paramount for Arkansas.
FAYETTEVILLE — No team did a better job of containing Oral Roberts guard Max Abmas this season than the Arkansas Razorbacks.
Abmas, the nation’s leading scorer averaging 24.5 points per game, scored 11 when the University of Arkansas beat Oral Roberts 87-76 on Dec. 20 at Walton Arena.
It was Abmas’ second-lowest scoring game of the season. But when he had eight points in a 111-53 victory over Southwestern Christian, the 6-1 sophomore played only nine minutes and hit 3 of 4 shots, including 1-2 of three-pointers, and made his only free-throw attempt.
Against Arkansas, Abmas shot 4 of 11 from the field, including 1 of 6 on three-pointers, and hit 2 of 3 free throws in 33 minutes.
The Razorbacks hope to have a similar defensive effort against Abmas when they play the Golden Eagles tonight in the NCAA Tournament South Region semifinals at Indianapolis, but that doesn’t figure to be easy.
“We’re a much different team than we were earlier this year because Max is way more dominant than he was previously,” Oral Roberts Coach Paul Mills said. “Once our third-leading scorer [RJ Glasper] went down, we told Max he would have to be more assertive.”
Glasper, a senior guard from Forrest City who previously was a walk-on at Arkansas and three-year starter at Arkansas Tech University, averaged 11.0 points before suffering a season-ending knee injury at North Dakota State on Feb. 6.
Abmas was averaging 21.1 points with Glasper in the lineup. He has averaged 29.3 points without Glasper playing, including scoring
42 points against South Dakota State in the first game after Glasper’s injury and 41 against Western Illinois.
In helping the Golden
Eagles to their first NCAA
Tournament victories since
1974, Abmas scored 29 points against Ohio State and 26 against Florida.
“Every game takes on its own storyline,” Arkansas
Coach Eric Musselman said when asked about how well the Razorbacks defended
Abmas the first time around.
“Every game takes on its own identity and comes up with its own themes based on how shots are falling.
“Look, he’s the nation’s leading scorer. He’s been dominant in the two NCAA
Tournament games. They’re going to be prepared for the way that we defended him at our place.”
Arkansas senior guard Jalen Tate said that before the Razorbacks played Oral Roberts earlier this season, limiting Abmas’ three-point shots was a big emphasis in practice.
“I think we were a little too soft on his pick-and-roll coverages when I look back at it now,” Tate said. “I think we’ll definitely have to adjust to that, especially when there’s a high ball screen with him and [Kevin] Obanor.”
Obanor, a 6-8 junior, is averaging 19.0 points and scored 30 points against Ohio State and 28 against Florida.
“Just keep them under control and be able to push up through the screens,” Tate said. “Get through as much as we can. Be able to communicate on the ball and use our size, length and athleticism to our advantage.
“If we do that, I think we can have a pretty good chance at slowing [Abmas] down.
“At the rate he’s scoring at, leading the country in scoring, it’s going to be tough. But I think we can slow him down a little bit.”
Tate said that in the game earlier this season, the Razorbacks tried to put pressure on Abmas when they had the ball to make him expend more energy playing defense.
“I think we made him guard a little bit, play on both sides of the ball maybe making him a little tired,” Tate said. “But the first game was the first game.
“He probably doesn’t feel like he had his best night, and he probably wants to come back at us. We’re going to leave that in the past and just worry about this next one.”