NCAA Basketball: Ranking the Sweet 16 teams in 2022 NCAA Tournament
By Joey Loose
11. Arkansas (#4 seed)
It’s been a tale of three seasons in a way for the Razorbacks. Arkansas ran off nine straight wins and looked great to start the year before coming undone in late December and early January. Arkansas then caught fire in SEC play, notching a number of impressive wins in a hot finish to the regular season. A very stout defensive team, they’ve leaned heavily on that unit in coming away with two hard-fought wins in this year’s Big Dance.
Arkansas avoided the upset on Thursday night, securing a 75-71 win over 13-seed Vermont. In this near-upset, the Razorbacks were led by Stanley Umude’s 21 points, while the team took care of the basketball, only committing 5 turnovers in the win. Two days later it was JD Notae’s 18 points that led the charge in a game where offense was at a premium, notching a 53-48 win over 12-seed New Mexico State. The Razorbacks survived several long offensive droughts with one of their best defensive efforts of the entire season.
Obviously, Arkansas is not going to win another NCAA Tournament game by scoring just 53 points, especially with Gonzaga next on the schedule. With their athleticism, they may be able to hinder the Bulldogs, but defense alone is not going to secure an upset over the Bulldogs. Arkansas will need the kind of offensive fireworks they got in late-season wins over Kentucky and LSU. They’ll also need to not struggle from the 3, which they’ve done mightily in two of their last three games.