The Arkansas Razorbacks (22-13) have advanced to the Sweet Sixteen for the third straight year, and this time around they will face the 4-seed UConn Huskies (27-8), who defeated Saint Mary's 70-55 on Sunday to advance to a Thursday matchup with the Hogs at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Led by fifth-year head coach Dan Hurley, the Huskies boast a record of 27-8 on the year and they tied for fourth in the Big East. They beat Iona 87-63 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and had the win over Saint Mary's to secure a meeting with Arkansas.
UConn is a very strong team as far as metrics go, as their lowest metric is 8th in the NET, which only took into account games played up until the end of conference tournaments. The Huskies were top-40 in the nation in both scoring offense and defense and they were 6th nationally with 17.5 assists per game in the regular season.
Forward Adama Sanogo is a first team All-Big East player who averages 17.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. The 6-foot-9 big man scored a game-high 24 points in the win over Saint Mary's.
Sophomore guard Jordan Hawkins scores 16.0 points and averages 3.9 rebounds per game. Hawkins was also a first team All-Big East selection.
The Huskies are a battle-tested squad, with wins over common opponents Alabama (82-67 on Nov. 25), Florida (75-54 on Dec. 7) and Creighton (69-60 on Jan. 7). After beginning the season 14-0, UConn suffered its first loss to Xavier on Dec. 31. Other notable wins include victories over Marquette, Providence, Iowa State and Oklahoma State.
The Razorbacks are 1-3 in the all-time series against UConn, with the last meeting resulting in a 102-67 win over the Huskies on Nov. 26, 2017 in the Phil Knight Invitational. The teams have never met in the NCAA Tournament, though UConn defeated Arkansas 74-67 in the 1997 NIT.
Here's a quick look into UConn's stats, metrics, projected lineups and more ahead of Thursday's game, which will have its tipoff time announced later this evening:
Metrics Comparison (UConn & Arkansas)
Regular season stats comparison (national ranking)
UConn projected starting five
#2 - G Tristen Newton - Sr., 6'5", 190 lbs.
2022-23 Stats per game: 28.6 min, 10.0 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.1 steals, 2.2 turnovers, 0.3 blocks, 37.2 fg%, 35.5 3fg%
#24 - G Jordan Hawkins - So., 6'5", 195 lbs.
2022-23 Stats per game: 29.7 min, 16.0 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.8 steals, 1.3 turnovers, 0.5 blocks, 40.1 fg%, 37.0 3fg%
#44 - G Andre Jackson Jr. - Jr., 6'6", 210 lbs.
2022-23 Stats per game: 28.8 min, 6.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 1.0 steals, 2.0 turnovers, 0.6 blocks, 41.9 fg%, 28.9 3fg%
#11 - F Alex Karaban - r-Fr., 6'8", 210 lbs.
2022-23 Stats per game: 28.9 min, 9.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.5 steals, 1.1 turnovers, 0.7 blocks, 47.7 fg%, 41.1 3fg%
#21 - F Adama Sanogo - Jr., 6'9", 245 lbs.
2022-23 Stats per game: 26.6 min, 17.1 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 0.8 steals, 1.9 turnovers, 0.7 blocks, 60.2 fg%, 35.4 3fg%
Other UConn players to watch
#32 - C Donovan Clingan - Fr., 7' 2”, 265 lbs.
2022-23 Stats per game: 13.2 min, 7.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 0.4 assists, 0.4 steals, 1.1 turnovers, 1.8 blocks, 65.2 fg%
#3 - G Joey Calcaterra. - Gr., 6' 3”, 180 lbs.
2022-23 Stats per game: 14.5 min, 5.8 points, 1.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.5 steals, 0.8 turnovers, 0.1 blocks, 43.2 fg%, 45.3 3fg%
#4 - F Nahiem Alleyne - Sr., 6'4", 195 lbs.
2022-23 Stats per game: 17.7 min, 4.9 points, 1.1 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 0.5 steals, 0.6 turnovers, 0.1 blocks, 35.5 fg%, 31.5 3fg%
