Nearly 2,000 words on the key stuff from tonight's win. And now I'm gonna go get a couple hours of sleep before taking by daughter to daycare and doing all of this again tomorrow. Lol.
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Kansas State made it interesting, but clutch free throws down the stretch helped Arkansas remain undefeated Monday night.
The No. 13 Razorbacks didn’t make a shot from the floor over the final four minutes, but they used stall ball - coupled with Chris Lykes’ efficiency at the line - to hang on for a 72-64 win over Kansas State in the Hall of Fame Classic.
Despite the margin tightening up, Arkansas never trailed and led for all but 42 seconds inside the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo., so head coach Eric Musselman was still pleased with the result.
“It’s hard to beat a Big 12 team by eight points and to control the game for 39 minutes and 18 seconds,” Musselman said. “I mean, we controlled the game from start to finish and that’s really hard. It’s hard to play with a big lead.”
The game looked like it might turn into a rout, as the Razorbacks steadily built up their lead in the first half and took a 42-24 lead into halftime.
However, that proved not to be the case. Kansas State chipped away at the deficit, which never got larger than 18, and managed to cut it to single digits with 8:37 remaining.
Players on both teams said the Wildcats came out much more physical after halftime and Kansas State coach Bruce Weber said they emphasized getting the ball inside. That was reflected in the box score, with Kansas State scoring 22 in the paint in the second half, compared to just 12 in the first half.
“They were trying to ice stuff really high and we just took advantage of it and drove hard to the basket,” Kansas State guard Nijel Pack said. “I felt like first half we kind of overthought things, we tried to make things a little more complicated than they were. The second half we came out aggressive, we punched back and we fought. We were able to get it close, but just a little too late.”
Pack knocked down a 3-pointer with 54.8 seconds left to pull the Wildcats within 66-60, but that was as close as they got.
The disappointing finish to the game put a damper on Arkansas improving to 4-0 and advancing to the championship game of the event - against Cincinnati, which beat Illinois in the first game - but Musselman was just happy that his team came away with the victory.
“Cincinnati came running down that hallway after they beat Illinois,” Musselman said. “They felt incredible about themselves and I just told our team, we’ve got to feel good, too. We won a game against a Big 12 team, and it’s a really, really good win.”
Here are a few other key takeaways from the win over Kansas State on Monday…
Stall Ball
In what has become a staple of the Musselman era, the Razorbacks took the air out of the basketball late in the game. That stalling tactic clearly hurt their offensive rhythm, as they were just 3 of 14 from the floor over the game’s final 10 minutes, but their third-year coach is a firm believer in the math that says stall balls makes it incredibly difficult for the other team to rally.
That likely contributed to Kansas State cutting what was a 13-point lead to six, but that came with less than a minute remaining and the Wildcats were forced to go into foul mode.
“They fought back and they scrapped,” Musselman said, “but I thought we did a good job from the 10-minute mark on down utilizing clock management to the point that even if we didn’t score, it was going to be hard for them to overcome the lead we had.”
Musselman has utilized that strategy multiple times when his team has a large lead in the second half and he didn’t deviate from it Monday. It was a simple message to the team as its lead dwindled.
“I’ve said it over and over,” Musselman said. “There’s going to be three runs in every game. And they made a run and we were quite frankly playing the percentages with the clock as well.”
The final four minutes were particularly frustrating for Arkansas because it missed all three of its shots in addition to turning it over three times. However, it was still solid from the free throw line.
Living at the Charity Stripe
Making free throws in the closing minutes of a tight game is critical to Musselman’s “stall ball” strategy working and luckily for Arkansas, Lykes stepped up.
The transfer from Miami (Fla.) knocked down all 10 of his free throws Monday night, with all of them coming in the final 1:46. He came into the night 13 of 17 (76.5%) from the stripe through three games and a career 77.8 percent free throw shooter.
“We feel like he’s guy that’s really confident and wants the ball in his hands late in the game,” Musselman said. “Certainly those free throws that he made were crucial for us to continue to have enough of a cushion.”
