Preview – Arkansas Celebrates Native American Heritage Month Thursday

FAYETTEVILLE – The Arkansas women’s basketball team (3-0) will kick off festivities of celebrating Native American Heritage Month, as the Razorbacks host Kent State (1-1) on Thursday. The game is set to tipoff at 7 p.m. at Bud Walton Arena.

GAME INFORMATION
Date: Thursday, Nov. 17
Time: 7 p.m.
Opponent: Kent State
Location: Bud Walton Arena
Promotions: Native American Heritage Month education
Watch: SEC Network+
Listen: Razorback Sports Network from Learfield
Tickets: Click HERE
Arkansas Game Notes
Live Stats

STORYLINES

• Arkansas has aced its first three tests and will look to start out the year 4-0 for the first time since the 2019-20 season (when that team eventually began the year 5-0)
• Thursday’s game is a part of Arkansas’ stint of three games in seven days before heading off to the Virgin Islands for Paradise Jam
• The game on Thursday will be the first of two games the Razorbacks will celebrate Native American Heritage Month
• Arkansas coming off a hard-fought 79-70 win over a talented Tulsa team. Arkansas fired 11 shots from beyond the arc and outrebounded the Golden Hurricane 47-35 in the game. Erynn Barnum had a breakout game on Monday, registering a career-high 27 points with eight rebounds
• The matchup versus Kent State showcases two well-accomplished coaches, as head coach Mike Neighbors is going after his 100th win at Arkansas, coming into this game with a 99-64 mark on the Hill. On the other side is Todd Starkey, who has 100+ wins at Kent State and is bringing a veteran 1-1 team to Fayetteville
• After three games, Barnum averages a near double-double with 20.3 points and 9.3 rebounds per game to lead the way in both statistical categories
• Samara Spencer has a team’s best 11 assists and Rylee Langerman leads the team in steals with eight
• Makayla Daniels is the 29th all-time career scorer in Arkansas history. She is at 1,051 career points and needs five more to tie for No. 28 with Sarah Pfeifer (2002-08)
• The team leads the SEC in least turnovers per game (10.7) and is second in 3-pointers/game (7.3)
• The Razorbacks are No. 2 in the nation (following LSU) in free throw attempts per game with 36.3. Arkansas is also rebounding the ball remarkably well with 49.0 per game, which stands No. 4 in the league and is 24th in the nation
• The Razorbacks were projected to finish fourth in the SEC Preseason Media Poll and tied for fifth in the SEC Preseason Coaches Poll. Daniels represents Arkansas on the Preseason Second Team (Coaches poll)

 SCOUTING KENT STATE

• Kent State is a talented team out of the MAC, coming into Thursday’s game with a 1-1 mark
• The Golden Flashes gave Florida State a run for its money in their season opener before falling to the Seminoles, 80-71
• Starkey is in his seventh season at Kent, having led the Golden Flashes to a 102-78 mark during his time in Ohio. He was named MAC Coach of the Year in 2017
• Kent finished 19-12 last season, which ended in a second-round WNIT appearance
• After two games, Katie Shumate leads the team with 15.5 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. Shumate was the team’s leading scorer last season with 12.1 PPG
• Hannah Young has also been big on the boards with 6.0 RPG. She averaged 5.7 RPG in 2021-22
• Kent State was picked to finish fourth in the MAC Preseason Poll

• The Razorbacks and Golden Flashes are tied in the series, 1-1
• The last time these two teams met was on Nov. 30, 1993, and resulted in an 86-81 loss for Arkansas on the road in Kent. Arkansas won the first game of the series in Fayetteville, 89-72 on Dec. 21, 1991

• Arkansas pulled out a hard-fought 79-70 win over Tulsa on Monday to hand the Golden Hurricane their first loss of the season
• The Razorbacks registered 11 3-pointers and outrebounded Tulsa 47-35
• Barnum had one of the best performances of her career with a career-high 27 points off 10-of-12 from the field with eight rebounds
• Daniels followed with 19 points and nine rebounds
• Spencer played in almost the entire game on Monday, finishing with 13 points and four assists
• Langerman delivered the second double-digit scoring game of her career with 10 points with five rebounds and four steals
• All eight players who saw action on the floor scored

Arkansas will hit the road for the next two weeks, starting with a road contest at Little Rock on Sunday, Nov. 19 for a 1 p.m. tipoff. Coverage of that game will be aired on ESPN+.

MORE INFORMATION

For more information about Arkansas Women’s Basketball, follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @RazorbackWBB and on Facebook at Facebook.com/RazorbackWBB. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel, “Kickin’ It In The Neighborhood” for an inside look at the Razorback women’s basketball program and check out The Neighborhood podcasts at CoachNeighbors.com.