Duke returns to the court on Saturday for their 23 trip to the final and 17th in the Coach K era. They will face an Arkansas team that is experienced through the transfer portal and led by an iconic coach in Eric Musselman. Musselman is 73-27 in this third year at Arkansas after successful short run at Nevada after coaching in the NBA for years following in his father Bill's footsteps. Arkansas is playing in its second consecutive Elite 8 with only a few returnees from last year. Musselman has went from using a myriad of players in the regular season to like most tournament teams he is now playing 5-6 players most of the way in all the games.
Here are the starters and key reserves.
6-2 Sr. J D Notae 18.4 points,4.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists
6-6 Sr. Stanley Umude 12.0 pts, 4.8 rebs, is a transfer from South Dakota St.
6-6 Sr. Au' Diese Toney 10.7 pts, 5.2 rebs, is a transfer from Pitt/
6-10 Soph. Jaylin Williams 10.5 pts, 9.8 rebs, 2.5 assists.
6-6 Sr. Trey Wade 3.3 pts, 2.5 rebs. is a tranfer from Wichita St.
6-4 Soph. Davonte ( Devo ) Davis 8.3 pts, 3.8 rebs.
5-7 Sr. Chris Lykes 8.0 pts, 1.0 rebs, 1.6 assists, is a transfer from Miami.
6-7 Jr. Kamani Johnson 2.5 pts, 2.9 rebs, is a transfer from Arkansas Little Rock.
Notes : The Razorbacks average 76.1 points per game and hold their opponents to 68.0. They are shooting 43.4% from the field and allow 40.9%. They are shooting 30.4% from three on 5.8 per game and limit their opponents to 32.4% on 7.4 made. They are out rebounding their opponents by 3.9 per game and committing 12.6 turnovers per and forcing 14.8 They shoot 75.3% from the line. The Razorbacks have wins over LSU three times, Tennessee, Kentucky and Auburn. They are rated 17 by Ken Pom, 53rd offensively, 17th defensively and their strength of schedule is # 36. The game is scheduled for 8:49 pm on Saturday and will be televised on CBS.