Arkansas held SDSU to 32% shooting from the field and 19% from 3-point range while scoring 23 points off 20 turnovers in the victory. A 10-2 burst to end the first half provided a double-digit lead into the break. It was sparked by three Jackrabbits turnovers.
Coach Eric Musselman didn’t get much of a chance to solidify his rotation, as all 14 Arkansas players saw minutes. Ricky Council, who led the team with 19 points, left with about eight minutes left.
Arkansas has several days off before traveling to Hawaii for three games, starting with Louisville in the Maui Invitational on Monday. Smith’s status is unclear for the tournament.
Trevon Brazile’s dunk for Arkansas late Wednesday against South Dakota was the stuff of legend.
Time will tell for Arkansas forward Jordan Walsh.
The freshman wing could only watch the final 15 minutes of his team’s 71-56 win over South Dakota on Wednesday. He left after the under-16 timeout in the second half, his left leg carrying little weight as he went to the locker room and did not return to game action.
Walsh was back on the floor about six game-minutes later, at least. He was near the Razorbacks’ bench on a stationary bicycle before walking back to the locker room on his own.
Arkansas barely needed him, despite his 10 points in 16 minutes. Ricky Council led four Arkansas scorers in double figures with 19 points. The Razorbacks scored 23 points off 20 South Dakota State turnovers, as well.
Trevon Brazile left in the final 90 seconds after an earth-rocking dunk to give him 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Check it out, along with other Arkansas reactions, below.
Arkansas had four players in double figures in a 71-56 win over South Dakota State on Wednesday.
The Arkansas basketball team has certainly looked worthy of its No. 9 ranking in the country through three games.
The Razorbacks’ most recent victim was South Dakota State as the Hogs took a 71-53 win Wednesday night in Bud Walton Arena. The victory kept Arkansas perfect before its first real test of the season: Monday through Wednesday in the Maui Invitational.
Ricky Council led four Arkansas players in double figures with 19 points. Arkansas limited the Jackrabbits to 32% shooting from the floor and 19% from 3-point range. They also forced 20 turnovers and scored 23 points off of them.
Devo Davis (13), Trevon Brazile (13) and Jordan Walsh (10) joined Council in double figures. Brazile added 10 rebounds.
Walsh left with about 15 minutes remaining. He was helped to the locker room nursing his left leg, but he returned to the bench with about nine minutes left and appeared to be walking normally.
Arkansas will play its first game in Hawaii against Louisville on Monday afternoon.
Arkansas’ had far more talent than North Dakota State and rolled, but only six players scored in mixed opener.
Arkansas is going to out-talent a lot of basketball teams in 2022-23.
What was just a projection turned into a step one on Monday as the Razorbacks had little trouble with Summit League’s North Dakota State in both teams’ openers, 76-58.
Trevon Brazile scored 21 points and had 12 rebounds, while Ricky Council led Arkansas in scoring with 22 points.
Arkansas went on an 11-0 run early in the second half and built its lead as large as 21 points with about 12 minutes left. Brazile and Council scored all of the Razorbacks’ points during the run.
Of Arkansas’ six freshman, Anthony Black and Jordan Walsh played the most and were the only two to score. Black had a stat-filling box score with seven rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block. He shot just 1 of 7 and finished with three points.
Arkansas is back on the court Friday at Bud Walton Arena against Fordham. The meeting will be the teams’ first since November 1983.
Fans will have to find another way to keep up with Saturday’s exhibition action from Austin.
Arkansas Basketball fans will have to wait a little longer to see their team play on television after Tuesday’s recent development.
It has been reported that Arkansas Basketball’s exhibition game at Texas which is scheduled to take place at the Moody Center in Austin this upcoming Saturday will no longer be televised by the Longhorn Network as originally planned.
The Razorbacks’ scrimmage with Texas is their second and final preseason tilt before the season officially starts on Monday, Nov. 7 against North Dakota State. Their first was played on Monday night against Rogers State, a member of NCAA Division II from Oklahoma.
In the 83-49 exhibition win, [autotag]Joseph Pinion[/autotag] led the team in scoring with 15, while Missouri transfer [autotag]Trevon Brazile[/autotag] scored 11. Brazile led the team in rebounds with six.
The game will be charity-centered, with proceeds benefiting Seedling Foundation and Break the Pipeline, organizations that “support social justice equity and educational opportunities” for central Texas youth.
Arkansas and Texas will square off in Austin on Saturday, Oct. 29 at 3 p.m. CT.
In the previous three games, all Arkansas wins, Brazile averaged 11.7 points on 16 of 18 shooting inside the arc. Against Bakken, he was 12 of 12 from 2-point range and 1 of 3 from outside, adding nine rebounds and four steals for good measure.
“I was just trying to do the little things that Coach Muss talks about like rim running,” Brazile said. “The first two games I didn’t do a good job rebounding. I probably had 3-4 rebounds over the first two games, so a big emphasis the last two games was just rebounding. I think that led to a lot of my success.”
The game wasn’t perfect, though. Arkansas coach Eric Musselman was frustrated with the team’s ball-control. The Razorbacks had 30 turnovers.
“The turnovers are ridiculous,” Musselman said. “Words can’t describe how concerned I am about our turnovers. Our three-point shooting has got to improve. I didn’t think it could match last year, but it kind of is.”
