Arkansas might be hottest team in college basketball

After winning 25 games and making the program’s first Elite Eight appearance since 1995 last season, expectations were very high for Eric Musselman entering year three. The Arkansas head coach has ignited what many have considered a sleeping giant in college basketball.

Those thoughts on the potential of Razorback basketball are now being confirmed.

Arkansas will enter Saturday’s colossal matchup with Kentucky at 22-6 (11-4) and ranked No. 18 in the AP Top 25. Behind the best defense in the SEC, the Hogs have gobbled up victories and Musselman’s team will enter Saturday’s showdown as the hottest team in power conference basketball.

Defense fueled turnaround

Following a 86-81 loss to Texas A&M on the road, Arkansas was sitting at 10-5 (0-3) and was in danger of letting the season slip away. The Hogs had dropped 5 of 6 with a blowout loss to Oklahoma and another loss at Bud Walton Arena to Vanderbilt. In that time, Musselman’s defense was getting torched on defense.

That all changed immediately.

The Hogs began to lock in on defense with big man Jaylin Williams leading the way. All of a sudden, Arkansas had the top defense in the SEC and the Razorbacks won nine consecutive games after the huge win over No. 1 Auburn at home. A close loss at Alabama immediately followed, but Arkansas has now won three in a row following a dominant defensive performance at Tennessee and a road win over Florida where the offense delivered.

The defense gets it done in Fayetteville as the Hogs have zero weaknesses on that side of the floor. With multiple switchable defenders on the perimeter combined with a great defensive big in Williams, Arkansas has been a nightmare for most offenses to deal with.

Star guard

Despite playing at a high tempo, Eric Musselman doesn’t dig very deep into his bench. Arkansas will enter the game on Saturday primarily using a seven-man rotation. Thanks to having four players between 6-foot-4 and 6-foot-6, the Hogs have a bunch of guys that can fill multiple roles.

However, it’s the lead guard that is the most important piece.

JD Notae began his career in the Atlantic Sun before transferring to Arkansas. After sitting out the 2020 season, Notae returned to the lineup as a redshirt junior in 2021 and averaged 12.8 points off the bench while bringing home SEC Sixth Man of the Year honors. The Covington (Ga.) Newton product has turned into the No. 1 guy for the Razorbacks this season.

Notae leads the team in minutes (33.1), scoring (18.7), assists (3.4), and steals (2.3). The 6-foot-2 combo guard is shooting 49.2 percent from two and 32.4 percent from three. Notae is a menace on the defensive end and has a heavy usage rate on offense. In any other season, the redshirt senior would be the top Player of the Year candidate in the SEC.

Arkansas has star power on offense and a great unit on defense. That has all added up to a 12-1 record in their last 13 games with the only loss coming by one-point. Kentucky will have their hands full at Bud Walton Arena playing the hottest team in college basketball.