A week after the University of Arkansas men's basketball team lost 111-102 at No. 15 Kentucky, don't be surprised if the Razorbacks find themselves in another triple-digit shootout today when Arkansas plays No. 16 Alabama at Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Arkansas (15-15, 6-11 SEC) has been in high gear offensively the past two weeks with its four highest-scoring SEC games this season.
Alabama (20-10, 12-5) has scored 100 or more points in nine games -- the most in a season by an SEC team since Kentucky's 1995-96 national championship squad. The Crimson Tide scored 99 points in two other games.
"Based on their Kentucky game, it didn't look like Arkansas was trying to slow it down," Alabama Coach Nate Oats said. "I don't think we've ever tried to slow the ball down here, until maybe the last couple minutes when we've got a lead.
"If Arkansas wants to run, we'd certainly like to run."
In SEC games, Alabama is averaging 89.2 points to lead the conference.
The Razorbacks are averaging 73.6 points in SEC play to rank 10th, but in the past four games they've averaged 91.5.
Along with scoring the second-highest total Kentucky has allowed this season -- No. 4 Tennessee beat the Wildcats 103-92 -- the Razorbacks beat Missouri 88-73, lost to Vanderbilt 85-82 and beat LSU 94-83 over their past four games.
Eric Musselman said the Razorbacks' game at Kentucky might have been their best offensive performance in his five seasons as Arkansas' coach.
The Razorbacks shot 53.1% from the field (34 of 64), including 7 of 17 three-pointers, against the Wildcats at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky., and hit 27 of 28 free throws.
In beating LSU on Wednesday at Walton Arena in the home finale, the Razorbacks were even better from the field, shooting a season-high 60.8% (31 of 51).
"The guys that are playing are more confident," Arkansas senior guard Khalif Battle said. "Everybody's playing harder for each other."
The Razorbacks had 24 fastbreak points at Kentucky, then upped that to 26 against LSU.
"Guys are running the lanes a lot harder," Musselman said. "Even our big guys are talking about running more. When you get a rebound and it's clean and you can get it to an outlet pass, those are areas we've always wanted to be a running team.
"And this team right now is sharing the ball in transition. We're getting to spots a little bit quicker than we did earlier in the year."
The Razorbacks had 18 assists against LSU -- their high for an SEC game this season.
"We've been spreading the wealth," Battle said on Arkansas' postgame radio show. "We had a talk that we can't win it by ourselves."
Battle has combined for 141 points the past four games. According to the SEC Network, it's the most scored by a player in four consecutive SEC games in the past 20 years.
"It's crazy when you think about all the pros that have come out of the SEC, to think that [Battle] scored more points in four consecutive games than all those guys," Oats said. "He's playing as well as anybody in the country right now."
In the previous four games, Battle scored a career-high 42 against Missouri, 36 against Vanderbilt, 34 at Kentucky and 29 against LSU. He's hit 35 of 62 field-goal attempts, including 13 of 26 three-pointers, and 58 of 63 free throws.
"I don't think anyone can guard me one-on-one," Battle said on Arkansas' radio show after the LSU game. "Coach told me to go for those [drives] where they had to make a decision whether to foul or just let me score."
Battle hit 8 of 16 shots and 13 of 14 free throws -- one miss away from a fourth consecutive game with 30 or more points.
"It's crazy," Arkansas senior guard Jeremiah Davenport said of the roll Battle is on offensively. "I've never seen something like that."
Battle said on Arkansas' postgame radio show Musselman has given him added confidence.
"He talked to me after a game and after practice one time and told me he was going to ride with me no matter what," Battle said. "We had a heart-to-heart and ever since then I think the level of play of everybody has been higher."
Battle is averaging 15.8 free-throw attempts the past four games.
"One, we've got to keep him out of the paint without fouling him," Oats said. "Two, Arkansas has traditionally been very good at putting their best players in good isolation situations where they're able to go one-on-one. So we've got to try to keep the matchups the way we like them. And then we've got to give a lot of help on defense."
Razorbacks junior guard Tramon Mark, who came into the LSU game averaging a team-high 17.1 points, had 9 points on 2-of-8 shooting, 8 rebounds and matched his season-high with 5 assists.
Mark split point guard duties with senior El Ellis, who had 16 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists.
"I think that T-Mark's development, that's probably a position that he can evolve to," Musselman said of playing point guard as Mark's primary position. "He's got advantages because [at 6-6] he can see over the defense with his length and his size.
"I thought he did a good job of taking what the defense gave him. He didn't force any shots. ... He did a great job with his decision-making."
Alabama is led by senior guard Mark Sears, who averaging an SEC-best 21.1 points per game along with 4.1 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.6 steals. He's shooting 50.9% from the field and 44.2% on three-pointers.
Aaron Estrada, a senior transfer guard who previously played at Saint Peter's, Oregon and Hofstra, is averaging 13.5 points for the Tide.
"We know they'll have a great crowd. We know they're explosive in transition," Musselman said. "We know they want to take a lot of threes and try to get to the rim and take as many layups as they can.
"We know Sears and Estrada throw rifle passes with their left hand when they get in the lane for spit-out threes."
Besides the Alabama and Arkansas offenses, another reason to believe both teams could score 100-plus points today is their defenses.
The Tide rank 14th in the SEC in points allowed in conference games (80.1) and the Razorbacks are 13th (79.2).
Kentucky beat Alabama 117-95 earlier this season.
"I hope that we'll do a better job guarding than when we played Kentucky," Oats said.
The Tide have lost back-to-back SEC games for the first time this season -- 81-74 at home to Tennessee and 105-87 at Florida.
"You never want to walk in and play a team after they've lost," Musselman said. "Especially a team that has a chance to play for a national championship like Alabama does."
Arkansas’ Khalif Battle (0), has combined for 141 points the past four games. According to the SEC Network, it’s the most scored by a player in four consecutive SEC games in the past 20 years. Battle said Razorbacks Coach Eric Musselman has given him added confidence this season. (AP/Jeff Roberson)