From @RStew32
arkansas.rivals.com
When the Razorbacks fell to Duke in the Elite Eight last season, it was apparent that the only thing standing in their way of a Final Four was size. The Blue Devils bullied Arkansas on the glass, hauling in nine more rebounds in their nine-point victory.
Over the offseason, head coach Eric Musselman took it upon himself to fix that problem, bringing in two freshmen and four transfers standing at least 6 feet, 7 inches. The Hogs have been outrebounded just twice in 16 games this season, definitively solving that problem, but undeniably creating another — the inability to shoot 3-pointers.
Arkansas is making triples at an abysmal 28.4% clip, which is good for 352nd among 363 Division I programs. It is on pace to be the worst in Musselman’s eight seasons as a college head coach, and it would be the fifth consecutive season in which his team’s 3-point percentage decreased from the year before. It is also on pace to be the worst in program history since the stat was first tracked in 1986-87.
Through four games of conference play, that figure is even worse. Shooting just 19.4% from 3-point range, the Hogs are bringing up the rear in the SEC, nearly six percentage points behind 13th-place Ole Miss.
“It’s hard to win right now when you’re not making 3s, which I don’t know if we will,” Musselman said after Wednesday’s 15-point home loss to No. 4 Alabama.
The Razorbacks shot a miserable 2-10 from behind the arc Wednesday, with both makes coming from the hand of Davonte Davis. It marked the second straight game with just two triples for the Hogs, and the third time in four SEC games they shot no more than 20%. Remarkably, that performance increased their 3-point percentage in conference play by 0.09 percentage points.
In fairness to Arkansas, it has been missing the services of two of its four best 3-point shooters the last five games and probably will for at least another five. Albeit in non-conference competition only, Trevon Brazile’s 37.9% leads the team from deep, and unless someone steps up, it will continue to set the bar.
Nick Smith Jr. is rocking an even 30% from 3-point range, checking in behind Joseph Pinion at 37.5% and Anthony Black at 30.4%, but he has logged a team-low five games on the campaign. The freshman phenom’s right knee injury kept him out of the first six games of the season, and he re-aggravated it, causing him to sit since the second half of the Dec. 17 contest against Bradley. That further complicated matters for the Razorbacks after the loss of Brazile, who suffered a torn ACL Dec. 6.
“We’re missing two guys that we had projected to play right around 60 minutes for us,” Musselman said Wednesday. “We’ve got to keep searching and trying to figure it out.”
The Hogs can snap their two-game losing skid when they take on Vanderbilt at 1 p.m. Saturday in Nashville, Tennessee. The Commodores have allowed opponents to shoot 30.8% from 3-point range this season, the 72nd-best mark in DI from a defensive standpoint. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU and stream live on the ESPN app.
HawgBeat - Deeper look at Arkansas' struggles from 3-point range
Without the services of Trevon Brazile and Nick Smith Jr., the Hogs are struggling to make 3-pointers consistently.
arkansas.rivals.com
When the Razorbacks fell to Duke in the Elite Eight last season, it was apparent that the only thing standing in their way of a Final Four was size. The Blue Devils bullied Arkansas on the glass, hauling in nine more rebounds in their nine-point victory.
Over the offseason, head coach Eric Musselman took it upon himself to fix that problem, bringing in two freshmen and four transfers standing at least 6 feet, 7 inches. The Hogs have been outrebounded just twice in 16 games this season, definitively solving that problem, but undeniably creating another — the inability to shoot 3-pointers.
Arkansas is making triples at an abysmal 28.4% clip, which is good for 352nd among 363 Division I programs. It is on pace to be the worst in Musselman’s eight seasons as a college head coach, and it would be the fifth consecutive season in which his team’s 3-point percentage decreased from the year before. It is also on pace to be the worst in program history since the stat was first tracked in 1986-87.
Through four games of conference play, that figure is even worse. Shooting just 19.4% from 3-point range, the Hogs are bringing up the rear in the SEC, nearly six percentage points behind 13th-place Ole Miss.
“It’s hard to win right now when you’re not making 3s, which I don’t know if we will,” Musselman said after Wednesday’s 15-point home loss to No. 4 Alabama.
The Razorbacks shot a miserable 2-10 from behind the arc Wednesday, with both makes coming from the hand of Davonte Davis. It marked the second straight game with just two triples for the Hogs, and the third time in four SEC games they shot no more than 20%. Remarkably, that performance increased their 3-point percentage in conference play by 0.09 percentage points.
In fairness to Arkansas, it has been missing the services of two of its four best 3-point shooters the last five games and probably will for at least another five. Albeit in non-conference competition only, Trevon Brazile’s 37.9% leads the team from deep, and unless someone steps up, it will continue to set the bar.
Nick Smith Jr. is rocking an even 30% from 3-point range, checking in behind Joseph Pinion at 37.5% and Anthony Black at 30.4%, but he has logged a team-low five games on the campaign. The freshman phenom’s right knee injury kept him out of the first six games of the season, and he re-aggravated it, causing him to sit since the second half of the Dec. 17 contest against Bradley. That further complicated matters for the Razorbacks after the loss of Brazile, who suffered a torn ACL Dec. 6.
“We’re missing two guys that we had projected to play right around 60 minutes for us,” Musselman said Wednesday. “We’ve got to keep searching and trying to figure it out.”
The Hogs can snap their two-game losing skid when they take on Vanderbilt at 1 p.m. Saturday in Nashville, Tennessee. The Commodores have allowed opponents to shoot 30.8% from 3-point range this season, the 72nd-best mark in DI from a defensive standpoint. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU and stream live on the ESPN app.
