HawgBeat - Tramon Mark's late-game heroics pushed Arkansas past Purdue
Arkansas Razorbacks basketball guard Tramon Mark showcased his playmaking abilities against Purdue on Saturday.
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Welcome to Fayetteville, Tramon Mark.
The once under-utilized Houston guard transferred to Arkansas to flash his unique offensive abilities, and he did exactly that in the No. 14 Razorbacks’ 81-77 overtime exhibition win against No. 3 Purdue on Saturday.
In a back-and-forth contest that he scored a team-high (Trevon Brazile) 15 points, the most memorable play was in crunch time with the game on the line.
Down 69-66 and only 15 seconds after committing a personal foul, Mark didn’t waiver. Instead, he dribbled, dribbled some more, pulled up from the wing and sank a game-tying shot with just over 20 seconds to play.
Maybe it wasn't the prettiest play. Heck, it's the exact opposite of what Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman pushes for every game: passing. But at the end of the day, you have to let your playmakers make plays.
Under the bright lights of a sold-out Bud Walton Arena, Mark used every bit of his 6-foot-6 frame to send the Hogs to overtime.
"I think if we would have simply been trying to get to the cup and get an FTA, which is a lot of times my nature, but for whatever reason, we ran on the weak side to come off for a three," Musselman said. "I think when we talked about that, yeah, I think T-Mark thought like, ‘All right, Coach is fine with us taking a three,’ because the first option was a weak side three-ball.
"With his size, he’s got the ability to rise over a defender, so because of that, that was the reason we put the ball in his hands as a pick-and-roll player. He got a lot of opportunities to handle in pick-and-roll."
Named to the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award watch list prior to the upcoming season, Mark is a versatile player than can play both off the ball and lead guard. He showcased that Saturday, as he made four assists to zero turnovers while adding six rebounds in the process.
"Oh yeah, I was rebounding tonight," Mark said after the game. "I was climbing over dudes to get them rebounds. We needed those, we needed those, so I wanted to get them."
Mark scored eight points in the last 10 minutes of the second half and five points in overtime. He could have had more, but some missed free throws squashed that idea — including two crucial misses to start the extra period. That didn't deter Musselman from riding the game out with the junior, though.
"Zero thought of not letting him continue to have the ball in his hands," Musselman said. "There was no thought of 'Hey, let's hide him in the corner. He's missed some free throws.' I'm riding with him. I trust his mental toughness. No different than JD Notae a couple years ago. He missed 10 shots, I'm riding with him.
"You have to have your team believe in him even during stretches of struggles. Obviously, he struggled from the line early. The game was kind of in hand, and we still put it in his hands to get fouled."
Closer. Finisher. Whatever you want to call him, Mark had ice in his veins against Purdue. Still, even he knows he needs to work on his shots from the charity stripe.
"I think I just simply wanted the ball in those situations," Mark said. "Tight games, I usually want the ball just to slow the game down. Get a good shot, a great shot that we need, and if I’m not shooting it passing it to somebody that’s open. I was able to execute down the stretch. Just got to make all my free throws next time."
Purdue head coach Matt Painter — who has coached NBA-guards like Jaden Ivey, Carsen Edwards and E'Twaun Moore during his 18-year stretch with the Boilermakers — thought Mark was impressive during the game.
"Obviously, he gets in between you and he has that pull up," Painter said. "He kind of forces you, he kind of shoots it right in your face. We fouled him on the turnaround if I got my people right, in the post and then we fouled right in front of their bench. If it’s still T-Mark, we fouled him on a drive there. He made that tough shot, but you’ve got to keep making people make tough twos, but I like him."
You never want to take too much away from a charity exhibition match. Team rotations are still being tinkered with, new players are learning schemes and guys are shaking off rust. What was clear, however, was the effort and want-to from this Razorbacks team.
"We took the word exhibition out," Mark said. "We treated it like a real game and that’s what we did. We came out and played hard for all 40 minutes. And like I said, we took the word exhibition out. It was a real tough game. Both teams were scrappy. Both teams were trying to get the win here, and that’s how we took it and that’s what we did. We treated it like a Final Four game or Southeastern Conference championship or whatever.
"And shoutout to our coaching staff for, you know, prepping us for this game and giving us the confidence and the scheme we had to go out and execute. Shoutout to our coaching staff and the fans."
With both exhibitions played, the next time the Hoop Hogs will take the court is Monday, Nov. 6 against Alcorn State. The game will tip off at 7:00 p.m. CT and will stream live on SEC Network+.