Arkansas countered by forcing 27 turnovers, leading to 28 points.
Arkansas’ group of mostly new players is looking sharp getting to know one another in Europe.
Arkansas’ European basketball trip is built to gel the team more than anything. But Saturday’s 75-54 win over Orange 1 Basket Bassano showed plenty of positive signs to could carry over to the season.
Arkansas outscored Bassano by 16 in the third quarter to provide a 26-point lead heading into the final frame.
“The five guys out there to start the third quarter, quite frankly, as they left the locker room I told the staff, ‘Watch what happens to the score,’” Arkansas coach Eric Musselman said. “It was zero shock what that group went out and did.”
Arkansas’ only two returners – guard Devo Davis and forward Kamani Johnson – were joined by transfer forward Trevon Brazile and freshman guards Anthony Black and Nick Smith Jr. They had a 16-0 run late in the quarter to provide the biggest boost.
“They did a phenomenal job — thinking that it’s only three games in — of sharing it and running different things for each other,” Musselman.
Smith had 20 points on 8 of 14 shooting to lead the team. Davis did his usual stat-stuffing job, scoring six with five assists, three boards and three steals.
“We still have a long way to go on some things, but much, much improved defensively,” Musselman said. “Our defensive intensity was really good.”
“I was happy with a lot of things,” Arkansas coach Eric Musselman said. “I’m happy with the fact that I thought we played really, really, really, really, really hard, so happy with that, for sure.”
Smith was joined in double figures by Kamani Johnson, one of just two players returning from Arkansas’ Elite Eight team last year. Johnson scored 12 and grabbed eight boards. Missouri transfer Trevon Brazile added 12, Wichita State transfer Ricky Council scored 11 and freshman forward Barry Dunning had 10.
“Not many people are going to talk about Barry Dunning,” Musselman said. “I thought Barry played really well.”
Arkansas will play again Thursday against Barcelona Todo-Estrella.
Two gems of the 2022 recruiting class have been named All-Americans by Sports Illustrated
Two of the gems in the 2022 signing class for Arkansas Basketball have garnered national attention, yet again.
[autotag]Nick Smith[/autotag] and [autotag]Jordan Walsh[/autotag], two five-star signees that will join the Razorbacks next season, have been named All-Americans by Sports Illustrated.
Smith was named first-team All-American by the publication, while Walsh earned third-team honors.
Here’s why Smith was named first-team All-American, according to Jason Jordan of Sports Illustrated:
Smith dominated the competition all summer running with Brad Beal Elite (Mo.) then carried that over to the high school season, posting 26 points, seven assists, and six rebounds a game for North Little Rock (Ark.). Smith capped off his high school finale with a state title, posting 25 points, six rebounds, and five assists in the win. Smith was the best player during practices at the McDonald’s All-American games, a telling feat for what is widely regarded as the most competitive practices of the year.
Link Academy’s Jordan Walsh (23) drives to the basket during the second half of the GEICO Nationals semifinal between Prolific Prep (Calif.) and Link Academy (Mo.), Friday, April 1, 2022, at Suncoast Credit Union Arena in Fort Myers, Fla.Link Academy defeated Prolific Prep 59-53.
GEICO Nationals 2022: Prolific Prep (Calif.) vs. Link Academy (Mo.) semifinal, April 1, 2022
Jordan believes that Walsh has everything that you want in a player:
Walsh is a highly productive wing that checks off many boxes on and off the stat sheet. This season, he led Link Academy (34-2) to the GEICO Nationals title game, averaging 11 points, seven rebounds, 3.2 assists and one block a game. At 6’7”, Walsh has great length and agility, making him a capable defender at multiple positions and rebounder.
Currently, Arkansas has the 2nd best recruiting class for the 2022 cycle. Joining Smith and Walsh in the class are five star [autotag]Anthony Black[/autotag], four-stars [autotag]Derrian Ford[/autotag], [autotag]Barry Dunning[/autotag], and [autotag]Joseph Pinion[/autotag] from high school, as well as [autotag]Trevon Brazile[/autotag], [autotag]Jalen Graham[/autotag], [autotag]Makhi Mitchell[/autotag], and [autotag]Makhel Mitchell[/autotag] from the transfer portal.
247sports ranks Missouri transfer Trevon Brazile highly on their list of The 10 best players to commit (so far).
Head coach [autotag]Eric Musselman[/autotag] has wasted no time filling spots left by several key contributors to the success of the 2021-22 season by signing four players from the Transfer Portal, in addition to five of the best high school players from around the nation.
One of those transfers is among the nation’s best, says 247sports.
In the piece written by Eric Bossi, Brazile is described as a player that was relatively unknown during his high school career but exceeded expectations once he arrived in Missouri.
During his lone season in Columbia, Brazile showed flashes of brilliance thanks to his length, defensive range, ability to finish lobs, and emerging potential as a jump shooter. Other SEC coaches raved about his potential and NBA types have been reaching out to learn his backstory. Eric Musselman has earned his reputation as a transfer whisperer, and he’s got an awful lot to work with when it comes to Brazile.
In high school, Brazile was the No. 38 small forward in the nation for the 2021 recruiting cycle. , and the No. 4 best recruit from the state of Missouri, and was rated as a three-star recruit by 247sports.
