Preseason Tilt Provides Zero Insight into Arkansas, Kansas Tourney Game

So much has changed since Hogs blasted Jayhawks at Bud Walton

Arkansas Razorbacks guard DJ Wagner drives to the basket against Kansas in an exhibition game at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark. / andy hodges-hogs on si images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — For everyone getting excited about drawing Kansas in the first round because of an exhibition game that took place back in October, just stop.

These aren't the two teams that met then anymore than this is the same team that upset Kansas as a No. 1 seed in the second round a few years ago. Bill Self didn't even have Hunter Dickinson available for that game.

He, alone, and the 30+ point potential swing he represents is enough to wipe out the difference in the 85-69 score from last fall.

He's a match-up nightmare. Dickinson is not only a large body that is hard to move around, he hits turn around and mid-range jumpers that are borderline impossible to defend on an almost non-stop basis. The one thing Arkansas has struggled with is a big man inside who can fill up the basket.

Tomislav Ivisic of Illinois, brother of Arkansas center Zvonimir, dropped 21 on the Hogs in a 90-77 win. Collin Murray-Boyles, who at 6-foot-7 isn't even that tall, used his thick frame to bull through the Razorbacks in South Carolina for 35 in a 72-53 blowout that wasn't nearly that close.

Malik Dia, another stout big man, dropped an average of 20 points and eight rebounds in his two showdowns with the Hogs, and that was with him playing on one leg in the SEC Tournament. The point is, Arkansas has constantly struggled with versatile big men, especially of late.

However, that's also not the same team Kansas faced. Arkansas is light years better than they were back in the fall. Forward Trevon Brazile hadn't followed the Razorback Road to visit the Wizard of Cal to receive his confidence and Jonas Aidoo hadn't gone along with him to get his legs back.

Back then, Nelly Davis hadn't completed his recovery from a golf cart accident so he could shoot again, and, despite claims by Kansas coach Bill Self after the game that Arkansas has the best guards in college basketball, DJ Wagner hadn't found his true fit at the point guard spot yet.

That Arkansas team in October was filled with young pups just happy to be on the court led by a coach who was just happy he had pieced together enough players to be able to have a team. What Kansas will face Thursday instead is a group of grizzled veterans numbed by the non-stop wars of the SEC.

Every game they faced since January has basically been against at least a potential Sweet 16 team and the past two months have been an endless run of lose and go home scenarios. The tournament may be just now beginning for Kansas, but Arkansas has finally hit the back stretch.

There was no Billy Richmond wave of energy pouring onto the court after a crucial timeout back in October. The only thing that was present back then that still exists now was an Arkansas team that thrives on spectacle.

It was the beginning of the John Calipari regime with Kansas in Bud Walton Arena in front of a wild Arkansas crowd. Unfortunately for the Hogs, that was the last time that type of scene would take place in a home game, but it had big game aura nonetheless and the Razorbacks responded.

The same thing happened in Madison Square Garden and at Kentucky. Arkansas loves the lights, the energy and the pressure.

As for Kansas, early in the season they were the team that took down Duke. However, since Jan. 25, the one thing that can be said for the Jayhawks is they’ll are consistently inconsistent.

They are 7-8 since that time and never go more than two wins in a row before balancing it out with a pair of losses. One night the Jayhawks will be on fire and drop 98. The next they will struggle to get into the 50s.

They hang with No. 3 Houston on the road, upset Arizona, and then struggle to hold on against a UCF team that is proudly promoting it's accepted an invite to something called the inaugural College Basketball Crown as the 14th best team in the Big 12.

While Arkansas has been a bit more consistent as of late, these two teams have featured enough highs and lows throughout the season to ensure only one certainty. This game will be nothing like what took place in October.

HOGS FEED:

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• Never say die Razorbacks topple Rebels with furious ninth inning

• Hogs lace up dancing shoes; face Kansas in NCAA Tourney

• Pros and cons: will Fland's return help or hurt Hogs?

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