Will Khalif Battle Play on Saturday Against Auburn?

Musselman shares injury update on injured guard ahead of Saturday's SEC opener

Jacob Davis | Jan 4, 2024

Will Khalif Battle Play on Saturday Against Auburn? /

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Arkansas Razorbacks

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — When Arkansas guard Khalif Battle went down with what appeared to be a lower leg injury on Saturday against UNC-Wilmington, a collective sigh from amongst fans in attendance and around the fanbase could be heard and felt.

With 4:53 left in the first half, Battle was tangled up with a Seahawk and didn't return. After not practicing on Monday, the Temple transferwas back on the floor Tuesday for a pair of practices ahead of Arkansas' SEC opener against Auburn.

“Yeah, so, he did not practice on Monday,” Hogs' coach Eric Musselman said. “We did go two practices yesterday, we went two practices today, although the format was a little bit different today than what it was yesterday and what it was last week. He did go through both practices yesterday and today.”

Battle came to Fayetteville as one of the nation's highly regarded offensive players in the country. So far, he has lived up to the hype connecting on 42% of his three point attempts including four games in which he has scored at least 21 points for the Razorbacks.

“I think KB is an explosive offensive player," Musselman said. "He can really get streaky hot. We need him, want him to continue to have consistency from a defensive standpoint. Offensively, a high-energy guy, incredible confidence.

"Obviously, we run plays for him when he is in the game. Can go get his own shot off the bounce, has great elevation on his jump shot,” Musselman noted. “The one thing is just consistency. I mean he has had some games that were just lights-out and the defense has no answer for him. Then there’s been some other games of some 2-10 nights that I think all offensive players that are explosive scorers go through those nights as well.”

The 6-foot-5 senior transfer is a dynamic scorer capable of lighting defenses up at all three levels plus being one of college basketball's best foul shooters making 83% of his attempts.

“We’ve been really happy with [Battle] as an offensive threat," Musselman said. "He has got deep three-point range. Then his free-throw attempt numbers are as good as anyone in the country,” said Musselman. “He’s able to do that through isolations, he’s able to do that through broken plays, and he’s able to do that in late shot-clock situations.”

The Razorbacks and Tigers will tip off at 1 p.m. at Bud Walton Arena in a "stripe-out" game where they are trying to get fans wearing appropriate colors in different sections. You can see the map HERE. The game will be televised on ESPN2 and fuboTV.