Latest injury update on Arkansas guard Boogie Fland

The Arkansas Razorbacks (11-7, 0-5 SEC) are back home in Bud Walton Arena on Wednesday and still searching for that first SEC victory when they face the Georgia Bulldogs (14-4, 2-3 SEC). If the Razorbacks are going pick up a win, they’ll have to do it without star freshman guard Boogie Fland, who’s listed as out on the first availability report on Tuesday night.

Following Arkansas’ loss to Missouri on Saturday, head coach John Calipari revealed Fland was battling a hand injury he suffered during the loss to Florida a week prior. The freshman had his right hand tapped up and was seen playing through obvious pain at certain points of Arkansas’ 83-65 loss. In the postgame press conference, Calipari didn’t seem confident they’d have the guard in the immediate future.

“Boogie’s hand, he fell in the game at our place against Florida … His hand is pretty bad,” Calipari said after the game. “Don’t know what we’ll do going forward, but we’ve got to make sure that we get that thing right.”

On his radio show Monday night, Calipari mentioned Fland was “doubtful at best” for Wednesday night’s game. That sentiment was echoed by assistant coach Chin Coleman on Tuesday afternoon during his media availability session. Without Fland, Coleman revealed the Hogs would use a guard committee to replace the lost production before he singled out guards DJ Wagner, Johnell Davis and Billy Richmond as players who would have to step up.

“Obviously, it’s natural for DJ to move into that role,” Coleman said. “He’s done it his whole life. He’s done it in his career. So it’s an easy fix for him just moving to that role. But committee wise, Johnell will have to take some of that responsibility, and Billy Richmond, who has played that position some in high school. It’s different obviously on this level. But he has played the position so we’re going to ask for him to take some of that.”

The Razorbacks will be the first unranked SEC team Georgia has faced all season. The Bulldogs enter Fayetteville on the heels of a close, 70-68 loss to No. 1 Auburn this past Saturday. Tip-off from Bud Walton Arena is set for 8 p.m. (CST) on Wednesday night, and SEC Network will have television coverage of the game.

This year for all SEC football, basketball and baseball games, the conference requires teams to release player availability reports prior to league games. The initial report for men’s basketball is due at 7 p.m. (CST) the night before every conference game, and each player will be listed as Available, Probable, Questionable, Doubtful or Out. The Game Day Update is due two hours before tip-off and each player will be listed as Available, Game Time Decision or Out. 

Arkansas Initial Update

Out: Boogie Fland

Georgia Initial Update

All players available