Beyond the Box: Defense, rebounding lead Hogs past Stanford in double-OT thriller

Arkansas had another abysmal shooting performance on Wednesday night. Let’s take a closer look at how they overcame that and beat Stanford in double-overtime.

A win is a win.

On a night defined by offensive struggles from both teams, Arkansas was able to lean on their defense and rebounding to grind out a dramatic double-overtime win over Stanford, 77-74, in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis. With the win, the Hogs move on and face Memphis tomorrow in the second round.

In last Friday’s loss to UNC-Greensboro, the Hogs struggled to get anything going offensively until the second half. However, they also failed to get stops in crucial moments, end possessions with rebounds and create second chances on the offensive glass.

On Wednesday night, the Arkansas offense was really the only issue as the Hogs shot 30.3% on field goal attempts for the entire game. That includes going 0-7 from the field during the first overtime period.

Let’s take a closer look at how the Razorbacks overcame an abysmal shooting performance to beat Stanford and move on in the [autotag]Battle 4 Atlantis[/autotag] Tournament.

Social media reacts to Arkansas’ insane double-OT win over Stanford

Plenty of praise for Tramon Mark and Trevon Brazile from Arkansas faithful.

It wasn’t quite the Creighton game from last year in Hawaii, but Arkansas-Stanford was a memorable one.

The No. 20 Razorbacks rallied then held off the Cardinal in the quarterfinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in Bahamas, 77-74, and will face Memphis at 4 p.m. on Thanksgiving.

Arkansas faithful were biting nails as the game went into two overtimes. The first was forced by the Hogs after Devo Davis made a pair of free throws and Stanford missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

The second happened because the Cardinal made a buzzer-beater, with little-used former walk-on Benny Gealer burying a runner from the wing.

In the end, defense and rebounding, two things coach Eric Musselman has been begging for, was enough for the Hogs to hold on.

Here’s how social media reacted after the game.

A banger in Bahamas: Arkansas edges Stanford in double overtime

Eric Musselman wanted toughness and heart. Arkansas showed it, even if it was quite ugly.

Whew.

Eric Musselman had begged his team, practically, for toughness the last two weeks. They showed it Wednesday.

The 20th-ranked Razorbacks needed two overtimes, but beat Stanford in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in Bahamas, 77-74. They advanced to the semifinals to play Memphis at 4 p.m. CT tomorrow.

Arkansas held Stanford without a field goal until the final 45 seconds of the final overtime to seal the win. Incidentally, the Cardinal didn’t make a field goal in the first overtime until the final 30 seconds, though Benny Gealer’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer forced a second five-minute frame.

That was a flip of the first 40 minutes as Arkansas was atrocious shooting the ball, knocking down just 30% from the floor then. The Razorbacks won, though, because of that toughness. Arkansas grabbed 52 total rebounds, including 21 offensive, and outscored Stanford on second-chance points, 21-7.

The offensive difficulties left the Razorbacks behind for most of the game, but never terribly. Devo Davis tied the game with 6.8 seconds left when he made a pair of free throws he attempted after attacking the hoop in an effort to tie the game with a field goal. Jared Bynum’s last-second 3-pointer attempt clanged off the back iron to set up overtime.

Before that, it looked like the Hogs were toast. They tied the game with 2:04 left when Tramon Mark buried a 3-pointer from the wing. But Spencer Jones, who led all scorers with 27 points, hit one for Stanford on the other end 34 seconds later to give the edge going into the final moments.

Jones went 5 of 10 from beyond the arc, whereas Arkansas made exactly that amount from range.

Mark was the only Razorbacks player in double figures until overtime, scoring 25. Brazile reached double figures in the extra frame, finishing with 14 points to go with his career-high 17 boards.

Social media buzz: Arkansas preps for Stanford in Bahamas

Arkansas needs a bounce-back and fans are ready for it.

Arkansas’ first test against a power-conference team is nearly tip and social media is ready.

The Razorbacks play Stanford in the final quarterfinal game of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in Bahamas at 6:30 p.m. The winner of the game will play Memphis after the Tigers beat Michigan in the game before.

Arkansas could use a strong showing. Coach Eric Musselman’s team fell out of the Coaches Poll Top 25 earlier in the week following a loss at Bud Walton Arena to North Carolina-Greensboro. The Hogs are still ranked in the AP Coaches Poll.

Stanford enters with the same record as Arkansas at 3-1. The Cardinal fell just over a week ago to Santa Clara out of the West Coast Conference.

Still, Arkansas is strongly favored considering they’re a predicted NCAA Tournament team, whereas Stanford was picked seventh in the Pac-12.

Check out what’s on social media’s mind before tip below.

Battle 4 Atlantis – No. 20 Arkansas vs. Stanford: How to watch, stream, listen and more

Arkansas and Stanford face off in the Battle 4 Atlantis on Wednesday. Here’s how to catch all of the action, key players and much more.

[autotag]Eric Musselman[/autotag]’s Hogs are once again breaking out their passports and participating in Feast Week.

Last year, Arkansas travelled to Hawaii and played in the Maui Invitational. This year, they’re at Paradise Island in the Bahamas to take part in the [autotag]Battle 4 Atlantis[/autotag]. First up for the Razorbacks – a rare match-up with the Stanford Cardinal (3-1).

This will be just the third all-time meeting between the two programs and Stanford owns victories in the two contests. The first came in 1948, where the Hogs fell to the Cardinal 60-53. Their most recent meeting came in 2015 as part of the NIT Tipoff, with Stanford edging out Arkansas, 69-66.

Stanford was picked to finish eighth in the Pac-12 during the conference’s media days. The Cardinal, like the Hogs, sit at 3-1 on the season with wins over Cal State Northridge, Sacramento State and Eastern Washington. Their lone loss came last Tuesday to Santa Clara, 89-77.

Here’s how you can catch all of Wednesday night’s action from the Bahamas, players to watch from both teams and much more.

Arkansas looks to bounce back against a Stanford team on the rise

The Razorbacks cannot play against a power-conference team like they’ve played the last two games and expect to beat Stanford.

From a pure tradition standpoint, Arkansas basketball is superior to Stanford.

But tradition matters little in the modern game and Arkansas, fresh out of falling outside the Top 25, needs to make good on being the superior team in 2023-24 for any of it to matter.

The Razorbacks start their three-game run through the Battle 4 Atlantis on Wednesday from Bahamas against Stanford.

Arkansas is on a bit of a dip heading to the Caribbean after falling to North Carolina-Greensboro last time out in a game that knocked the Hogs from rankings. Stanford owns the same record at 3-1, but the Cardinal’s expectations entering the year weren’t as high as Arkansas’.

In other words, Arkansas has more to play for.

The last time the two teams met was in 2015-16 in the preseason NIT. Arkansas had things to play for that year, too, having come off their first NCAA Tournament bid since 2007-08. Stanford won the matchup, anyway, as the Razorbacks finished the year 16-16. Incidentally, Stanford also finished .500 at 15-15.

Since that team, Arkansas has re-established the groove it found in the 1990s. The Cardinal haven’t. Arkansas has made three straight Sweet Sixteens, including two Elite Eights. Stanford, on the other hand, hasn’t even made the NCAA Tournament in a decade.

But tradition, even one as recent as that, doesn’t matter in one-off games. Coach Eric Musselman knows he needs to have his team ready to play.