3:32 pm
November 18

Indiana @ Arkansas

Who will WIN this matchup?

Indiana Hoosiers (3-0)

@ Arkansas Razorbacks (1-1)

 

Current odds:

Indiana Hoosiers: (-160)

Arkansas Razorbacks: (+140)

 

 The line for this game is Indiana by 3.5 points.

• Indiana and Arkansas meet for the first time since 2008 when the Hoosiers make their first appearance at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark., for a Big Ten-SEC matchup. The Hoosiers should be feeling confident about their chances in their first road game of the season after an impressive 96-73 beatdown against Marquette on Wednesday night in the Gavitt Tipoff Games. Arkansas is known for its pressure defense, but Indiana has also shut down opponents in its first three games, holding opponents to 33.3 percent shooting from the field and 18.6 percent from 3-point range and allowing an average of 54.3 points. Arkansas is known for its pressure defense, but Indiana has also shut down opponents in its first three games, holding opponents to 33.3 percent shooting from the field and 18.6 percent from 3-point range and allowing an average of 54.3 points. They’re forcing 19.7 turnovers and averaging 22.6 points off turnovers.

• Indiana also is shooting the ball well, hitting 63.6 percent from the field against Marquette for its best percentage in coach Archie Miller’s two seasons. Five players scored in double figures in the latest win as Indiana dominated despite missing several players with injuries.

• Freshman Romeo Langford continues to impress, scoring a season-high 22 points and adding five rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots against Marquette. Another freshman, point guard Rob Phinisee, was called “a stud” by Miller after he produced 12 points and eight assists, turned the ball once and played solid defense in 27 minutes Wednesday. Senior Juwan Morgan (12.0 points), a preseason All-Big Ten selection, is one of five Indiana players averaging in double figures along with Langford, graduate transfer Evan Fitzner (12.0), Justin Smith (11.3) and Phinisee (10.0).

• The Razorbacks have split their first two games, losing in overtime to Texas and beating UC Davis on a neutral floor. Arkansas plays an up-tempo game and tries to apply defensive pressure all over the court against its opponents. Daniel Gafford, a 6-foot-11 sophomore who is averaging 16.0 points and 8.0 rebounds in the first two games this season, should be one of the top front-line players in the country this year after passing up the NBA Draft last summer to return to Arkansas.

• In Phinisee’s first three games, he’s averaging 10.0 points, shooting 64.7 percent from the field and has a 14-4 assists-to-turnover ratio — all better numbers that two other Indiana freshmen (Yogi Ferrell and Isiah Thomas) who were starters in their first three games.

• Freshman Jerome Hunter, Indiana’s highest-ranked recruit after Langford in the 2018 class, is out indefinitely after undergoing surgery Wednesday night for a lower-body injury.

• Arkansas forced UC Davis into 24 turnovers Monday, and the Razorbacks are causing opponents to turn the ball over on 24.1 percent of their possessions.

6/10
Confidence
StreakSmarter Pick
Indiana Hoosiers