South Bound & Down
Fansided

Florida vs Arkansas: 2021-22 SEC Basketball game preview, TV schedule

By Matt Melton

GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 05: Colin Castleton #12 of the Florida Gators looks on during the second half of a game against the Mississippi Rebels at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center on February 05, 2022 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)
GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 05: Colin Castleton #12 of the Florida Gators looks on during the second half of a game against the Mississippi Rebels at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center on February 05, 2022 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

2021-22 SEC Basketball Game Preview: Florida vs No. 18 Arkansas

When: Tuesday, February 22 at 7:00 pm ET on ESPN2

Location: Exactech Arena at Stephen C. O’Connell Center, Gainesville, FL

Coming off their biggest win of the season, Florida has yet another NCAA Tournament resume-boosting opportunity ahead of them as the Gators host Arkansas for an SEC Basketball showdown.

As mentioned previously, the Gators are coming off a 63-62 upset win over No. 2 Auburn on Saturday, by-far Florida’s biggest win of the season. Using a late second half run to pull ahead, the Gators made some big shots late against the Tigers, two of which came from guard Tyree Appleby who added a season-high 26 points.

Sitting firmly on the Bubble according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, there is still work to be done for the 17-10 Gators (7-7 in SEC), but as talked about before, there are still opportunities ahead of them. Allowing only 64 PPG to opponents certainly gives Florida a chance to take advantage of those opportunities, but the Gators will likely have to come to play offensively against a very-good defensive Razorbacks team.

As for how they can do that, Florida must receive strong play from their guards such as Appleby, Phlandrous Fleming Jr, Myreon Jones, and Brandon McKissic, as well as rotation options such as Kowacie Reeves and Elijah Kennedy. Star forward Colin Castleton (15.7 PPG, 9.1 RPG) will be key for the Gators success in this game, as well as the play of other frontcourt options such as Anthony Duruji and CJ Felder.

As for their opponent, Arkansas continues to roll as the Razorbacks have now won 11 of their last 12 games. An impressive stretch altogether, the Razorbacks picked up another big win at home on Saturday when Arkansas topped Tennessee 58-48 due to a late run, despite struggling offensively against the Volunteers.

Ranked as the No. 18 team in the country, the Razorbacks come to Gainesville with a 21-6 overall record, as well as being 10-4 in SEC Basketball play, tied for third in the conference. As mentioned previously, Arkansas is a very-good defensive team ranking 12th in the country according to KenPom, as well as a talented offensive team that averages a combined 77.3 PPG.

Led by one of the SEC’s top scorers in guard JD Notae (18.5 PPG), the Razorbacks have also received strong play in recent games from both Jaylin Williams and Stanley Umude. In addition to those three, Au’Diese Toney, Chris Lykes, and Davonte Davis all play significant minutes in the backcourt, with Trey Wade the main rotation option in the frontcourt.

The matchup down low of Castleton/Williams will obviously be the biggest talking point going into this game. However, don’t necessarily sleep on the matchup of these backcourts, both of which are among the most-experienced in the SEC.

Next. 4-star EDGE Quincy Rhodes Jr commits to Arkansas. dark

This is a golden opportunity for Florida to add yet another big win on their homecourt, but as expected, it will not be an easy thing to do by any means. In front of what should be another exciting atmosphere in Gainesville, this game will likely be close throughout, but I’ll say that Arkansas pulls away late and wins a close one.

Prediction: Florida 67, Arkansas 70

Home/Florida Gators
Keep scrolling for more content below