UF WBK: Florida Basketball will Face Arkansas at Home Thursday Evening

Florida Basketball will Face Arkansas at Home Thursday Evening
Florida Basketball will look to redeem themselves Thursday evening against Arkansas after a tough loss in Baton Rouge on Sunday. The contest between the Gators and Razorbacks is set for 6 p.m. at the O’Dome and is available for streaming on SECN+.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Gators will host Arkansas Thursday evening at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. Florida will be coming off a road loss against LSU falling 106-66 on Feb. 4. The matchup will mark the Gators (2-6 SEC) ninth conference game of the 2023-24 season and the Razorbacks tenth (5-4). Arkansas is coming off a home win against Auburn, winning 74-72 on Sunday evening.

ARKANSAS (17-7, 5-4):

* Date: Thursday, Feb. 8
* Time: 6 p.m. CT
* Site: Exactech Arena
* Stream: SECN+<https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/1ee906b8-760e-49b1-88cb-e4aa624ba33a>
* Radio: ESPN Gainesville 98.1 FM / 850 AM<https://floridagators.com/watch/?Live=5279&type=Archive>
* Stats: StatBroadcast<https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=490552>
* Tickets<https://am.ticketmaster.com/gators/ism/V0IyMzEw>

THE SERIES:
The current series between Florida and Arkansas is in favor of the Gators at 30-13 with the Gators ahead by 17.

HISTORY:
Florida and Arkansas have met a recorded 43 times in their respective school histories. The most recent matchup was in January of 2023 in Fayetteville, with Arkansas defeating the Gators 102-74. Arkansas shot 40 percent from the three and 49.9 from the field, compared to the Gators 34.4 field goal percentage and 22.2 percent from the three. Florida’s last win over Arkansas was Feb. 17, 2022 in Gainesville, coming out 76-67 at home with Kiara Smith totaling 19 points for the gators.

FLORIDA’S LAST GAME:
Florida’s last time out was a loss against the LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge. The loss marked Florida’s sixth conference defeat of the season with other tough losses to South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, and Texas A&M. Overall, the Gators were led by Aliyah Matharu<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/aliyah-matharu/16030> in their last time out with a 20-point performance. Matharu went 7-of-23 from the field and recorded five steals for the Gators. Second on the offensive mark for the Gators was Leilani Correa<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/leilani-correa/16027> with a 13-point performance against the Tigers.

ABOUT ARKANSAS:
The Razorbacks are heading to Gainesville after a win against Auburn on Sunday in Fayetteville. The Razorbacks had four players in double digits for scoring on Sunday night, and was led by Taliah Scott on offense. Scott put up 33 points and secured 11 rebounds, in a standout effort that pushed the Razorbacks passed the Tigers. She shot perfect 5-of-5 from the free throw line and played all 40 minutes.

Throughout the season Arkansas has four players averaging in double figures for scoring: Taliah Scott (22.2 ppg), Samara Spencer (13.9 ppg), Makayla Daniels (16.7 ppg), and Saylor Poffenbarger Lith (11.0 ppg). Scott now sits at the 1st spot in the SEC for scoring while Saylor Poffenbarger ties first with Angel Reese in rebounds per game. Maryam Dauda takes the first spot in the SEC for blocks while teammate Saylor takes the 9th spot. Makayla Daniels rounds out the top 10 in the SEC for steals. The Gators should look to play tighter defense and take more accurate shots against this stacked roster.

On the boards, Arkansas is led by Saylor Poffenbarger, averaging 12.1 rebounds a game. In total, Saylor has grabbed 279 rebounds this season with 228 being defensive and the other 51 being snagged on offense.

QUICK ARKANSAS HITS:

* Florida is 14-4 against Arkansas in Gainesville all-time
* Florida has won seven of the last eight meetings against Arkansas in Gainesville
* Taliah Scott leads the SEC and is tied ninth in Division I with 22.2 points per game
* Scott’s 22.2 ppg is 8.3 more than Arkansas’ next highest scorer in Samara Spencer at 13.9 ppg

* Saylor Poffenbarger leads the Razorbacks’ rebounding efforts with 12.1 boards per game
* Poffenbarger’s 12.1 rebounds per game is tied with Angel Reese for the most in the SEC and second in Division I
* Maryam Dauda is third in the SEC and 14th in Division I with 2.58 blocks per game

#GoGators