In his press conference after the Red Raiders beat Utah State, 65-53, Chris Beard talked about his love for Arkansas, relationship with Musselman.
Hogs’ strong second half too much for Colgate in 85-68 win
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Arkansas used a 17-0 run to end the first half and a key 10-0 run in the second half to win the Razorbacks’ first NCAA Tournament game since 2017 with an 85-68 victory over Colgate on Friday afternoon in the first round and Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Justin Smith led the Hogs with a career-high 29 points — going a career-best 11-of-13 at the free throw line — and 13 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the year and fourth in the last 11 games.
He tied his career-high with five steals and added two blocked shots to become just the second player to record 29-plus points, 13-plus rebounds, 5-plus steals and 2-plus blocks in an NCAA Tournament game, joining Kansas great Danny Manning in the 1988 championship game versus Oklahoma. Manning had 31 points, 18 rebounds, 5 steals and 2 rebounds.
The Raiders entered the game second in the NCAA in scoring (86.3 ppg) and seventh in field goal percentage (.498) but were held to 18 points below their average (68 points) and 101 percentage points below their shooting percentage (.397).
During the 17-0 first-half run, Arkansas held Colgate scoreless for the final 5:28 in the first half, holding the Raiders to 0-of-8 shooting). In the decisive 10-0, second-half run, Arkansas held the Raiders scoreless for 3:41.
Five Razorbacks scored in double figures with SEC Sixth Man of the Year J.D. Notae adding 14 off the bench.
Jalen Tate had 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists with just one turnover. Davonte Davis and Moses Moody each scored 12. Davis added six rebounds, three assists and two steals (back-to-back possessions) to start the 17-0 run.
The Razorbacks forced 22 Colgate turnovers, the most for the Raiders since 2016, and allowed just seven second-choice while outscoring Colgate by 14 points in the second half.
Arkansas faces Texas Tech in the second round on Sunday (Mar. 21). The site and time will not be determined until the conclusion of all of today’s first round games.
First half: Arkansas 36 – Colgate 33
• Moses Moody (7) and Justin Smith (5) accounted for all 12 of Arkansas’ points early. Colgate led 14-12 through the second media timeout (11:48).
• Arkansas tied the game at 17-17 before Colgate went on a 10-0 run.
• Colgate pushed its lead to 14 (33-19) before started the Razorbacks’ 17-0 run as Davonte Davis made back-to-back steals – scoring once and assisting once – on fast break layups to cut the deficit to 10 (33-23) and force a Colgate timeout (3:31).
• Arkansas continued to turn up the defense, as the run extended to 17-0 to end the first half and lead 36-33. Jalen Tate and Davonte Davis each had six points in the run, including a layup as the buzzer sounded to end the first half.
• During the Razorback run, Arkansas held Colgate scoreless for the final 5:28 of the first half and the Raiders were 0-of-8 with seven turnovers over the span.
• Justin Smith, who led the Razorbacks with 11 first-half points, had a dunk with 35 seconds left to give the Hogs their first lead since the 13:57 mark.
• Colgate made 6-of-14 3-pointers (compared to 2-of-9 by Arkansas) and the Raiders had 10 assists on 12 made baskets.
Second half: Arkansas 49–Colgate 35
• Arkansas scored first to start the second half to make the run 19-0. However, Colgate made 5-of-6 field goals to lead 50-44 with 13:49 left.
• JD Notae had a steal and completed an old-fashion 3-point play to put Arkansas up 56-54 with 10:20 left.
• Later, with the score tied at 58-58, Notae made a 3-poniter and sank two free throws after he was fouled shooting a 3-pointer to put the Hogs up five (63-58) with 8:07 left.
• Colgate answered to get to within three (63-60) before the Hogs went on a 10-0 run to lead 73-60, holding Colgate scoreless for 3:41 to lead at 13 at the four-minute timeout (3:40).
• Arkansas made 8-of-10 at the free throw line inside the final 2:18 to secure the win.
• Justin Smith scored 18 of his points and had seven of his rebounds in the second half.
Game notes
• Arkansas is now 43-32 in the NCAA Tournament and 17-8 in first round games.
• The was Arkansas’ first meeting with Colgate. Arkansas is now 3-1 versus Patriot League teams Ironically, that one loss was to Bucknell in the first round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament.
• The win over Colgate gives Arkansas its seventh win over a QUAD 1 opponent over its last 11 games.
