Boogie Fland is considered a one-and-done college player and his play continues to show why.
The reigning Southeastern Conference Player of the Week looks for another strong outing when Arkansas takes on North Carolina A&T on Saturday afternoon at Fayetteville, Ark.
Razorbacks coach John Calipari knew that Fland would be headed to the NBA after one season but that didn’t deter him from recruiting him and handing Fland the keys to the offense.
Fland has been a quick study and ranks second in scoring at 15.5 points per game and leads Arkansas (9-2) in assists at 5.7. He also has made a team-best 21 33-pointers and is tied for the team lead with 21 steals.
Last week, Fland had 20 points and seven assists to fuel an 89-87 upset of No. 14 Michigan in New York on Dec. 10. He followed it up with 16 points, nine assists, five rebounds and five steals during an 82-57 rout of visiting Central Arkansas four days later.
The assists were a season high for Fland, who nearly posted his first collegiate double-double.
“Just having fun out there and just finding my guys,” Fland said afterward. “I wish I would’ve gotten the double-double. It didn’t happen. Hopefully next game.”
The rout of Central Arkansas occurred without leading scorer and rebounder Adou Thiero (18.0 ppg, 5.9 rpg), who was out with an illness.
The Razorbacks have won four straight games entering the clash with the Aggies.
North Carolina A&T (3-9) has lost seven straight games since beating Morgan State 86-63 on Nov. 20.
The latest loss came Tuesday when the Aggies dropped a 73-68 home contest against Coastal Carolina. The contest was knotted at 59 with just over three minutes left before the Chanticleers controlled the rest of the contest.
“We pride ourselves on the defensive side of the basketball,” North Carolina A&T coach Monte Ross said afterward. “We needed to get stops. We just weren’t able to get them. Credit to Coastal. I thought they made some big shots down the stretch, and we couldn’t keep them from making those shots.”
North Carolina A&T’s top two scorers are from Arkansas.
Landon Glasper played at Fayetteville High and is averaging 19 points per game. Ryan Forrest, who played at Marion High, is averaging 18 per outing.
Glasper matched his season high of 29 points and his career best of eight rebounds in the loss to Coastal Carolina.
Forrest scored a season-low four points on 2-of-13 shooting in the contest. He has scored 20 or more points five times this season, including a career-high 33 against Morgan State.
Arkansas won all three previous meetings, the most recent being an 87-59 home victory on Dec. 29, 2010.
–Field Level Media
