ARKANSAS ENDS
spree on threes against Florida.
FAYETTEVILLE — The University of Arkansas has not defended the threepoint arc as well this season as the Razorbacks did in leading the country in that department last year.
But the No. 24 Razorbacks are getting better at it after Tuesday night’s defensive performance in a 75-64 win over Florida.
Arkansas held the Gators to a 4 for 21 (19%) performance from threepoint range, a key facet in breaking a nine-game regular-season losing streak to Florida, which entered the game shooting a leaguebest 37.5% on threes.
The strong night at defending the arc came on the heels of a program first, as Arkansas allowed 13 or more made three-pointers in back-to-back games for the first time.
Kentucky went 14 of 26 from that range, hitting its highest total of threes in a game since 2012. Missouri followed with a season-high 13 three-pointers, but the Razorbacks won both road games last week.
“Yeah, after the last two games’ three-point shooting we made a little adjustment,” Coach Eric Musselman said. “We had some defensive drills to try to contest the three. It really wasn’t on the guys — at Missouri or Kentucky — the three-point shooting that we gave up. Tonight was going to be on them if they gave up the three.”
Florida forward Anthony Duruji drilled the Gator’s first three-point try, but they struggled after that, including missing eight in a row during a stretch in which Florida missed 11 of 13 shots in the first half.
“We really wanted to run at Noah Locke, [and] he got 1 for 5,” Musselman said. “[Tyree] Appleby was 1 of 7, and the goal was to hold those guys under 3 threeballs.”
The Razorbacks are fifth in the SEC, holding opponents to 31.7% threepoint shooting.
‘Castle’ move
Arkansas forward Jaylin Williams provided big plays down the stretch, particularly by rebounding and his defense on Florida center Colin Castleton, whose post moves and scoring had been on display earlier in the game.
“I think he made it difficult for … Castleton to catch the ball in his scoring area,” Coach Eric Musselman said. “We wanted him to try to catch the ball out on the floor a little bit or two steps off the post. I thought he did a good job dislodging him and kind of crab-walking him off of his spots. Because if you can make a post player catch that thing two or three spots away …”
Florida Coach Mike White recognized the same thing.
“I thought they played Castleton really well deep on a post touch he had in front of our bench,” White said. “I thought we lost a little bit of poise to help them in addition.”
The Gators had three key turnovers down the stretch, including Justin Smith’s swipe of Castleton on the left block in help defense with Williams playing tough in the post. Smith pried the ball free, then bounced it off Castleton as both players rolled out of bounds with Arkansas leading 61-58 and 5:46 remaining.
“I thought Justin’s dig in there was really big in helping Jaylin on the post defense,” Musselman said.
“He played a really, really good game being able to use his strength and his physicality to bother Castleton,” Smith said of Williams. “It made a huge difference. He really showed what he was capable of doing, and we were able to throw a different body at one of those low-post players.”
‘Handsy’ Hogs
Florida Coach
Mike White was quite complimentary of the Razorbacks’ performance Tuesday and their recent run.
White said Arkansas had a strong response after the Gators played tough during a stretch in the second half when they made up a 15-point deficit and took a 62-61 lead.
“Credit Arkansas,” White said. “It’s why they’ve won seven SEC games in a row.
“I said [Monday] … that they are good at a lot. They just are. They’re very handsy. They have great length and quickness. They have depth. I love the way they share it. They are a really good passing team.
“I knew Vanover was big, but my goodness he’s even bigger than he seems on film. They’ve got some experience. Obviously they run good stuff and they space you. They have five guys out there than can pass, dribble and shoot. They are a handful to defend.”
Showtime
Players from Jacksonville led Arkansas and Florida in scoring with Davonte Davis’ 18 points for the Razorbacks and Tyree Appleby’s 16 for the Gators.
“Just knowing we’re from the same town and knowing we’re competing out there — right before the game started, we told each other to just play basketball,” Davis said. “We knew everybody was watching, and I feel like we put on for the city, for sure.”
Like Barkley
Florida Coach Mike White said Justin Smith’s offensive work in parts of the second half was reminiscent of former Auburn and NBA great Charles Barkley.
“I thought late he had a huge shot in front of their bench, off a little Barkleyesque back-you-down move,” White said. “Over his left shoulder with a right hook. I think he’s one of the better cutters in our league.
“He was really efficient tonight. He and [Connor] Vanover have really good chemistry. He’s a good cutter regardless of who has the ball in his hands, but Vanover does a great job of finding him. And [Eric] Muss[elman] did a great job late of getting him the ball in spots. He has a nice pace to his game, is big and strong, and played within himself at times.”
‘Wolf’ attacks
Florida did well in one area of the game that the Razorbacks usually excel in and typically harass the other team more by doing.
The Gators got in passing lanes in the transition game, impeding and intercepting outlet passes and attacking ball handlers. Arkansas is not used to seeing that type of sniping pressure in offensive transition.
“At times we tried to rush the ball up the floor too much and they had some wolf steals from behind that caught us off guard,” Coach Eric Musselman said.
Aggies next
Texas A&M is next up for the Razorbacks with a 7:30 p.m. tip scheduled for Saturday at Reed Arena in College Station, Texas. The Aggies are still in the midst of one of the longest breaks of any SEC team, with their last schedule issue not covid-19 related but a weather problem.
The Aggies (8-7, 2-6 SEC) had their fifth consecutive game postponed Wednesday when the SEC office announced travel issues have put off their home game against Alabama, which had been rescheduled for today.
Texas A&M has not played since defeating Kansas State 68-61 on the road in the Big 12/SEC Challenge on Jan. 30. It will be three weeks between games for the Aggies on Saturday.
Win No. 400
Former Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson notched career win No. 400 on Tuesday night in St. John’s 93-84 victory over Xavier.
The Red Storm’s first win over the Musketeers since 2015 was sparked by 51.5% shooting, and it moved them to 14-8 overall and 8-7 in the Big East. After starting 1-5 in Big East play, St. John’s has reeled off five wins in its past seven league games.