Hogs need to prepare for hostile environment in matchup with St. John's

PROVIDENCE — There are roughly 1,490 miles that separate Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, Rhode Island, from the University of Arkansas. Just 176 separate the site of the second round of the NCAA Tournament from St. John's University in Queens in New York City.

As such, the Arkansas faithful are sure to be outnumbered by Johnnie's fans when the 10-seed Razorbacks take on the 2-seed Red Storm in the Round of 32. Razorback fans tend to travel well, and had a good crowd in the first round, but Rhode Island is a tougher to get to destination from Arkansas than some of the other sites.

St. John's had a loud and proud showing in the Johnnies' first-round matchup against Omaha, and the Hogs will need to prepare to face that same hostile environment on Saturday.

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"Really just stay together," Arkansas guard D.J. Wagner said of how the team can handle the environment. "Just knowing that it's not going to be easy, and knowing that it is going to be hostile."

Wagner said one thing that has prepared the Hogs for facing that kind of environment is playing in the Southeastern. Arkansas is no stranger to tough road environments and has played in numerous during league play.

Arkansas guard Billy Richmond III said the team isn't fazed by what could end up being a raucous and rowdy road crowd.

"We're just hoopers, we do this every day," Richmond told HawgBeat. "It don't really faze us, we just want to play basketball. Just doing it with our brothers, you can't ask for too much more."

It's worth noting both Wagner and Richmond hail from Camden, New Jersey, just a couple hours from Providence. The Razorbacks also have a native New Yorker on their team in freshman point guard Boogie Fland, who told reporters in a somewhat-jokingly way that he believes the Bronx will be rooting for Arkansas.

"Definitely me and Arkansas," Fland said with a sly smile. "I mean, some of them are going for St. John's, but most are (rooting for) us I'm sure."

Fland went on to say the Razorbacks just need to stick to the fundamentals to weather the storm the Johnnie's fans will bring.

"Keep the main thing the main thing," Fland said. "Keep doing what we've been doing, just try to get a win tomorrow."

That's easier said than done, though. On top of what should be a mostly pro-Red Storm crowd, St. John's boasts the nation's top-ranked defense according to KenPom, and head coach John Calipari knows the game will be a tough test.

"They're really physical, they collapse, they make layups hard," Calipari said Friday. "Their three-point defense is, like, ridiculously low, but the way we shoot it, they don't have to be ridiculously low. We'll do that to ourselves sometimes.

"The second thing is my guess is 50/50 balls. They get 70% of them or more. And then their defense leads to their offense. Probably my guess is they score 17, 18 points a game off turnovers, so you better not have a whole lot of live ball turnovers or you have no chance of winning the game."

The Razorbacks and Red Storm will tip off from Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, Rhode Island, on Saturday at 1:40 p.m. CT. The game will air on CBS.

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