Everything Arkansas coach Eric Musselman said after South Dakota State
Arkansas basketball remains without a letdown.
The Razorbacks’ athleticism was far too much for South Dakota State on Wednesday night in Bud Walton Arena as Arkansas left with a 3-0 record after a 71-56 win.
South Dakota State had pulled within four points late in the first half forcing a timeout from coach Eric Musselman. His team responded with a 10-2 run over the last 2:13 of the half, forcing three turnovers in the span.
Arkansas forced 20 Jackrabbits turnovers and turned them into 23 points. That total came after the Hogs scored 30 off 30 Fordham turnovers Friday night.
The aggression left Musselman happy after the game. Check out everything the coach had to say below. His remarks are paraphrased.
Eric Musselman's opening remarks
Nov 16, 2022; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Eric Musselman during the second half against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits at Bud Walton Arena. Arkansas won 71-56. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports
I think they responded good. We’ll repeat what we talked about. I thought we had to play with much more defensive tenaciousness, be more disruptive. I think we ended the half on a 10-2 run. We did not end the half properly against Fordham. But I thought the start of the second half, end of the first half was phenomenal. Not happy with how we ended the last 10 minutes. But it is what it is. We have to generate more free throws than we attempted. Obviously 20 turnovers in a win is kind of unheard of. We got back to maybe a little bit of our problem overseas, turning the ball over. They weren’t turnovers caused by the defense. They were self-inflicted. … Defensively, through three games we’re really good defensively.
Jordan Walsh showed out
Nov 16, 2022; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks guard Jordan Walsh (13) celebrates after scoring in the first half against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits at Bud Walton Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports
I thought he played really well tonight. Jordan knocking down two 3-balls changes a lot of stuff for us offensively. I thought he was really good, being aggressive. His shot selection was really good. He had three steals in just 15 minutes. Obviously there’s concern right now about his ankle, which is why I didn’t play him more. Unfortunately he did get hurt, but he was playing really, really good.
Arkansas scored points off boards and turnovers
Nov 16, 2022; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks forward Makhel Mitchell (15) dribbles as South Dakota State Jackrabbits forward William Kyle III (42) defends in the first half at Bud Walton Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports
There were some times we gave up some dribble-drives and their post players did a pretty good job but that’s because we were staying attached to their 3-point shooters. … You’re going see this team have a lot of nights where they make double-digit 3-balls during the course of their season. I thought we did a really good job of hugging the 3-point line. That was a big part of what we wanted to do. … I thought that aspect of the question, I thought we did a really, really good job defending across the board. They shot 32% for the game. Again, the 3-point defense, holding them to 3 for 16, they also weren’t allowed to get many attempts up because we stayed attached.
Arkansas had 20 turnovers, too
Nov 16, 2022; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks forward Trevon Brazile (2) backs in against South Dakota State Jackrabbits forward Matt Dentlinger (32) during the second half at Bud Walton Arena. Arkansas won 71-56. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports
I think it’s probably a lot of things. Youth. Only a couple guys returning, so a lot of new players. Trying to figure out how defenses are playing us. I think there’s a multitude. We’re putting guys in positions maybe they haven’t been in in their career. … You see him (Brazile) out on the floor tonight handling the ball much more than in games one and two. He had four turnovers, so he’s got to grow from that when he’s playing 25-feet from the bucket and we’re trying to get him in a position to beat people off the bounce. He will.
Ricky Council led team in scoring again
Nov 11, 2022; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks guard Ricky Council IV (1) dribbles in the second half against the Fordham Rams at Bud Walton Arena. Arkansas won 74-48. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports
Thank goodness for Ricky and TB. Those guys are both playing phenomenal. To think you can bring a guy off the bench and he can have the impact that he has. He’s a starter. … With him, our game elevates. I even thought the first half, I told the staff coming out that he didn’t play enough in the first half and that was on me. We need to get him in there and not wait.
Anthony Black stuffs box score
Nov 16, 2022; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks guard Anthony Black (0) steals the ball from South Dakota State Jackrabbits guard Matthew Mors (11) in the first half at Bud Walton Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports
First of all, I think defensively Anthony’s been a 10 out of 10. Defensively, it’s really hard to get 3-balls over him because of his length. I think one of the things we had talked about is a guy 6-8 defending point guards, may be a struggle to keep guys in front of him for a time. Tonight I thought was by far his best offensive game. … By nature, AB wants to be a pass-first guy. But we’re going to need him to get downhill some and we’re going to have to continue to come up with different play patterns
Musselman's daughter told him Brazile's dunk went viral
Nov 16, 2022; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks forward Trevon Brazile (2) dunks the ball in the second half over South Dakota State Jackrabbits forward Broden Lien (33) at Bud Walton Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports
The dunk has already gone viral. … I did tell the team in the locker room let’s not give two points right back by getting a technical. Let’s act like we’ve seen that play, not that we ever have.
