It’s always hard to anticipate how well teams will playing coming out of the gate, but we should have a good one on our hands on Friday night between the Texas Longhorns and the Arkansas Razorbacks. Both the Big 12 and SEC are represented in this showdown and this one could go down to the wire as Shaka Smart and Mike Anderson each try to lead their respective teams to a key first win of the season.
It’s the Texas Longhorns and Arkansas Razorbacks with the honor of starting off their seasons in the Arm Forces Classic in Fort Bliss Military Base on Friday night. Live betting will be available at BookMaker.eu. We’ll see what’s on tap for us in this Friday night showdown between two tournament regulars, but what should we look for in live betting at BookMaker.eu?
NCAA Basketball Betting at Bookmaker.eu
Texas Longhorns vs. Arkansas Razorbacks
Date and Time: Friday, November 9, 2018, 7 p.m. ET
Location: Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas
College Basketball Odds: Check Back Later
Longhorns vs. Razorbacks TV Coverage: ESPN
The non-conference schedule starts out with two teams with plenty of familiarity for being a non-conference matchup as the Razorbacks and Longhorns have met 100 times in the history of their programs, the last one going to Arkansas who won by three nearly two years ago. Times have certainly changed since then. In fact, plenty has changed since last year, too, when both these teams had early exits from the NCAA Tournament.
Arkansas has 10 new faces on the roster this season compared to last after losing its top three scorers a year ago, including the entire backcourt.
As a whole this group is young and will need time to come together, particularly since it’s not like the Razorbacks have a Duke or Kentucky level recruiting class. Keyshawn Embry is an interesting freshman and the 6’3” point guard is a versatile player able to play several roles and handle himself both offensively and defensively, at least based on his high school career.
Embry may get a chance to star in the backcourt earlier than maybe he should given the lack of options. Jalen Harris has some major college experience as a transfer from New Mexico, but he—too—is new to the program and sat out the entire season last year so there’s bound to be some early season rust, including on Friday.
Mason Jones is the other option in the backcourt. He was a stand out in junior college at Connors State, but this is a sizeable step up for the 6’5” guard.
Fortunately for Arkansas, they do have some experience inside with Daniel Gafford the highest scoring player returning from a year ago. He averaged 11.8 PPG with 6.2 RPG and 2.2 blocks. He was the star of the front court, but ranked third on the team in scoring. Now, he’s the man. He’s joined by Adrio Bailey—the only scholarship upperclassman on the roster—who got 16 starts last year and grew as a player as the season went along.
Much like the starting backcourt, the bench is young and inexperienced. Reggie Chaney and Ethan Henderson are interesting young forwards. Jordan Phillips, meanwhile, is a good athlete and good candidate to find success in Coach Anderson’s system, but it may take some time well beyond Friday.
Given the lack of experience for the Razorbacks, the Longhorns would seem to have the advantage. Texas has experience at every position. Andrew Jones is back, too, after losing most of last year in his battle with leukemia. He was a huge piece of the puzzle early and the Longhorns felt his loss. He’ll be eased back into things, but a foot injury aside, he’s looked good in preseason workouts. The question is: when will he get time on the court. He’s got some more treatment coming in December and it’s unclear if his foot is ready. We could see him in a limited role, or he could be sidelined.
Dan Osetkowksi, Kerwin Roach II and Matt Coleman are all back, too, giving the team three players—not including Jones—who averaged double digit PPG last year.
Roach and Coleman form a top tier backcourt able to matchup with any in college hoops, let alone a completely revamped backcourt in Arkansas. That’s a clear edge for Texas.
Meanwhile, up front, things will be a bit less one-sided, but Osetkowski outscored, out-rebounded and out-blocked Gafford a year ago.
With the experience, Coach Smart is able to ease in his freshman into a rotation as the season progresses and has a bit more certainty going into this first real test of the season for both programs.
Live Betting
The Longhorns are in a better position to open the season with experience at every position. While they’re dealing with losses of key players like any other team in college hoops, they weren’t hit nearly as hard as Arkansas who, along with graduating seniors and those leaving the college ranks, they also had a couple key transfers, leaving them with one—or two if you stretch it—returning starters and a barren backcourt.
The Razorbacks need to win the battles inside to stand a chance in this game and get a solid performance or two right out of the shoot from the new blood in the backcourt. Keep a close eye how Harris, Jones or Embry fare on the outside.
Key Stats
The key stat here is the 35.9 PPG combined by Osetkowski, Roach and Coleman last year. All three averaged more than 10 PPG. Bamba and Jones were the stars last year, but while Jones may not be back—at least not completely—and Bamba is gone, this team still has some players who can score. It’s not a bad returning trio to lean on while Smart figures out the rest of the starting lineup and the bench rotation. The team as a whole is versatile, athletic and can defend, too.
Comparatively, without their backcourt from last year, the Hogs are losing 44.2 PPG. Arkansas scored 80.5 PPG last year, nearly eight points more per game than the Longhorns, but much of that is gone.
Longhorns vs. Razorbacks Live Betting
The Razorbacks have lost too much outside and are disadvantaged against a Texas team that returns a lot of experience both inside the paint on the perimeter.
Look for the Longhorns to own the outside in this match, outshooting and outscoring the Arkansas on the perimeter. The two teams seem a bit more balanced inside. Arkansas will battle this one to the end, but count on the Longhorns coming out on top at Fort Bliss.
Check out all of the live betting at BookMaker.eu for Tuesday’s college basketball.
Texas vs. Arkansas Score Prediction: Texas 76, Arkansas 70
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