not anticipating it being something that — we probably both need to look at different combinations and stuff like that. And since I have a lot of guys out, it’ll probably be good for us to see how different guys react in actual meaningful minutes.”
Calipari later clarified in a post on X that the exhibition will be a "real" game, and that he and Self decided on quarters instead of halves to give their teams extra opportunities for situational work. Payne touched on the subject Thursday.
"I think when Coach Self and Cal get together and talked, they talked about being prepared for situations, and by going to quarters, you get an opportunity to touch on different situations in the course of a game," Payne said. "It allows you to have multiple of those situations opposed to just playing straight out and you get a 20-minute half. Now you get quarters and more opportunities to touch on different situations."
While Payne didn't go into great detail, he did say that Arkansas has been dealing with some injuries to key contributors, which has allowed the freshmen group to receive valuable practice experience. With season tip-off less than two weeks away, the Kansas exhibition serves as another wake-up call for young and veteran players alike ahead of a season schedule full of challenging matchups.
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"But what is it shows our young guys, it shows some of our veterans, just how important it is that you be ready to play because you’re not just playing against a regular team that you’re supposed to beat," Payne said. "You’re playing against a team that’s one of the best in the country, and so our learning curve is going to have to be fast, and this accelerates that.
"We’ll know exactly what we need to do from here on out. We use this term, this statement a lot in the program, win to learn. Early in the season, that’s what it is. Win to learn."
Friday's game is set to tip off at 8 p.m. CT and will air on the SEC Network.
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