PREVIEW: Kentucky WBB looks for a bounce back win against Arkansas

Kentucky dropped the ball against Texas A&M in College Station, but it’s imperative that the Cats get things turned around as they take on Arkansas (8-13, 1-5 SEC) in Historic Memorial Coliseum.

Get to know the Razorbacks before the two teams meet on the hardwood.

Bio Blast

After the team’s first SEC loss of the season, Kentucky returns to Memorial Coliseum to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks on Sunday. While the Cats have only lost one game in conference play, the Razorbacks have only won one, putting them third to last place in the SEC thus far. With Auburn and Missouri trailing, Arkansas isn’t technically the worst team in the conference, but the Razorbacks are struggling.

Mike Neighbors’ team is coming off a 41-point loss to 16-4 (3-3 SEC) Vanderbilt, who lost to Kentucky by 18 a few weeks ago. With that stat alone, it’s almost guaranteed that Kentucky should come out with a win. Unfortunately, however, this is SEC basketball, and (as Texas A&M showed us) anything can happen.

Easily, Arkansas’ best player is Izzy Higginbottom, a senior guard that spent two years at Arkansas State, and her freshman season at Missouri. However, Higginbottom might be the only player besides Kiki Smith to truly make an impact. So far, the Razorbacks have allowed an average of 76.9 points per game, while only scoring an average of 69.6 per game. They’re shooting 40% from the field and only 30% from three as a team, and 76% from the free throw line.

They’re not a great rebounding team, grabbing an average of 35.7 per game, while allowing opponents to accrue 42.7 per matchup. Arkansas is 163rd in the nation with turnovers per game, turning the ball over 16.2 times per game, and only forcing 13.5 per game. In other words, the Razorbacks have trouble maintaining the ball on offense and containing the ball on defense. Sunday’s matchup against the Cats might call for a Georgia Amoore masterclass. She’s the perfect mix of speed and on-court IQ to disrupt the Razorbacks’ rhythm and push Kentucky’s momentum through the roof of Memorial Coliseum.

Projected Arkansas Starters

• #1 – Phoenix Stotjin, 7.1 PPG, 1.3 RPG, 1.3 APG
• #2 – Kiki Smith, 10.8 PPG, 2.1 RPG, 2.2 APG
• #3 – Izzy Higginbottom, 22.8 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 3.6 APG
• #10 – Cristina Sanchez Cerqueira, 1.1 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 0.3 APG
• #22 – Vera Ojenuwa, 7.6 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 0.7 APG

Scouting Report

This offseason — because of conference re-alignment — Oregon State was poached in the transfer portal, losing a ton of their talent to other programs, and while Arkansas wasn’t too drastically affected by the re-alignment, like Oregon State, they lost a ton of talent this offseason. The main loss was freshman star guard Taliah Scott, who averaged 22.1 points per game last year. She is now at Auburn.

So, as a result of losing some of their best players, Arkansas has struggled, to say the least. They do, however, have Izzy Higginbottom on their side. The 5-foot-7 guard averages a team and SEC-best 22.8 points per game, shooting 46.9% from the field overall and 36.5% from three-point range.

Kiki Smith is the other player of note to keep an eye on, averaging 10.8 points per game while shooting 40% from beyond the arc. Arkansas is close to the bottom of nearly every statistical category in the SEC, and they happen to have the worst average turnover margin in the conference as well (-2.76).

The Cats need to be able to force turnovers and capitalize in transition — where Kentucky is especially effective when trying to put the ball in the hoop.

Projected Kentucky Starters

#3 – Georgia Amoore

5-FOOT-6 – GUARD – GRADUATE STUDENT

18.3 PPG – 7.3 APG – 2.4 RPG

#7 – Teonni Key

6-FOOT-4 – FORWARD – JUNIOR

12.2 PPG – 8.5 RPG – 2.1 BPG

#10 – Dazia Lawrence

5-FOOT-8 – GUARD – REDSHIRT SENIOR

13.3 PPG – 2.3 APG – 2.2 RPG

#13 – Clara Strack

6-FOOT-5 – CENTER – SOPHOMORE

15.3 PPG – 9.6 RPG – 3.1 APG

#32 – Amelia Hassett

6-FOOT-3 – FORWARD – JUNIOR

10.5 PPG – 9.2 RPG – 2.0 APG

Initial Availability Report

Starting this season in conference play, SEC teams are required to release an availability report, listing players and their injury statuses for their upcoming game.

Here is the initial report for Kentucky-Arkansas:

The final availability report will be available closer to game time.

**Note: Kentucky’s Dominika Paurová is not listed as “Out” because she is completely exempt from the season due to an ACL tear she suffered in the offseason. Jordan Obi, who also suffered a lower leg injury in the summer, may return to the hardwood this season, hence why her name appears on the availability report.**

How to Watch/Listen

Place	Tipoff	TV	Radio	Live Stats
Historic Memorial Coliseum (Lexington, KY)	12 p.m. ET	SEC Network (Courtney Lyle and Carolyn Peck)	630 WLAP, 790 WKRD (Darren Headrick)	StatBroadcast

Follow Along with KSR’s LIVE BLOG

Unable to watch the game? Don’t worry — we’ll be providing real-time updates throughout to keep you informed on the action. Follow along with KSR’s LIVE BLOG, which will get rolling on the website an hour before the game starts.

Join The Discussion on KSBoard

Want to interact with the KSR crew during tonight’s game? Consider joining the conversation on KSBoard, where we’ll be sharing live updates while also answering questions and providing real-time analysis (and probably complaining about the officiating).