HawgBeat - Arkansas' shooting woes spell disaster against Sooners
The Arkansas Razorbacks basketball team shot poorly in its ugly 79-70 loss to the Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday.
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The Arkansas basketball team (6-4) failed to extend its two-game winning streak after losing 79-70 in ugly fashion to the No. 19 Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday afternoon inside BOK Arena.
One of the glaring reasons why the Hogs couldn't scratch across the victory was because of poor shooting across the board.
At the end of the first half, Arkansas was shooting just 8-27 from the field and 3-11 from beyond the arc. The only place the Hogs shot well from was the charity stripe, where they were a perfect 6-6.
"I'd say our rhythm," Arkansas guard Jeremiah Davenport said after the game. "I'd just base it off our rhythm. How we start the game. Obviously, we've got guys who can score at the highest level. I'd say it's just the flow in the beginning for sure."
Things didn't get much better in the second, as Arkansas finished the game 20-50 from the field and 4-18 from three.
"The team right now is not playing with the same personality as our past teams the last four years," head coach Eric Musselman said after the game. "And we’ve got to get a lot better. I think we play three games in the next 20 days. Rotations, roles, all those things are … There’s going to be some changes."
Even the usually red-hot Khalif Battle shot poorly against the Sooners. He finished the day shooting 2-10 from the field, but did make 8-8 free throws to give him a team-high 13 points. Davenport was right behind him with 12 points and two three pointers.
The Razorbacks particularly struggled around the rim. Arkansas finished the game just 6-16 on layup attempts, a shocking number considering the scoring ability of the Hogs' guards.
"So we’ll go back, we’ll watch the film," Musselman said "Finishing at the rim is a huge issue, and not only not finishing at the rim, but falling down."
It wasn't all bad, though, as Arkansas' Makhi Mitchell and Jalen Graham did a good job around the rim against the Sooners. The big-man duo combined for 17 points on 6-8 shooting overall.
Up next, Arkansas will try to get right against Lipscomb on Saturday inside Verizon Arena in Little Rock. The game is set to tip off at 5:00 p.m. CT and will stream on SEC Network Plus.
"You saw coming from the Bahamas and coming and playing Duke," Davenport said. "You saw the outcome of that. We've got a group of guys that compete. We've got a lot of talent. We have to keep on pushing. It's a long season. Having a guy like Coach Muss as the leader, he's never going to give up. Keep pushing. Keep fighting like we did at the end. That's all I can say. Keep fighting for sure."
