No. 19 Arkansas Travels To Tennessee For SEC Showdown

AT A GLANCE
Riding a seven-game win streak for the third time in four years under head coach MIKE ANDERSON, No. 19/19 Arkansas will look to equal the program’s best start to SEC play on Tuesday at Tennessee in the first of two meetings this month between the two schools. Winners of four of their last six SEC road games dating back to last year, the Razorbacks have started SEC action 3-0 twice (1992-93, 97-98) in program history.
• Arkansas moved from No. 23 to No. 19 in Monday’s latest Associated Press Top 25 Poll and from No. 25 to No. 19 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
• One of 12 SEC teams in the ESPN RPI Top 100, Arkansas is No. 12 with a 5-1 mark against the top 100, including three wins over the top 35 (Dayton-16, at SMU-25, at Georgia-33).
• Sophomore BOBBY PORTIS (18.1) & junior MICHAEL QUALLS (15.8) are the top SEC scoring duo.
• Arkansas is one of four teams in the top 10 nationally in scoring (7th) and assists (5th).

#RAZORFACT
Sophomore BOBBY PORTIS is the first player in program history to go for 30 points and 10 rebounds in an SEC game.

BUSY MONDAY
After leading the Razorbacks to a pair of wins in the opening week of SEC play with his first career back-to-back 20-point games, sophomore BOBBY PORTIS was named the CBS Sports National Player of the Week and the SEC Player of the Week. Portis averaged 26.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.5 steals during the wins at Georgia and at home against Vanderbilt. Though the SEC Player of the Week honor is the first for Portis, he did earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors three times last year, equaling Patrick Beverley’s program record.

RAZORBACKS IN THE NATIONAL POLLS
Arkansas opened SEC play ranked for the first time since 1999, and on Monday moved up four spots to No. 19 in the Associated Press (AP) Top 25 Poll and up six spots in the USA Today Coaches Poll to No. 19. The Razorbacks own a record of 5-2 this season as a ranked team and are 383-103 all-time. Arkansas’ highest ranking this season came on Dec. 1 when it appeared at No. 18 in the AP Poll.

@RAZORBACKMBB FAST BREAK FACTS
• Own the 7th-longest win streak in the nation at seven games.
• One of four SEC teams at 2-0 through the first week of conference play.
• Won four of its last six SEC regular season road games.
• Third win streak of at least six games since Feb. 15 of last season, going 20-5 since that date.
• Best start (13-2) since 2004-05 and first 2-0 start to SEC play since 2007-08.
• One of four teams (BYU, Davidson, Gonzaga) nationally in the top 10 in scoring (7th) and assists (5th).
• Snapped a six-game losing streak in SEC road openers with a win at Georgia last Tuesday.
• Own an 11-0 record when forcing 15+ turnovers and 9-0 mark when scoring 80+ points.
• Won 21 straight games when leading at the half.
• BOBBY PORTIS and MICHAEL QUALLS are the top scoring duo in the SEC at 33.9 points per game and coming off a season-best 51 combined points.
• Lead the SEC in scoring (83.9), three-pointers per game (7.4) and assists (18.0).
• Only SEC team to score at least 65 points in every game.

COACHING MATCHUP
@RazorbackMBB
Head Coach: Mike Anderson (Tulsa ‘82)
Record at Arkansas: 72-41 (4th Season)
Overall Record: 272-139 (13th Season)
Vs. Tennessee: 1-2

Tennessee
Head Coach: Donnie Tyndall (Morehead State ‘93)
Record at Tennessee: 9-5 (1st Season)
Overall Record: 209-112 (10th Season)
Vs. Arkansas: First Meeting

STARTING 5 QUICK 5 HITS
#00 | Rashad MADDEN (G)
• Only player in the nation averaging at least five assists (5.3) in under 25 minutes.
• Has 5+ assists in 11 games compared to nine times over first three seasons.
• Second in the SEC in assists (5.3) and fourth in assist/turnover ratio (2.3).
• Has led Arkansas is assists 12 times.
• SEC leader in free throw percentage (.922).
#04 | Jabril DURHAM (G)
• Arkansas is 7-0 in games he has started.
• Started six of seven games during current win streak.
• Second on the team with 34 assists with a 2.8 assist/turnover ratio.
• Went 3-for-3 from three-point range in the win over Dayton.
• Has led the team in assists three times.
#24 | Michael QUALLS (G)
• Second on the team and seventh in the SEC in scoring (15.8).
• Has eight 20-point games in his last 24 outings compared to one over first 55.
• Arkansas is 12-1 the last two season when he has 2+ dunks in a game.
• Has appeared on the #SCtop10 nine times in his career.
• Scored a career-high 28 points against Northwestern State.
#10 | Bobby PORTIS (F)
• CBS Sports & SEC Player of the Week after averaging 26.5 points over two games.
• 32 points & 11 rebounds against Vanderbilt – most points by an SEC player.
• Leads the SEC in scoring (18.1) and field goal percentage (.582).
• One of three high-major players averaging at least 18 points and 7.5 rebounds.
• Reached double figures in 18 of the last 19 contests, including nine straight.
#33 | Moses KINGSLEY (F)
• Started the last three games – first three starts of his career.
• Made first career start against Utah Valley, going for 10 points.
• Second on the team lead with 14 blocks.
• Has grabbed 4+ offensive rebounds three times and is second with 25.
• Two double figure games equals his season total from 2013-14.

ONE-TWO PUNCH
Either junior MICHAEL QUALLS or sophomore BOBBY PORTIS has been Arkansas’ top scorer in 13 of 15 games this season, combining for 30+ points 10 times (9-1), highlighted by 50+ points in two games. Both have finished in double figures 12 times while combining for 12 of the team’s 14 20-point games. One of the two has reached the 20-point plateau in 10 games, while they are just one of two duos in the SEC to both rank in the top seven in scoring. Qualls and Portis don’t just get it done on the offensive end, as they rank one and two on the team in rebounding, leading the way on the glass 13 times. Below is a look at the top scoring duos in the SEC.

     Program       PPG       Mins Per
Bobby Portis & Michael Qualls       Arkansas        33.9       57.1
Jarell Martin & Jordan Mickey            LSU                32.7       67.4
KT Harrell & Cinmeon Bowers           Auburn           30.7       61.4
Damian Jones & Riley LaChance        Vanderbilt      29.0       60.8
Levi Randolph & Ricky Tarrant          Alabama        28.5       58.8