Kansas basketball: Five things to know about the Arkansas Razorbacks

2. When Nick Smith performs well, Arkansas is a hard team to beat.

It has been an injury-plagued freshman season for the top recruit in the Class of 2022. He was sidelined with a knee injury from mid-December to February, costing him nearly half of the year. Smith has played only 15 games as a Razorback thus far, but when he is draining his shots, Arkansas reaches its full potential.

It is hard to look at surface statistics to evaluate Smith’s first season in Fayetteville. He only played 5 minutes in his college debut, got injured early on vs. Bradley, and was slowly settled into his first two games when returning from injury. But when putting those four contests aside, Smith averages 17.5 points per game. That would make him the team’s leading scorer.

Now that Smith is feeling 100%, Arkansas has almost all of its original team back. It is unfair to look at games between December and February to assess how good Arkansas is when they did not have their top guy.

It is worth noting that in games Smith was fully healthy in, the Razorbacks have defeated Auburn, Illinois, and Oklahoma. They also were just a few points away from stunning Alabama on their home court.