Kansas Jayhawks acting head coach Norm Roberts praises ‘athletic’ Arkansas Razorbacks

Ranked No. 10 in the Associated Press poll to start the 2022-23 season after last year’s run to the Elite Eight, unranked Arkansas has the full attention of the No. 4-rated Kansas Jayhawks entering Saturday’s NCAA Tournament West Regional Round of 32 game.

Tipoff for the contest that will fill a slot in the Sweet 16 next week in Las Vegas is 4:15 p.m. Central at Wells Fargo Arena with a live telecast on CBS.

“I don’t think anybody in the country has as many athletes as Arkansas has,” KU acting head coach Norm Roberts said Friday. He was filling in at the official news conference dais for 20th-year KU coach Bill Self, who attended practice at Wells Fargo but did not speak with media.

Roberts indicated Self remains a “day-to-day” decision in terms of whether he’ll be available to coach the team on Saturday. Self had a heart catheterization just nine days ago at Kansas Health System in Kansas City.

“We have had different teams in our league that are pretty athletic,” Roberts added of the Big 12 competition; Arkansas is in the SEC. “Baylor was athletic but they’re not as tall, long. West Virginia is long but they’re not as fast. So we played against a combination of those things. Probably the closest one (to compare to Arkansas) would be Texas. Texas probably has as many athletes in length that’s similar to Arkansas.”

Texas is the the team that won two of three games versus KU this season.

The Longhorns most recently prevailed 76-56 on March 11 in the Big 12 Tournament final. A week earlier, Texas beat KU 75-59 in Austin after losing to the Jayhawks 88-80 on Feb. 6 at Allen Fieldhouse.

“They’re very long and athletic, play extremely fast,” Roberts said of No. 8 seed Arkansas, which defeated No. 9 seed Illinois 73-63 in a first-round West Regional game on Thursday. Prior to that, the Razorbacks (21-13) stumbled to four losses in five games.

Roberts discussed the Razorback athletes in depth during Friday’s media session. They Razorbacks have been using four guards and one forward in the starting lineup.

Arkansas’ leading scorer is Ricky Council, a 6-6 junior from Durham, North Carolina, who formerly played at Wichita State. He averages 16.0 points a game with 75 assists to 72 turnovers. He’s made 44.3% of his shots, knocking down 32 of 117 threes for just 27.4%.

“Ricky is an explosive athlete. His first step is ridiculously quick and he’s explosive to the rim. He’s a really good player, and he’s had a great year for them,” Roberts said. “Council is maybe as good of an athlete as you’re going to see in the country.”

Describing the 28-7 top-seeded Jayhawks, Council said: “Togetherness. I’ve seen them play since I was at Wichita State. Even their coach said this is the most connected team they have had in a while. Not their most talented, but most connected.”

Council and KU sophomore Bobby Pettiford are good friends. Pettiford also is from Durham.

“We’ll probably talk today, talk a little smack,” Pettiford said. “A lot of people from Durham have been texting me about it. I’ve known Ricky since I can remember. Ricky has been my guy. We’ve been talking, working out together a long time. He’s a dog. He can score. Everybody knows he’s a great athlete.”

Nick Smith, a 6-5 freshman from Jacksonville, Arkansas, was recruited by KU but elected to play college ball in his home state.

Smith has averaged 13.5 points a game on 38.1% shooting. Injured earlier this season, he’s started 12 of 15 games.

“We recruited Nick, so I’ve known Nick and his family. He is a terrific ballplayer, terrific family,” Roberts said. “Nick can score, but he affects the game in other ways, too. He can get in the passing lane. He’s long. He plays very aggressively. He can create for others as well.

“He is a main focus. He is a guy we can’t let get off early against us, because he could have a big night. We know that.”

Anthony Black, a 6-7 freshman from Duncanville, Texas, who averages 12.8 points and 5.1 rebounds a game, also was a KU recruit.

“One thing about Anthony, he’s always been a great passer, but now his body is stronger than it was coming out of high school,” Roberts said. “He’s explosive getting to the basket. He’s become a good defender as well. There is no doubt that he has an NBA career ahead of him and he has a great basketball IQ.”

Another player KU considered in recruiting is Jordan Walsh, a 6-7 freshman from DeSoto, Texas, who averages 7.1 points a game on 43.7% shooting. He’s made 16 of 69 threes for 27.5%. As a team, Arkansas has cashed 31.6% of its treys while holding foes to a 30.4% mark from three.

“Jordan Walsh is a great defender. Davis is a terrific point guard,” Roberts said of Devonte Davis, a who averages 10.7 points a game with 86 assists, 68 turnovers.

The Jayhawk players have a great deal of respect for Arkansas.

“I think they are underrated. They had some injuries earlier, have a great team,” Pettiford said.

Noted senior Kevin McCullar: “Arkansas is a really great team. They’re a very athletic team, have some long guys and some explosive athletes. They like to get up and down and they’re a very good team.”

“They are athletic defensively and even offensively you’ve got to be ready for them,” stated KU guard Joseph Yesufu.

The Jayhawks feel they are well prepared after the gauntlet of the Big 12 Conference.

“Arkansas has a bunch of high-caliber guys,” McCullar said. “They can put the ball in the hole at a high rate and guard. Playing in the Big 12 I feel like we’ve been battle-tested, and them playing in the SEC, they’ve been battle-tested. So it’s going to be a great matchup and it’s going to be fun.”

Roberts offered possible keys to victory: “Well, it’s going to be important that we play team defense. It can’t just be one guy, because they are very good at putting it on the bounce and attacking the basket.”

He continued.

“We have to be in gaps. We’ve got to help each other,” Roberts said. “We’ve got to communicate quite a bit. Then once the shot is taken, more importantly we gotta go rebound it. They do a great job of crashing the glass, and so we’ve got to do a great job in rotation rebounding.”