With teammates JD Notae and Davonte Davis struggling with turnovers - and going a combined 1 of 4 from the free throw line - Lykes was asked to pick up the slack at point guard down the stretch and he said clutch performance like that are just part of the territory.
“That’s just my job as a PG, as a guard,” Lykes said. “Coach trusts us to have the ball in those situations at the end and in a fouling situation you’ve got to be able to knock down those free throws. It’s something we do every day. This is expected of me as a point guard.”
Weber said the Wildcats tried to double team him in order to get the ball in someone else’s hands, but that was “easier said than done” because he’s so quick. He was also impressed that Lykes kept his poise, as Pack admitted they were “hoping, praying” for a miss or two.
“We were even trying to get the ball out of his hands after we saw him make a few, but he just kept making sure he was the one going to the foul line,” Pack said. “It’s a credit to him. He’s a smart basketball player and did what he does best.”
It wasn’t just in crunch time that Arkansas used the free throw line, either. Lykes’ 10-of-10 performance was part of the Razorbacks’ overall 27-of-34 (79.4%) showing.
They were an incredible 15 for 17 (88.2%) from the charity stripe in the first half. According to UA media relations, it was the Razorbacks’ most first-half free throws since making 18 against Morgan State in 2009.
The key piece in the game’s opening 20 minutes was Connor Vanover. The 7-foot-3 big man went 8 of 9, with his lone miss coming on his only attempt in the second half.
“Connor Vanover, I thought he was really a key for them in the first half,” Weber said. “Ends up 14 points, 5 rebounds. Just a very efficient plus-9 on the plus-minus. So he definitely got the advantage over our bigs.”
He and Lykes tied for the team lead with 14 points and 18 of their 28 combined points came at the free throw line. Au’Diese Toney chipped in 13 points and was 5 of 7 from the stripe.
“We always at the end of practice do a free throw game,” Toney said. “You have to make eight in a row as a team, and you go all the way down to one. We do it every day. We chart a bunch of free throws and work on them as much as possible.”
(STORY CONTINUES IN NEXT POST)
Key takeaways, box score from Arkansas' 72-64 win over Kansas State
HawgBeat brings you the key takeaways from Arkansas' win over Kansas State in the Hall of Fame Classic.
Kansas State made it interesting, but clutch free throws down the stretch helped Arkansas remain undefeated Monday night.
The No. 13 Razorbacks didn’t make a shot from the floor over the final four minutes, but they used stall ball - coupled with Chris Lykes’ efficiency at the line - to hang on for a 72-64 win over Kansas State in the Hall of Fame Classic.
Despite the margin tightening up, Arkansas never trailed and led for all but 42 seconds inside the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo., so head coach Eric Musselman was still pleased with the result.
“It’s hard to beat a Big 12 team by eight points and to control the game for 39 minutes and 18 seconds,” Musselman said. “I mean, we controlled the game from start to finish and that’s really hard. It’s hard to play with a big lead.”
The game looked like it might turn into a rout, as the Razorbacks steadily built up their lead in the first half and took a 42-24 lead into halftime.
However, that proved not to be the case. Kansas State chipped away at the deficit, which never got larger than 18, and managed to cut it to single digits with 8:37 remaining.
Players on both teams said the Wildcats came out much more physical after halftime and Kansas State coach Bruce Weber said they emphasized getting the ball inside. That was reflected in the box score, with Kansas State scoring 22 in the paint in the second half, compared to just 12 in the first half.
“They were trying to ice stuff really high and we just took advantage of it and drove hard to the basket,” Kansas State guard Nijel Pack said. “I felt like first half we kind of overthought things, we tried to make things a little more complicated than they were. The second half we came out aggressive, we punched back and we fought. We were able to get it close, but just a little too late.”
Pack knocked down a 3-pointer with 54.8 seconds left to pull the Wildcats within 66-60, but that was as close as they got.
The disappointing finish to the game put a damper on Arkansas improving to 4-0 and advancing to the championship game of the event - against Cincinnati, which beat Illinois in the first game - but Musselman was just happy that his team came away with the victory.
