Pictured above: Coach Cal debuted in Bud Walton Arena and Slobber Hog returned to midcourt on Oct. 25 in the Kansas exhibition. (Photo courtesy of Arkansas Athletics)
As good as Arkansas played against Kansas on Oct.25, it comes with some notable caveats.
Not only was the No. 16 Razorbacks’ convincing 85-69 win an exhibition that is ineligible for counting toward the record books or an NCAA Tournament resume, but the No. 1 Jayhawks were down three key players compared to the Hogs’ one.
You also don’t even have to go back very far to find an example of an Arkansas exhibition not being indicative of the season that follows.
There is a reason hall of famer and coach John Calipari quickly shut down the “overrated” chant from students during the closing minutes of the game and cautioned against doing “triple backflips” over the result during his postgame press conference.
Still, it would be hard to argue that it was not an ideal unofficial Arkansas basketball debut for Calipari, who had received a resounding ovation during pre-game introductions.
“I’m happy we played the way we did,” Calipari said. “Did we look organized? Did we look like we really tried to play hard and defend? We’ve only been together a short time, so I’m happy because I wanted people to leave and say, ‘That was fun to watch.’”
For those wearing red, it certainly was. The Razorbacks led by double digits for the final 22-plus minutes of the game and were never really in danger. They trailed for all of 19 seconds at the very beginning of the game only to answer with a 3-pointer and never look back.
“They just hit us in the mouth,” Kansas guard Dajuan Harris Jr. said. “They were more athletic tonight. They were the better team tonight.”
It was less pleasant for the visitors in blue, but Bill Self — a hall of famer in his own right — is not hitting the panic button. He was without preseason Big 12 Player of the Year and two-time all-American center Hunter Dickinson and two key guards in Shakeel Moore and Rylan Griffen.
“I’m not going to leave out of here happy by any stretch,” Self said, “but I won’t leave out of here discouraged because I know that’s not who we are and that’s not what our team is.”
There is a good chance the game would have looked much different with those players in the mix, although there was still a lot to like with the way Arkansas played — but don’t take our word for it.
Perhaps no one, especially outside of the SEC, knows Calipari better than Self. Since meeting at the 2012 National Championship, those two have squared off nine times over the past 10 years, with Calipari’s Kentucky teams winning only three of them.
“I actually think this team is better than some of the ones he’s had at Kentucky,” Self said. “There were a couple of teams that were elite, elite, elite. This team, to me, has a chance to be terrific and maybe more talented than some of the teams he’s had at Kentucky — not all of them, but some of them. I think they have a real chance.”
The stars of the exhibition were freshman Boogie Fland and sophomore D.J. Wagner. The former five-star recruits combined for 46 points on an efficient 16 of 27 shooting.
Throw in veteran Johnell Davis, who was clearly rusty after dealing with a wrist injury for a few weeks, and the Razorbacks have a solid group of guards who will run the show this season.
“That’ll be the best trio of guards we play against this year,” Self said. “There won’t be anybody better that we play against.”
It could just be coach speak, but if Self is serious, it is a pretty lofty statement considering Kansas plays in a loaded Big 12 that features four other preseason top-10 teams — not to mention the Jayhawks’ salty non-conference slate that includes No. 7 Duke, No. 9 North Carolina, No. 15 Creighton and a few other high majors.
Andrew Hutchinson is managing editor at Best of Arkansas Sports. The preceding is an excerpt from a column that first appeared at bestofarkansassports.com.
