We won't get to see two of the best freshmen go at it now Saturday in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Jon Rothstein reported late Tuesday night that Arkansas freshman guard Boogie Fland is expected to miss the rest of the season because of a hand injury. The Razorbacks will host the Oklahoma Sooners at 7:30 p.m. CT Saturday.
Fland is one of the best freshman basketball players in the country this season among a stacked class of rookies, which includes OU's Jeremiah Fears, and was projected to be a posible lottery pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. He was averaging 15.1 points a game.
For comparison, this would be similar to the Sooners losing Fears for the rest of the reason, so obviously this is a major blow for the Razorbacks. Arkansas was already struggling this season in John Calipari's first year leading the program. The Razorbacks are 11-7 and still after their first SEC win.
Fland injured his hand in a loss to Florida on Jan. 11, but still played the next two games. However, after Saturday's loss to Missouri, Calipari admitted that the injury was serious.
"His hand is pretty bad," Calipari said during his postgame press conference. "Don't know what we'll do going forward, but we've got to make sure we get that thing right."
Fland was already ruled out against Georgia on Wednesday night, according to Tuesday's SEC Availability Report. Georgia will be the Razorbacks' first test without Fland before hosting the Sooners on Saturday.
Fland against Fears would have been a fun matchup to watch on Saturday night. Fears is also a freshman guard that is projected to be a lottery pick in the 2025 NBA Draft and is averaging 16.8 points a game.
The Sooners are off this week until their trip to Arkansas and are expected to be at full strength.