Happy 100 Hog Basketball! Behind The Numbers from The Century

On the eve of Razorbacks' 100th anniversary, a festive look at the first century of Arkansas hoops

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — While most of us were certainly not around to witness the first Arkansas Basketball Game, a 19-13 win over Northeastern State in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, Tuesday marks a landmark day of Razorback Basketball – 100 years to the day, Dec. 19. 1923, the first ever Hog hoops game. To celebrate, a look back on the first century in true holiday spirit, counting down Razorback stats in 12 days of Christmas fashion. 

12: 40+ point games by an individual player 
It's been nearly four years since Mason Jones dropped 40 on Auburn Feb. 4, 2020, but nothing can compare to Martin Terry accounting for 1/3 of all Razorback 40-point games with four, including two during the 1971-72 season. 

11: Double Overtime Games 
With that Stanford game still fresh in our minds, there have been 11 times in Hog history that one period of free basketball has not been enough to decide a victor. The Razorbacks are an impressive 9-2 in double-overtime games with their only two losses coming against TCU (1986) and Texas A&M (1953).  

9: Seasons with three or fewer losses 
The first of many stats that include the great Nolan Richardson with his epic 30-3 1994 season that culminated in a national championship. However, let's not forget about the back-to-back one-loss seasons that the first coach, Francis Schmidt, put together in the 1920s that still hold the record for fewest losses in a season 
Full list: 1925-29 (four seasons), 1935-36, 1937-38, 1940-41, 1976-77 and 1993-1994. 

8: Top-10 NBA Draft Picks
From George Kok to Anthony Black, the Hogs have had top-10 picks spanning the entirety of the NBA's history from the most recent draft to the second draft ever in 1948.  

Full List: Anthony Black (2023), Joe Johnson (2001), Todd Day (1992), Joe Kleine (1985), Alvin Robertson (1984), Sidney Moncrief (1979), Ron Brewer (1978) and George Kok (1948)

7: Games on New Year's Day
No Christmas list is complete without some holiday cheer. The Razorbacks have rung in the new year six times with victories, including a 69-8 win in its inaugural season in 1924 over the Fort Smith Faculty. Its lone defeat came in 1944 against DePaul, 59-30. 

6: Final Four Appearances 
The pinnacle of modern-day college basketball and one of the greatest spectacles in sport. Arkansas has the back-to-back championship games to its name in 1994 and 1995 but also appeared in 1941, 1945, 1978 and 1990.  

5: Fewest Wins in a Season (twice)
From the highest of highs to the lowest of lows. When you play 100 years, clunkers are going to happen. Back-to-back seasons from 1969-1971 are seasons to forget with just five wins each season. 

4: (American) Razorback Olympians
If USA basketball looks to claim gold in Paris, maybe it should consider including a Razorback. The Hogs have a 100% gold medal record with Gordon Carpenter and R.C. Pitts taking home gold in 1948. Kleine and Robertson followed suit in 1984.

3: NBA All-Stars 
It seems to be a low tally for a program that has had its fair share of draft picks over the last 25 years but just Johnson, Moncrief and Robinson (coincidentally all top-10 picks) have made the NBA All-Star game. However, each of them has made it at least four times with Moncrief setting the Razorback record in the 1983 game with 20 points as a member of the Milwaukee Bucks. 

2: Games on Christmas Day 
Sticking with the holiday theme, the Razorbacks split a pair of games on Dec. 25. The two games in 1924 and 1997 were two very different games in two very different places. The 1924 game was played in Jonesboro against the Jonesboro YMCA in a 28-24 win, and the Razorbacks were handed a lump of coal in 1997 in a 94-83 loss against Murray State in the second round of the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic in San Juan, Puerto Rico. 

1: National Championship
What legends and folklore are made of. How beautiful that nearly 30 years later, the Razorbacks take down Duke again with Nolan Richardson in attendance. May the 1994 team never be forgotten even another 30 years later. 

When Eric Musselman and the Hogs take the court the next time inside Bud Walton Arena against Abilene Christian Dec. 21, it will officially be the next 100 years of Razorback Basketball. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network and fuboTV. 

Stats in this article were compiled at Hogstats.com

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