Brazile injures ankle late

FAYETTEVILLE — University of Arkansas swingman Trevon Brazile turned an ankle on the defensive end of the floor late in the Razorbacks’ 97-83 win over Furman on Monday at Walton Arena and was taken quickly to the locker room for examination.

Coach Eric Musselman called Brazile’s injury a pretty bad sprain.

“Having said that, 24 hours from now we’ll know more,” Musselman said. “It’s nothing other than a sprain. The doctors were messing with it. It is a sprain, it’s a pretty good sprain and it’s already swollen.”

Brazile had 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including 2 of 3 from three-point range, with 4 rebounds and 2 blocked shots in 28 minutes against the Paladins.

Brazile came back to the bench before the end of the game following his examination by the medical staff.

Musselman was asked about the prospects for Brazile to play Saturday against No. 19 Oklahoma in Tulsa.

“We’re certainly hopeful,” he said. “I’m hopeful he can get multiple rehabs per day.”

Musselman has previously touted Brazile’s commitment to his rehabilitation from a torn ACL injury he suffered in the ninth game last season.

“When I look at what he’s done with the training staff through his whole rehab, like he was living in the training room,” Musselman said. “We’re going to need him in the training room a lot to try get the swelling down and the mobility [improved] for whenever he’s ready to play again.”

Brazile was named SEC player of the week Monday after having 19 points and 11 rebounds in an 80-75 win over No. 7 Duke last week.

1,000 points

Arkansas guard Khalif Battle didn’t need long to hit the 1,000-point mark in his career.

Battle, a transfer from Temple who entered the game with 997 career points, sank a three-point shot from the left wing one minute after he checked in, giving the Razorbacks an 11-9 lead at the 16:07 mark.

The 6-5 guard from Hillside, N.J., scored 72 points during his one season at Butler, then scored 799 points in three seasons at Temple, which included a medical redshirt season in 2021-22 when he averaged 21.4 points per game.

Battle had scored 126 points and averaged 15.8 points through his first eight games with the Razorbacks.

He is the third current Razorback with 1,000 points, joining Davonte Davis and Jeremiah Davenport.

Three spree

Furman, which entered the game tied for 74th in the country averaging 8.75 made three-pointers per game, nearly equaled that by going 8 of 18 from the from behind the line in the first half.

Furman cooled off a bit in the second half and finished 12 of 32 (37.5%) from three-point range.

“We’ve got some good shooters and that’s a little bit of what we do,” Furman Coach Bob Richey said. “I thought our guys played with a tremendous amount of confidence.

“I thought there was a couple of moments we could have kind of pulled back and I thought we just kept staying the course. I thought we gave them a fight.”

The Paladins came out smoking, with guard Alex Williams hitting threes from the left wing and the left corner on two of their first three trips down the floor.

JP Pegues hit a threepointer near the top of the key and Williams swished one from the right corner as Furman’s first four buckets came from beyond the arc to build a 12-11 lead.

Williams made five of his first six shots from three-point range before he cooled him off in the second half.

T-time

Coach Eric Musselman’s technical foul at the 1:38 mark was his second of the season and his 16th with the Razorbacks in five seasons.

Musselman said he would rather not talk about what happened to draw the technical foul, but he then discussed what had frustrated him.

“I mean, we took two free throws in the first half and we’re pushing the ball in the paint,” he said. “You look at our paint points. We had 52 paint points and only two free throws at the half.

“We’re one of the best freethrow attempt teams in the league. Not in the league, in the nation.”

Musselman could not fathom how Furman had 20 free throw attempts in a game it launched 32 three-point shots, while the Razorbacks, who average 29 per game, took 21 free throw shots.

“He’s good for one every once in a while, so it’s all right,” Arkansas guard Davonte Davis said of the technical.

5-point play

Furman guard JP Pegues converted a rare five points in one trip down the court late in the game to draw the Paladins within 10 points at 85-75.

Arkansas guard Layden Blocker was whistled for a foul on a three-point shot attempt by Pegues with 1:38 remaining and Coach Eric Musselman was hit with a technical foul after the call.

Pegues made the two-shot technical then hit all three of his shots for the foul.

In just 26 seconds of game time later, Pegues made a fourpoint play, drawing a foul from Blocker while making a threepoint shot.

Pegues went 10 for 10 at the line and scored 21 points to lead Furman.

Mark time

Guard Tramon Mark went through the warm-up line for the first time since the Razorbacks were in the Bahamas and he entered the game at the 14:26 mark.

Mark took a hard fall on his back late in the Razorbacks’ loss to North Carolina in the Battle 4 Atlantis on Nov. 24 and had to ride in a wheelchair prior to the team’s departure from the islands. Mark missed the Hogs’ 80-75 win over Duke last week.

The Hogs’ leading scorer at 18.4 points per game, Mark scored on a turnaround jumper from the right elbow moments after checking in. He finished with 7 points on 3-of-6 shooting, 3 rebounds, 2 steals and a blocked shot.

Conley honored

Mike Conley, an Olympic gold and silver medalist in the triple jump and 17-time Razorback All-American, was honored on the court for making the Collegiate Athlete Hall of Fame in September.

Arkansas Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek, UA men’s track and field Coach Chris Bucknam and Conley all high-fived and celebrated the cross country team members, who brought out their SEC championship trophy and fourth-place finish at the NCAAs. The entire group called the Hogs during the first media timeout.

Conley, a nine-time NCAA champion who won the gold medal at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona and the silver medal at the 1984 games in Los Angeles, lives in Fayetteville.

Conley also won three gold medals and seven total medals at World Championship indoor and outdoor meets and 13 titles at the USA Championships.