Arkansas is ahead of schedule defensively
Nov 16, 2022; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; South Dakota State Jackrabbits guard Alex Arians (34) dribbles in the first half against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Bud Walton Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports
Really happy with how we’ve been defending. I think when we do drills in practice, they do a really good job surprisingly. I thought maybe this would have to evolve. But the buy-in and paying attention in drills, really high-level, maybe as much as any team that we’ve had. … They’re probably bored, but they don’t act like they are. Their body language is buying in. But this group has done a really good job of understanding scouting reports, which was a surprise. Last year, the year before, it took us around 10-12 games before we bought in to what we’re supposed to do.
Europe trip helped early-season gel
Nov 16, 2022; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Eric Musselman reacts to a call in the first half against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits at Bud Walton Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports
Maybe. Certainly playing four games I think helped. But we didn’t really scout over there. Thinking back about our walkthroughs on the beach, going to a volleyball court and drawing a basketball, yeah, maybe. That was like preparation, so maybe it did have an impact.
Consistent heading to Maui
The Maui Invitational went on without fans in Asheville.
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I think we’re playing, last year, I look back at some of the games we played early on, we had a lot of games where we went on runs late. Northern Iowa. I do think we’re playing a little bit better. The competition, i don’t know, i can’t compare that type of stuff. … We have three really tough games coming up against long, athletic teams. Three games in three days with a lineup right now that we can’t really afford to have sprained ankles and stuff like that. I don’t know if I told you guys, but Dave Odom called and he runs the tournament. He said ‘hey, I’m just saying coach, somebody’s coming back 0-3 that’s really good.’ That’s a true statement. We’ve got to try to go focus and win our first game. Louisville is going to put a streak together and they’re going to play an A-plus game sometime here in the near future, I can guarantee you that.
Ready for Louisville?
U of L head basketball coach Kenny Payne, center, instructed Hercy Miller (15) and Fabio Basili (11) during their red/white scrimmage at the Yum Center in Louisville, Ky. on Oct. 23, 2022.
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We’ll know pretty quick. I mean, we’re going to find out. Louisville is long, really good offensive rebounders. No. 3, Ellis, he’s a dynamic scorer. We’re going to have to shrink the floor, going to have to spy on him. We’re going to have to not turn the ball over against some players that are pretty active defensively for sure. We’re going to have to, the paint is going to be really important, too. They have great size up front. There’s not a lot of paint points available with the way that they defend the rim. We’ll see.
Update on Nick Smith Jr.
Nov 11, 2022; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks guard Nick Smith Jr sits on the bench during the game against the Fordham Rams at Bud Walton Arena. Arkansas won 74-48. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports
I think Nick has gone from, he was out there shooting just now. I think he continues to improve, but he’s still, we want to make sure he’s in a good spot. It’s just still like it has been. It’s day-to-day. He’s not practiced. He’s not done 5-on-0 skeleton work. It continues to be a process that we just have to evaluate. When I say day-by-day, he’s not going to wake up tomorrow and practice. But I’m not going to do an injury report and tell the whole world where we are day-by-day, either. He’s not practicing right now.
Arkansas getting to be a big-time program
Nov 16, 2022; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks cheerleaders perform during the second half against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits at Bud Walton Arena. Arkansas won 71-56. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports
I think the tournament is great for us. We’ve wanted to be in this tournament even prior to coming to Arkansas. We were talking to coach Odom and Nevada was probably headed there. Next year’s tournament, same thing, to go play in the Battle of Atlantis, play in the Maui, those are not easy to get into, let me put it like that.
Getting commitments from Fall, Blocker
Nov 16, 2022; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Eric Musselman signals to his team during the second half against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits at Bud Walton Arena. Arkansas won 71-56. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports
I think the tournament is great for us. We’ve wanted to be in this tournament even prior to coming to Arkansas. We were talking to coach Odom and Nevada was probably headed there. Next year’s tournament, same thing, to go play in the Battle of Atlantis, play in the Maui, those are not easy to get into, let me put it like that.
Depth and conditioning is coming
Nov 16, 2022; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks guard Derrian Ford (23) dribbles during the second half against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits at Bud Walton Arena. Arkansas won 71-56. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports
I have felt that at the end of the year that our team is in the best shape in the country. I felt that our legs have been fresher than every team in the country. Mentally, we have not been a team that has looked tired. I think we have looked fresh across the board. Are we there right now? I don’t think we’re in elite condition. I think we’re in better condition than most people. But my hope is in time we’ll be in elite condition. We need Jordan to get healthy for sure. We can’t afford anybody else.
