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Arkansas burned the net beyond the arc, and the 11 fellows saw the action as the Razorbacks passed Mississippi Valley State 142-62 in Bud Walton’s season opener Arena Wednesday night. The Hogs opened things up midway through the first half with a 28-0 run that included a 3-point jump-off. The Delta Devils hit seven from beyond the arc in the first half themselves, but couldn’t keep pace with the high powered Hogs.
Arkansas opened the second half with a 21-4 run, pushing their lead to 82-34 in the first media timeout and went from there. The Hogs reached the milestone of the century on a Connor vanover 3 points to the 11:43 mark and continued to pour it the rest of the way en route to a convincing home win to kick off the 2020-21 campaign. Even after the game was well mastered, head coach Eric Musselman was pleased with his team’s selection, focus and energy.
“I thought there were only a handful of bad punches the whole game,” Musselman said. “Sometimes that turns into what people would call wasted time, and it gets really sloppy. But we told the guys you have to play your minutes and you’re still being evaluated. It’s part of your. CV. Getting on the basketball court is part of your CV. I thought for the most part we played the right way, but I need them to participate to defend these three at the level I want. “
OFFENSIVE PERFORMANCE FOR RECORD BOOKS
The Razorbacks put together a prolific offensive performance Wednesday night against the Delta Devils. The 142 points scored by the Hogs rank second all-time and set a school record for points scored in a first game of the season. Arkansas scored 130 points against Alcorn State on November 13, 2009. The 80-point margin of victory is the second-largest in program history, behind an 82-point victory over Bethune-Cookman in 1991. Arkansas’ 20 3-pointers were timid. to link a program recording.
“I love that our new players got to play for a few minutes and you look at the stats sheet, we scored 142 points and only had seven turnovers,” Musselman said. “We had three turnovers from the start. So basically the last 35 minutes of the basketball game we only had three turnovers. So really proud of the guys for their execution.”
FINAL NUMBERS
The Hogs had eight players scoring in double digits and all 11 stock players ended up in the scoring column. Connor Vanover led the way with 23 points and eight rebounds. Moses Moody scored 18 for the Hogs. Vance Jackson, KK Robinson and Desi Sills all pitched in 15. Arkansas shot 55.8 percent from the field and 50 percent from beyond the arc on the night.
The Delta Devils were led by Terry Collins, who scored 15 points. MVSU was limited to just 31.9% of shots from the field, but down 13 3 points on the night. Arkansas won the rebound battle 58-33, including 20 on the offensive glass.
The Hogs were also effective that night, with 26 assists for just seven turnovers. Arkansas won the battle in the paint 56-16, points off turnover 43-5 and topped the Delta Devils 32-9 on second chance attempts.
START OF THE RANGE AND ROTATION
One of the hottest debates around the Hogs in the preseason was who would win the starting nods and how far Musselman would go with his rotation. Preseason All-SEC Guard Desi Sills earned the nod alongside graduate transfers Justin smith, Jalen tate and Vance jackson. True freshman Moses Moody completed the Hogs’ starting lineup.
The first two Razorbacks were JD Notes and Jaylin williams at 4:48 PM for Sills and Jackson. KK Robinson debuted in Arkansas after the first media timeout, replacing Tate at the 1517 mark in the first half and Connor vanover entered the game soon after, extending the rotation to nine at the start of the game.
Davonte Davis and Ethan Henderson the two also had a significant run in the first half. So Musselman was ready to use all of the fellows on the list in a game they had very well under control. Don’t expect the Hogs to go this far in the future …
“I made a conscious effort going into tonight’s game that we were going to undergo and we had … Just like we had a script for our offensive plays and a script for our team, I had a segment of scripted minutes, ”Musselman said. “But look, Justin Smith is going to play more minutes than that. Vance is going to play more minutes and Jalen Tate is going to play more, Desi is going to play more minutes. These guys, they’re going to play more than them.” Connor is probably going to play more than he did tonight. Every coach is different, for me playing 11 players is almost impossible. “
FIRST SEMESTER
Justin smith opened the scoring for Hogs with a drop step on first possession. Tate knocked down the first triple of the season for Arkansas from the left wing. The Hogs were stingy on the defensive, allowing just a pair of 3 points early and leading 10-6 in the first media timeout (15:17). A hoop and a bad finish by Williams out of the timeout gave the Hogs 13-6.
From there, the Hogs began to open things up from a distance. Robinson and Sills both connected in their first lines and Vanover had two catch and shoot triples to put the Razorbacks under control 27-8 with 11:46 to go.
Jackson scored 12 of the next 14 points for the Razorbacks, all on 3 points, to extend the lead to 41-8 and give him over 1,000 career points. Arkansas took a 61-30 lead at the break.
The Hogs shot 56.4% from the field and had 12 of 19 3-point attempts. Jackson led the way with a dozen in the first half. Smith, Vanover and Robinson all hit double digits with 11.
NEXT
The Razorbacks will enjoy a hearty Thanksgiving dinner Thursday, run to the training ground on Friday, and then return to action on Saturday to face a North Texas team that is selected to finish No.2 in the pre-polls. C-USA season after claiming the regular season crown and racking up 20 wins last season. Tip Saturday is set for 5:00 p.m. from Fayetteville (Ark.), And the game will be broadcast on SEC Network Plus.
The Mean Greens open their season Thursday night by hosting Mississippi Valley State in Game 2 of this three-team MTE. Last season, Arkansas defeated North Texas 66-43 in a November game inside Bud Walton Arena. Musselman was pleased with his team’s performance against MVSU but quickly turned to Mean Green after the game.
“I feel good about our efforts. I feel good about the way we shared the ball. I feel good that everyone can step into the game. And everyone probably comes out of the locker room more confident than they are. didn’t, “Musselman said. “But, I mean, for me, it’s a bit about North Texas. How are we going to defend Reese? How are we going to defend Hamlet? I’ve already studied their roster a bit and filmed and they have a big guy inside Simmons. I’ve already memorized their depth diagram and now we need our guys too. “
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