Each of Eric Musselman’s three NCAA Tournament wins have come despite facing significant deficits.
• 2018 NCAA 1st Round: Nevada was down 14 (40-26) to Texas with 18:42 left in regulation. Nevada made a basket with three seconds left to force overtime and defeated the Longhorns by four (87-83).
• 2018 NCAA 2nd Round: Nevada was down 17 (27-10) to Cincinnati in the first half and down 20 (65-45) with 10:49 left in the second half. Nevada tied it (73-73) with 54 seconds left then sank a basket with three seconds left to win 75-73.
• 2021 NCAA 1st Round; Arkansas was down 14 with 5:28 left in the first half before going on a 19-0 run. Arkansas was down six (50-44) with 13:49 left but took a 55-54 lead with 10:20 left and led the rest of the way.
• 2019 NCAA 1st Round: Nevada did not win but was down 18 (51-33) to Florida with 14:03 left in the game. Nevada worked its deficit to two (63-61) with 2:02 left, but the Gators held on for a 70-61 win.
• Arkansas won despite being out-rebounded (42-37). Arkansas is now 4-4 this year when being out-rebounded.
• Arkansas is 15-0 this year when scoring at least 80 points.
• Arkansas is 7-0 when at least five players score in double figures.
• Arkansas has won by double-digits in 17 of its 23 wins. Arkansas entered the game 21st in the NCAA in scoring margin. (Colgate entered the game 4th in the NCAA in scoring margin.)
• Arkansas’ starting lineup was Jalen Tate (G) – Davonte Davis (G) – Moses Moody (G) – Justin Smith (F) – Connor Vanover (F) for the 11th consecutive game. The lineup is 10-1 this season.
• Colgate won the opening tip. Arkansas is 10-3 when the opponent controls the tip.
• Colgate’s Keegan scored the game’s first points, two free throws at 18:35. Arkansas is 8-2 when its opponent scores first. Arkansas’ first points came from Moses Moody, a runner on the right side at 17:57.
• Jaylin Williams was the first sub for Arkansas. It was the ninth time he has been the first sub and Arkansas is 8-1 in those games.
Listen to Hogs in NCAA Tournament against Colgate here
• Who: #10 (3 seed) Arkansas Razorbacks (22-6) vs. (14 seed) Colgate (14-1)
• What: Arkansas earns its 34th NCAA Tournament bid.
• When: Friday, March 19, 11:45 a.m. (pregame starts at 11 a.m.)
• Where: Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind.
• TV: truTV (Spero Dedes, Brendan Haywood, Lauren Shehadi). Watch NCAA March Madness Online: CLICK HERE. Download the March Madness App: CLICK HERE
• ONLINE: HitThatLine.com LISTEN HERE
• Radio: ESPN Arkansas 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs, 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home and 99.5-95.3 in Fayetteville (Chuck Barrett and Matt Zimmerman)
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Arkansas, ranked 10th nationally and the third seed in the NCAA South Region, will face 14-seed and Patroit League champion Colgate in the first round of the NCAA Championship on Friday.
Tip-off is set for 11:45 a.m. and the contest will be televised on truTV.
Pregame coverage starts at 11 a.m. and you can LISTEN HERE or on the radio at ESPN Arkansas 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home or ESPN Northwest Arkansas 99.5 in Fayetteville.
Chuck Barrett and Matt Zimmerman will have all the coverage.
Arkansas earns its 34th NCAA bid and is playing in its 33rd tournament (the 1944 team earned a bid but could not play due to an automobile accident). Arkansas is 42-32 in the NCAA.
• 1994 NCAA Champion
• 1995 NCAA Runner-Up
• Final Fours: 1995, 1994, 1990, 1978, 1945, 1941
• This is the second time in program history Arkansas has earned a No. 3 seed and the 12th time to be a top-4 seed since the NCAA began its current seeding process in 1979. The only other time Arkansas was a No. 3 seed was for the 1992 NCAA Tournament. Arkansas was a No. 1 seed in 1994 and 1991; a No. 2 seed in 1995, 1984 ad 1979; and a No. 4 seed in 1999, 1993, 1990, 1983 and 1982.
• This will be the first meeting between Arkansas and Colgate.
• Arkansas has only played three current members of the Patriot League and are 2-1 including 1-1 versus Bucknell and 1-0 versus Holy Cross.
• Eric Musselman has never faced Colgate as a collegiate head coach nor has he faced a team from the Patriot League.
Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.
Davis’ ability to disrupt Burns could be key in Hogs’ game
Jordan Burns is the best player on Colgate’s roster and ESPN’s Jimmy Dykes is curious to see if Davonte Davis can at least slow him down.
Dykes was with Derek Ruscin and Zach Arns on Ruscin & Zach on Friday afternoon.
Getting a win to start NCAA will help Muss’ strong recruiting pitch
It is pretty much the consensus opinion in Arkansas across the country Eric Musselman has gotten Razorback basketball relevant way faster than expected.
Over the last quarter of a century, the program went from the penthouse to the just an average room.
A big part of it is the approach Musselman takes with this team.
“I haven’t changed our preparation with a college team one iota from how I prepared an NBA team,” he said this week from Indianapolis while going stir crazy waiting on Friday morning’s game.
Recruits notice things like that. From the getting ready standpoint, not many in college basketball can get them ready for the next level better than Musselman.
And it goes far beyond getting them to jump higher or shoot better.
“NBA players are really smart,” Musselman said.
In today’s NBA players don’t last long playing a game, then partying all night, getting up and being ready to go for a game the next night. Getting ready for the next game is quick and puts a load on the players.
“We set the bar really, really high from the first game of the season with our preparation,” Musselman said. “They know they have to digest a lot of stuff. They get quizzed a lot.
“I’ll text guys individually about matchups. So whatever your team is used to. Our team is used to the fact that they’re going to get asked a lot of questions. They’re going to be put on the spot in front of their peers.”
Nolan Richardson put his players through such a physical grind, playing in the games was almost a welcome relief. With Musselman it seems once the players learn to trust the preparation and see how it works in games, they can relax and just play.
It’s something Musselman has developed through years of coaching at the biggest level down to the professional version of AAU ball in the G League and watching how championship level football coaches prepare a team.
Somehow he’s managed to condense all of that down to something the players can grasp. The guess from a basketball no-nothing is it’s easier to do at the college level because they don’t play many games on consecutive nights.
Give Musselman at least 24 hours and he’s going to have a team prepared.
“(The players) are going to know at halftime that there’s a great chance we’ll make an adjustment on something that we haven’t worked on and they’re going to have to be able to take it from the chalkboard to the floor,” Musselman this week. “Those are some of the expectations we’ve set forth from Day 1 of the season. They also know that we’re going to adjust game to game, that we don’t just practice the same thing every day.”
It’s not a one size fits all type of plan. The players have discovered it’s adjusted for the team they’re playing.
“Every team presents its own unique set of dilemmas that you’ve got to work on and we’re going to game plan game to game,” Musselman said. “Our game plan is going to be different this game than it was prior to the LSU game because the personnel we’re playing against has different strengths.”
It takes the freshmen a month or so to figure out.
“Early in the year, a lot of our younger players when you put together game plans that maybe they’re not used to that might have had a little bit to do with minutes early on the year,” Musselman said. “There is a learning curve for any high school player to play college, but then there’s even more of a learning curve with the system you’re playing in.”
But the result is by the time you get to this point of the season they’ve learned how an NBA team prepares … but they are playing against other college players.
Musselman hasn’t changed anything from his NBA days.
“If you looked at my Golden State Warrior playbook and you look at the Arkansas Razorback playbook, it’s identical,” he said. “We’ve added a few wrinkles, obviously, but it’s the same playbook.
“I could take that playbook and just slap a different logo on it and we’re expecting college players to do exactly what we’ve done at that level. I think it’s really challenging form a mental standpoint.”
Now he just needs to add some wins to things and he’s got a really good sales pitch to high school recruits.
And beating Colgate today would be a good way to start that ball rolling.
Coming back to Hogs for bonus year not hard decision for Kern
Arkansas tight end Blake Kern said after practice Thursday when the NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility it didn’t take him long to decide.
Gregory on changes to Hogs’ pass rush for this season
Eric Gregory talked after Thursday’s practice indoors about different techniques to improve the pass rush under new coach Jermial Ashley.
Holt looking at Razorbacks’ opening-round game in NCAA
Democrat-Gazette writer Bob Holt previewed Friday morning’s matchup with Colgate as the Hogs try to get to Sweet 16.
RECRUITING THURSDAY: What recruits looking for at scrimmage
Richard Davenport said potential players will be watching to see how position coaches interact with players if they come to scrimmage.