“Cincinnati came running down that hallway after they beat Illinois,” Musselman said. “They felt incredible about themselves and I just told our team, we’ve got to feel good, too. We won a game against a Big 12 team, and it’s a really, really good win.”
Here are a few other key takeaways from the win over Kansas State on Monday…
Stall Ball
In what has become a staple of the Musselman era, the Razorbacks took the air out of the basketball late in the game. That stalling tactic clearly hurt their offensive rhythm, as they were just 3 of 14 from the floor over the game’s final 10 minutes, but their third-year coach is a firm believer in the math that says stall balls makes it incredibly difficult for the other team to rally.
That likely contributed to Kansas State cutting what was a 13-point lead to six, but that came with less than a minute remaining and the Wildcats were forced to go into foul mode.
“They fought back and they scrapped,” Musselman said, “but I thought we did a good job from the 10-minute mark on down utilizing clock management to the point that even if we didn’t score, it was going to be hard for them to overcome the lead we had.”
Musselman has utilized that strategy multiple times when his team has a large lead in the second half and he didn’t deviate from it Monday. It was a simple message to the team as its lead dwindled.
“I’ve said it over and over,” Musselman said. “There’s going to be three runs in every game. And they made a run and we were quite frankly playing the percentages with the clock as well.”
The final four minutes were particularly frustrating for Arkansas because it missed all three of its shots in addition to turning it over three times. However, it was still solid from the free throw line.
Living at the Charity Stripe
Making free throws in the closing minutes of a tight game is critical to Musselman’s “stall ball” strategy working and luckily for Arkansas, Lykes stepped up.
The transfer from Miami (Fla.) knocked down all 10 of his free throws Monday night, with all of them coming in the final 1:46. He came into the night 13 of 17 (76.5%) from the stripe through three games and a career 77.8 percent free throw shooter.
“We feel like he’s guy that’s really confident and wants the ball in his hands late in the game,” Musselman said. “Certainly those free throws that he made were crucial for us to continue to have enough of a cushion.”
With teammates JD Notae and Davonte Davis struggling with turnovers - and going a combined 1 of 4 from the free throw line - Lykes was asked to pick up the slack at point guard down the stretch and he said clutch performance like that are just part of the territory.
“That’s just my job as a PG, as a guard,” Lykes said. “Coach trusts us to have the ball in those situations at the end and in a fouling situation you’ve got to be able to knock down those free throws. It’s something we do every day. This is expected of me as a point guard.”
Weber said the Wildcats tried to double team him in order to get the ball in someone else’s hands, but that was “easier said than done” because he’s so quick. He was also impressed that Lykes kept his poise, as Pack admitted they were “hoping, praying” for a miss or two.
“We were even trying to get the ball out of his hands after we saw him make a few, but he just kept making sure he was the one going to the foul line,” Pack said. “It’s a credit to him. He’s a smart basketball player and did what he does best.”
It wasn’t just in crunch time that Arkansas used the free throw line, either. Lykes’ 10-of-10 performance was part of the Razorbacks’ overall 27-of-34 (79.4%) showing.
They were an incredible 15 for 17 (88.2%) from the charity stripe in the first half. According to UA media relations, it was the Razorbacks’ most first-half free throws since making 18 against Morgan State in 2009.
The key piece in the game’s opening 20 minutes was Connor Vanover. The 7-foot-3 big man went 8 of 9, with his lone miss coming on his only attempt in the second half.
“Connor Vanover, I thought he was really a key for them in the first half,” Weber said. “Ends up 14 points, 5 rebounds. Just a very efficient plus-9 on the plus-minus. So he definitely got the advantage over our bigs.”
He and Lykes tied for the team lead with 14 points and 18 of their 28 combined points came at the free throw line. Au’Diese Toney chipped in 13 points and was 5 of 7 from the stripe.
“We always at the end of practice do a free throw game,” Toney said. “You have to make eight in a row as a team, and you go all the way down to one. We do it every day. We chart a bunch of free throws and work on them as much as possible.”
(STORY CONTINUES IN NEXT POST)
