HawgBeat - Arkansas Basketball Production Report: Brazile makes return
HawgBeat breaks down Arkansas' top performers, stats and more from Friday's exhibition win over UT Tyler.
arkansas.rivals.com
FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas Razorbacks took care of business with ease Friday evening in a 92-39 exhibition win over Division II UT Tyler at Bud Walton Arena.
Led by fifth-year head coach Eric Musselman, the Hoops Hogs looked like an improved offensive team and a suffocating defensive squad in their first game against outside competition with the 2023-24 roster.
This year's edition of the Razorbacks features seven new transfers, two freshmen and five returning scholarship players. With forward Jalen Graham (back) out, the rest of the guys and a pair of walk-ons saw the court in Friday's contest and HawgBeat has a breakdown of stats, the starting five, notable performers, our most valuable player and more...
Box Score
Starting Five
#3 - G El Ellis - GRAD-SR, 6'3", 180 lbs.
A transfer from Louisville, Ellis is a true scorer. He has great athleticism to run the court and soft touch on his shot to allow him to be a nightmare to guard. I was very impressed by his transition offense and you can tell he wants to push the court when he can get out in space.
Ellis has a knack for finishing through contact, which is a valuable skill to have. I watched him drive the basket and go straight up with a defender and alter his shot perfectly to get it to fall. While that won't happen every time, it was impressive to see from the transfer guard.
"Well I think that El is excited to play with some surrounding pieces so that he can show people his willingness to be a passer and ball distributor and play like a true point guard," Musselman said postgame. "I think we’ve seen that since the day that he stepped on campus."
#5 - G Joseph Pinion - SO, 6'5", 195 lbs.
Pinion is going to have a green light to shoot just about anytime he touches the ball, and that resulted in a trio of threes in the second half. He missed the four other shots he took in the game, all of which were threes.
"Right now, Joseph has a green light to shoot when he feels he’s open," Musselman said. "We were really aggressive shooting the ball from 3. I mean, 34 threes attempted, when we probably could have gotten to the foul line at a much higher clip."
#12 - G Tramon Mark - JR, 6'6", 185 lbs.
Alongside Ellis, Mark is the only other player who started Friday that I could see in the Game 1 starting five. A transfer from Houston, Mark is an elite defender who also brings plenty to the table offensively.
While he won't drain shots from outside at a consistent level — although he does have a green-light, according to Musselman — Mark can penetrate from the wing and pull up from anywhere with a good chance of getting the shot to fall. Oh, and he's electric in transition with the ball in his hands.
#8 - F Chandler Lawson - GRAD-SR, 6'8", 210 lbs.
Lawson might play more than I initially thought. He's shown he can score by hitting the team's first 3-pointer and he's a pesky defender, as he had a two blocks and two steals in the first half alone.
"First of all, the three he made and took is what we need him and want him to do with his feet set," Musselman said. "But I thought great defensive activity. He was a really good help defender for us tonight in the post. Really happy with the way that Chandler played and rebounded the ball as well."
#10 - F Baye Fall - FR, 6'11", 200 lbs.
Fall's length will obviously put him at an advantage against a Division II opponent, but he definitely had a field day in the paint. He brought down six rebounds, two of which were on the offensive side, and he also added one block.
"I thought Baye did a good job playing his minutes," Musselman said. "I thought he was active as a shot-blocker. He ran the floor hard. He’s just a young player who’s got to continue to progress. But we wanted to give him an opportunity to start, which he got tonight."
MVP - El Ellis
Give me the point guard who had four assists, four steals and nine points in the game. Ellis proved that he's an all-around guy who can do anything asked of him.
"El was phenomenal," Musselman said. "Some of those guys that I’ve seen through the Red-White game, through pro day, through practices, a guy like El … His minutes were limited tonight just because he’s going to be out there a lot of for us."
Other notable performers
#2 - F Trevon Brazile - R-SO, 6'10", 220 lbs.
Brazile saw in-game action for the first time since Dec. 6 of last year, when he tore his ACL to bring his sophomore campaign to a close much too early. He got 19 minutes of run and added a poster dunk for one of his two shots that fell.
"Man, it felt great," Brazile said. "It’s obviously different practicing and scrimmaging against our team, but to actually get out there and play somebody else, it felt really good. I felt great great. The team played great. It was a good night."
#0 - G Khalif Battle - GRAD-SR, 6'5", 185 lbs.
After not playing in the Red-White Showcase due to a foot injury, Battle finally checked in a little over halfway through the first half. The Temple transfer is a problem when he has the ball. He's as tough of a one-on-one matchup to defend as any other Razorback and he also proved he can step back and hit the three ball as he led the team with 14 points Friday.
"KB is a guy that is arguably one of the country’s best free throw shooters," Musselman said. "We saw a couple years ago how important a guy that can make foul shots late in a game is for a team. Especially with the amount of close games you have in league play, and close games that you’ll have in the Bahamas.
"So really important … For a guy that has been out for a long time, and he’s been out for a long time, most of the summer, I thought he came in and shot the ball with great aggressiveness and he’s an explosive scorer."
#24 - G Jeremiah Davenport - GRAD-SR, 6'6", 215 lbs.
Davenport was brought to Arkansas as a transfer from Cincinnati to primarily do one thing: hit threes. Luckily for Musselman and the Hogs, Davenport can knock down the deep ball and he can get really hot really quick.
"Really, really quick release," Musselman said. "The guys look for him when he’s in. He’s a guy that’s going to take a high volume of shots in his minutes. We need to try to find him in transition. We need to try to run some plays for him to come off screening actions. But yeah, he’s got incredible confidence shooting the ball and he’s got really deep range."
#6 - G Layden Blocker - FR, 6'2", 175 lbs.
I really like Blocker's ability to have a nose for the ball as a rebounder and defender. He just seems to fly into the right place at the right time and have a chance to make a play on a ball.
#4 - G Davonte Davis - SR, 6'4", 185 lbs.
We know what to expect from Davis at this point. He's as good of a defender as there is in the SEC and the nation, and he's improved as a scorer even since late last season. We saw him look confident in isolation situations as a ball-handler and his defense was great, as always.
Davis played 28 minutes and recorded nine points, seven rebounds and three assists.
"Devo obviously is going to play more minutes than what he did, but this is the deepest team we've had for sure," Musselman said. "I thought guys checked into the game. They played the way they were supposed to play. We have some explosive scorers in Davenport and Battle that can really score the ball.
"El is playing the right way, the way we want him to play. And we have two fierce competitors in T-Mark and Devo on both sides of the ball. So, some really good things tonight. We have to rebound the ball better for sure, especially a week from today."
