Arkansas needs to fix paint problems

FAYETTEVILLE — Sherwin Williams never dominated paint like Auburn dominated paint against Arkansas last Saturday at Walton Arena.

In their 83-51 SEC season opening victory, fueled by a 46-21 second half creating Arkansas’ most lopsided loss in 522 games at Walton since the building’s 1993-94 inception, the Auburn Tigers outscored the Razorbacks 48-18 in the paint and outrebounded Arkansas 46-32.

Georgia’s Russel Tchewa must feel like Rembrandt poised to paint a masterpiece at Arkansas’ expense. The Bulldogs’ 7-foot, 275-pound center repainted Mizzou Arena’s black and gold painted area Georgia red, double-doubling 18 points and 11 rebounds in a 75-68 SEC opening victory over Missouri last Saturday in Columbia, Mo.

Tchewa might double his Saturday double-double if the Razorbacks (9-5, 0-1) again faint in the paint at 8 p.m. Central on Wednesday vs. the Bulldogs (11-3, 1-0) on ESPNU at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Ga.

“Paint points come in two ways,” Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman said postgame. “They come off dribble-drives, and they come off post-ups. [Auburn] hurt us in both.”

Effort would more than help, Musselman surmised.

The Razorbacks played with some first-half effort, trailing only 37-30 at intermission and holding outstanding Auburn center Johni Broome scoreless in the first half. Broome swept 14 second-half points.

“We did a great job on him in the first half, and I thought the second half he was just totally dominant,” Musselman said. “It looked like we didn’t want any part of guarding him whatsoever. As a competitor I’m disappointed.”

Disappointed in everything, every phase of offense, defense and especially want-to.

“We stunk in all areas,” Musselman said. “Yeah, we stunk.”

Like every good university employed postgame radio host, Chuck Barrett tried lending the coach a topic for hope. Musselman consistently says this team practices well, maybe it hinges on converting practices into the games.

“Yeah, well when the games happen there’s toughness, will to win,” Musselman replied on the Razorbacks Sports Network. “There’s a whole bunch of stuff that goes into a game that maybe don’t come open in a practice-type situation. Understanding the margin of winning, we don’t have enough guys who understand that at all.”

The legacy Musselman deemed left from his first undersized, scrappy 2019-20 abbreviated covid-year team to three consecutive Sweet 16 teams, including two Elite Eights, seems lost on these Hogs.

“It doesn’t resemble anything we’ve built over the last four years unfortunately,” Musselman told postgame radio.

Disappointed, too, was the lone player made media available in the postgame.

“It feels like we quit,” sophomore transfer guard Keyon Menifield said. “We didn’t play as a team and we weren’t together out there. So when you’re not together and you don’t have fight and let people punk you, that’s what happens.”

Ironically, it appeared Menifield didn’t quit.

Harder looks in the mirror should beset other Hogs in remembrance of their forgetting Arkansas’ gritty past.