Beyond the Box Score: Hogs cruise in season opener over Alcorn State
For the fifth time under Eric Musselman, No. 14 Arkansas basketball took care of business to open the season. The Hogs were able to cruise to an impressive 93-59 victory over Alcorn State on Monday night inside Bud Walton Arena.
It was a pretty routine season-opener for this Arkansas basketball program, as the Hogs remain a perfect 31-0 in such games at Bud Walton Arena. All 15 players on the roster, including walk-ons Cade Arbogast and Lawson Blake, were able to see the floor and 12 of 15 Razorbacks scored.
While the Braves weren’t able to keep this game close, they did give Musselman and his team a laundry list of things to improve on before Friday night. Couple that learning experience with the fact that the Hogs were still able to win in convincing fashion while avoiding injury, and that’s makes Monday night the definition of a success.
Let’s take a look a closer look at some of the numbers behind Arkansas’ season-opening victory.
35-0 in Bud Walton Arena
With Monday’s win over Alcorn State, Arkansas kept a pretty impressive streak going. The Hogs improved to 35-0 in non-conference games at Bud Walton Arena under Eric Musselman. That streak dates back to Nov. 5, 2019 when Arkansas beat Rice 91-43, giving Musselman his first victory as head coach.
40.0% 3PT
Despite the Hogs showcasing their much-improved shooting from distance in the preseason – including against No. 3 Purdue – they still have their skeptics. On Monday, Arkansas took another step closer to silencing those doubters by shooting 12-30 (40.0%) from three.
Alcorn State attempted to slow Arkansas down inside the arc by switching into zone defense, but the Hogs’ ability to knock down shots from deep put a stop to their zone rather quickly.
15 Turnovers
While the Hogs were able to roll to a 34-point victory, Musselman was unhappy with his team’s amount of turnovers during his postgame press conference. Arkansas finished with 15 turnovers, which is just one less than Alcorn.
Fortunately, the Braves were only able to score 10 points off of those turnovers, while Arkansas scored 22 points off of Alcorn’s giveaways. Still, though, it’s something that needs to be cleaned up going forward.
14 Offensive Rebounds
In Arkansas’ exhibition win over No. 3 Purdue, one of the most glaring issues from that game was how the Hogs were out-rebounded 14-1 on the offensive glass. This last week, Musselman challenged his team to put more effort into crashing the glass on that end of the floor and it looks to have paid off.
Arkansas finished with 14 offensive rebounds on Monday night, while Alcorn only managed to grab seven. The Hogs were only able to convert those second chances into eight points, but nonetheless it’s a step in the right direction.
49 Bench Points
Many, including this writer, believe that this roster is the deepest that Eric Musselman has had at Arkansas. If you need proof, the Hogs were able to get 49 points from their bench in Monday’s win.
Yes, Alcorn State isn’t exactly high-level competition. Yes, you should expect that most of your roster could score against them. No, it’s not the most definitive proof of a deep roster. But the signs are pointing towards that statement becoming fact. We’ll need a larger sample size, sure, but it looks like this easily could be the deepest the Hogs have ever been under Musselman.
