HawgBeat - Postgame Notes & Quotes: Arkansas beats Old Dominion, 86-77
HawgBeat breaks down Arkansas' top performers, stats and more from Monday's win over Old Dominion.
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FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman said after Friday's win over Gardner-Webb that the rotation was drilled down, and that proved to be true when he played just seven players for more than 10 minutes in Monday's win over Old Dominion.
Four Hogs played at least 29 minutes — Trevon Brazile, El Ellis, Devo Davis and Makhi Mitchell. Davis led all Razorbacks with 37 minutes, and he recorded 16 points, five rebounds and two assists.
The lack of playing time for the rest of the team could easily be contributed to the fact that Old Dominion played the Razorbacks tough. The Monarchs shot 45.8% (11-24) from three and they also held the Razorbacks to four less rebounds.
"I mean, we’re going to be playing against teams that are much bigger, much stronger, much more athletic," Musselman said after the game. "And we’re not rebounding with any physicality. … It’s just not happening other than Mitchell. He’s our one guy that’s rebounded with physicality. I thought we were great against Purdue doing it, and we’ve really bad physically rebounders the last two games."
HawgBeat has a breakdown of stats, the starting five, notable performers, quotes from Musselman and players, our most valuable player and more...
Box Score
RELATED: Highlights from Arkansas’ 86-77 win over Old Dominion
Starting Five
#3 - G El Ellis - GRAD-SR, 6'3", 180 lbs.
Ellis had his best game in a Razorback uniform Monday. After having five assists in the first half, he really turned things on offensively in the second half. Ellis had a few isolation plays where he just simply blew right by the defender and there was nothing that could've been done about it.
The Louisville transfer finished shooting 7-11 from the field with 17 points, eight assists, one steal and no turnovers.
"He understands what areas want to see from him, which is taking care of the ball," Musselman said. "And then quite honestly, late game, we’ve played three regular-season games and in this particular game late-game we went to El. It was him in middle pick-and-roll to try to get to the basket."
#4 - G Davonte Davis - SR, 6'4", 185 lbs.
After having a rough game on Friday against Gardner-Webb, Davis let everyone know that he can still single-handedly change a game.
Davis recorded 10 points, four rebounds and a steal in a first half that saw the Monarchs win the battle on the boards (22-17) in in fastbreak offense (15-3).
The senior guard continued to play lockdown defense in the second half and he finished with 16 points, five rebounds, two assists, one steal and no turnovers.
"It's phenomenal because the thing with Davonte is we all know Devo has the flare," Musselman said. "He's got some stuff to his game. He's got a bag that he likes to go into. He's still doing that. He's still making some 'Oh wow' plays that get the crowd on its feet, which we want. And he's doing it now a little bit more deliberately with great maturity with the ball in his hands."
#12 - G Tramon Mark - JR, 6'6", 185 lbs.
Mark got into early foul trouble, as he drew his second foul at the 15:14 mark in the first half. He ended up playing just 21 minutes and he was 2-7 shooting with seven points, six rebounds and one assist.
"T-Mark got in foul trouble, so T-Mark not being on the floor hurts us defensively because we need his length and athleticism and defensive intensity," Musselman said.
#2 - F Trevon Brazile - R-SO, 6'10", 220 lbs.
Brazile was his usual self: elite.
The redshirt sophomore forward ran the floor with ease in his 31 minutes and he did it all. Brazile scored 11 points on 3-7 shooting from the field, and he added four rebounds, two assists, four blocks and a steal. All 11 of Brazile's points came in the second half.
"Yeah, at halftime we talked about needing more from him in totality - defending, rebounding, shooting, scoring," Musselman said. "And I thought TB was very, very good in the second half."
#8 - F Chandler Lawson - GRAD-SR, 6'8", 210 lbs.
The transfer from Memphis got the start, but played five minutes in first half and he made one shot and had two boards. Lawson played just one minute in the second half.
MVP - Makhi Mitchell
Mitchell seemingly solidified his role as a rotational player with a double-double on Monday evening.
"This was Khi's best game," Musselman said. "This was Khi's best game in everything. This was his best game body language. This was his best game in timeouts and huddles. This was his best game with his teammates. This was his best game with the coaching staff, and then he played really well, too.
"Hopefully he can keep doing that. I thought from a maturity standpoint and really doing what we needed and doing it with really positive passion, he was really good tonight. Really good. Proud of him."
For more on Mitchell's performance, continue reading...
RELATED: Makhi Mitchell records double-double against Old Dominion
Other notable performers
#15 - F Makhi Mitchell - 5TH-YR SR, 6'10", 240 lbs.
Mitchell had seven points and six rebounds by the 8:15 mark in the first half, and it was pretty clear that he wants to be a starter again. The second-year Hog had those totals up to 11 points and six boards by halftime.
He finished with 15 points, which is tied for his most in a Razorback uniform. Mitchell also brought down 10 boards and added an assist and a block.
"He can do all the things on the court," Khalif Battle said of Mitchell. "He’s super talented. He’s tall. He can defend. He rebounds the heck out of the ball. Sometimes I be going for the ball and he pushes me out of the way to get the board. That’s my brother right here. He’s so talented. For him to be able showcase his full skillset tonight, I think he has even more in the tank he hasn’t shown everyone yet."
#0 - G Khalif Battle - GRAD-SR, 6'5", 185 lbs.
There's not much else to say on Battle other than the fact that he was an absolute steal in the transfer portal for the Razorbacks. He scored 13 points on 3-6 shooting and he made a pair of incredible threes.
Battle grabbed two rebounds and added an assist to his stat line, yet he was taking full responsibility for Arkansas' slow start in the postgame press conference.
"We will get better," Battle said. "We had a slow start. We’ve just got to watch film. I’ll take full accountability for being one of the main reasons. I could’ve done better defensively and rebounding. But we’re going to look at film tomorrow and get better from it."
#24 - G Jeremiah Davenport - GRAD-SR, 6'6", 215 lbs.
Davenport was the only other Hog to play more than 10 minutes. He hit one of his four shots — a 3-pointer — and added one rebound in 13 minutes.
"JD is a great shooter," Musselman said. "We see it everyday in practice, he's got a great release. I talked to him the other day, 'just get your feet set and kind of take your time.' The one thing he's done a really good job of, he's defending better than maybe we thought.
"He's rebounding, although tonight only one, but he's rebounded through the elbows better than any of our guards. We want our guys to rebound through the elbow from a perimeter standpoint. So defensively, rebounding, intangible stuff, he's done a great job. Shooting the ball... When you've got a guy that's a high-volume shooter, you can't get in his head. You've got to just let him launch and hope he gets hot, which we certainly think he will."
#11 - F Jalen Graham - 5TH-YR SR, 6'10", 220 lbs.
Graham had plenty of opportunities to go to work in the post offensively, but he didn't take advantage as often as he probably would've liked. He was just 1-3 from the field with two points in six minutes of play.
#6 - G Layden Blocker - FR, 6'2", 175 lbs.
After missing Friday's game against Gardner-Webb with an illness, Blocker returned to the court Monday evening. He checked in for just two minutes in the first half, as he was quickly pulled after taking a mid-range jumper that seemed to be ill-advised based on Musselman's reaction.
#10 - C Baye Fall - FR, 6'11", 215 lbs.
DNP
#5 - G Joseph Pinion - SO, 6'5", 195 lbs.
DNP
#7 - F Denijay Harris - GRAD-SR, 6'7", 200 lbs.
DNP
