Trio shouldering heavy workload for Razorbacks
FAYETTEVILLE — Guards Anthony Black, Ricky Council and Davonte “Devo” Davis have been iron men for the University of Arkansas basketball team.
The Razorbacks’ trio rank 1-2-3 in the SEC in minutes played per game with Black averaging 35.43, Council 35.35 and Davis 33.52.
In conference games they’re averaging even more minutes and have three of the top four spots with Black No. 1 at 37.5 and Davis No. 2 at 37.07 followed by Kentucky senior forward Oscar Tshiebwe, the reigning national player of the year, at 35.34 and Council at 35.08.
Black, a 6-7 freshman, has played an SEChigh 886 minutes in 25 games — two more than Council.
Despite the heavy workload for a college newcomer, Black has consistently excelled and is averaging 13.2 points and 5.2 rebounds with teamhighs of 103 assists and 48 steals.
His 15 blocked shots are third on the team behind twins Makhi and Makhel Mitchell, who are tied for the lead with 34 each.
“I think he keeps getting better on both sides of the ball,” Razorbacks Coach Eric Musselman said of Black. “Obviously, we need him to score certain nights. There’s other nights we need him to distribute the ball.
“He’s had to try to break presses, both man-toman presses and zone presses. He’s made timely three-point shots for us. I think Anthony’s done an incredible job.”
Musselman said Black’s focus on recovering physically between games has helped him stay on the court.
“He does a great job in the training room with what we call pre-hab,” Musselman said. “He’s in there always with our trainer [Matt Townsend].
“You need that when you play a lot of minutes. You need to get in the training room and try to take care of your body as much as possible.”
Black is second on the team in total rebounds (131), defensive (98) and offensive (33) behind Makhi Mitchell, a 6-9 senior who has 141, 103 and 38.
“AB’s as good a point guard rebounder as there is in college basketball, both offensively and defensively,” Musselman said. “His offensive rebounds have been at timely junctures of games. Defensive rebounding, there’s been games when he’s gone up amongst opposing teams’ centers and power forwards and not only rebounded the ball, but also range rebounded out of his area.”
With the return of Arkansas freshman guard Nick Smith, Musselman may be able to give some brief breaks to Black, Council and Davis in upcoming games, including Wednesday night when Arkansas (17-8, 6-6 SEC) plays at Texas A&M (18-7, 10-2).
Smith, who like Black is a projected high firstround NBA Draft pick, played off the bench against Mississippi State last Saturday after missing the previous 13 games because of what Arkansas has termed “management” with his right knee.
Black still played 39 minutes — and had 23 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals — in the Razorbacks’ 70-64 loss to the Bulldogs. Council and Davis, both juniors, played 36 minutes each.
Council shot 1 of 6 from the field and Davis 2 of 11. Perhaps the two could benefit from playing fewer minutes this late in the season, though Black seems unaffected as he shot 8 of 13.
Smith played 17 minutes and had 5 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist and shot 2 of 7.
“We know that any time a player comes back, there’s an adjustment for not just the player that’s been sitting out, but for the other guys as well,” Musselman said. “Not a lot of teams are making that adjustment this late in the year and obviously we are. So hopefully we’ll play better than we did against Mississippi State.”
Musselman said Smith’s minutes weren’t restricted against Mississippi State.
“I think Nick did a good job with his minutes,” Black said. “He played really hard on defense.
“As long as you play hard on defense and just take pride in it, I can live with you maybe missing some shots.
“It wasn’t bad for his first time out. We’re happy to have him back. We’ve got to start working him back in now.”
When Smith made his regular-season debut in late November, the Razorbacks were halfway through their non-conference schedule. Now they have six conference games left before the SEC Tournament as they attempt to secure an NCAA Tournament bid.
“We don’t have a lot of time to figure this whole thing out,” Musselman said. “Every game is magnified from here on out.”
”Our main concern is — how do we win as many games as we possibly can over this three-week, sixgame segment?”
Black figures to continue playing a key role in whatever happens for Arkansas down the stretch.
“I’ve just been trying to do stuff to win, to be honest,” Black said after he had 11 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 steals in the Razorbacks’ 81-70 victory over Texas A&M in Walton Arena on Jan. 31. “I don’t really look at my stats and stuff like that as much as us winning.”
Musselman has praised Black’s ability to play through a variety of ailments, including a knee contusion he suffered early in Arkansas’ 67-64 loss at Baylor on Jan. 28 when he played 35 minutes and had 7 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals.
“Really, really impressed with AB’s toughness and willingness to give himself up for the team,” Musselman said.
Black wasn’t able to practice going into Arkansas’ first game against Texas A&M, but he played 38 minutes.
“I really don’t like missing games,” Black said. “My knee was hurting pretty bad, but at the same time, I was thinking, ‘This is a big game for us, so I’m going to try to do what I can to help us.’
“If it was so bad to where I would’ve been a negative impact, then I wouldn’t have played. But I feel like I can still help us win, so that’s why I played.”
Black, listed at 198 pounds, seems to take a big hit to some part of his body in every game.
When Texas A&M guard Dexter Dennis scored on a breakaway against Arkansas, he hit Black — who was trailing the play — in the face as he elevated to dunk.
“It’s pretty physical, yeah, but a lot of the time, it’s just incidental,” Black said of playing in the SEC. “It’s not malicious.
“[Dennis] just swung his arm back to dunk and hit me. I guess you could say I’m pretty tough, so it doesn’t really bother me that much.
“I get hit like that once or twice a game. I’m used to it now.”
Just like Black is used to playing nearly every minute of each game.