Old rivals collide, as Arkansas visits SMU

Nov 25, 2014 - 5:04 PM Dallas, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - The newly ranked Arkansas Razorbacks hit the road for the first time this season, as they challenge the SMU Mustangs at Moody Coliseum on Tuesday night.

Arkansas, No. 25 in this week's AP poll, is off to a 3-0 start, having disposed of Alabama State (97-79), Wake Forest (83-53) and Delaware State (99-71). The team has been an offensive tour de force, averaging a SEC-best 93 ppg while shooting well over 50 percent from both the field overall, and 3- point range. This game marks the 400th of coach Mike Anderson's career.

SMU began the season among the nationally ranked, but consecutive losses to Gonzaga (72-56) and Indiana (74-68) have sent Larry Brown's crew tumbling out of the Top-25. The Mustangs did manage to post a 77-68 victory over Eastern Washington in their last outing, giving them a 2-0 record at home.

The series between these two former Southwest Conference rivals has been controlled by Arkansas, 95-59. The Razorbacks have won the last 12 meetings.

Arkansas has scored 83 or more points in each of the first three games for the first time in more than 30 years. A total of eight different players have scored in double figures, while someone different has led the team in scoring in each game. The Hogs' defensive effort has been impressive as well, with their last two opponents combining for 44 turnovers and only 44 field goals. Arkansas has forced its foes into double-digit turnovers in four of six halves. As a result, it leads the league in steals (12.0), turnover margin (+9.0) and assist/turnover ratio (1.7).

Michael Qualls poured in 20 points thanks to a 7-of-11 shooting effort, as he paced four double-digit scorers in Arkansas' near 100-point performance against Delaware State. Scoring leader Bobby Portis, Anthlon Bell and Jacorey Williams each finished with 14 points for the Razorbacks, who made good on 48.6 percent of their total shots, actually shooting better from distance by draining 52.6 of their 3-point tries (10-of-19). The Hornets were guilty of 24 turnovers, which Arkansas turned into 33 points.

SMU boasts four players averaging double digits in the scoring column, led by Ben Moore with 13.3 ppg. He is also the club's top rebounder with 7.8 rpg, the Ponies laying claim to a +4.5 rebounding margin. They also own a favorable differential in scoring (+6.5), but are in the red in turnovers (-2.0). Nic Moore is another solid performer for Brown's club, as he nets 12.8 ppg while doing his best to get his teammates involved in the action with 22 assists.

Nic Moore scored 22 points and Keith Frazier added a career-high 17 to help propel SMU to its recent win over visiting Eastern Washington. The Mustangs, who also got 13 points from Yanick Moreira, hit almost half of their field goal attempts, while going nearly perfect at the free-throw line (15-of-16). EWU hung around thanks to 11 3-pointers, although the Eagles heaved up 36 long-range tries.