By Otis Kirk
No. 10 Arkansas broke the Simmons Bank Arena jinx as they blasted Bradley 76-57 on Saturday in North Little Rock.
Arkansas had struggled in games there, but there was no struggle this time. Bradley led 7-6 for the final time with 16:11 remaining in the first half. Arkansas' defense turned up the pressure at that point and forced 27 turnovers. The Razorbacks outscored Bradley 37-9 on points off turnovers which is a statistic Eric Musselman liked.
"We are doing such a great job of turning people over with active hands," Musselman said. "And obviously the defense turning the turnovers into points. Thirty-seven points off turnovers. I think it’s the fourth time we had 20 or more turnovers that we’ve caused which is a really impressive number in a short sample size of the season."
Freshman forward Jordan Walsh stepped up with a big game. He had 18 points, three rebounds, one assist and four steals. Musselman talked about different players stepping up in games with it being Walsh this time.
"I think we’re starting to carve out some roles with certain guys," Musselman said. "But again, Jordan Walsh, 18 points and four steals, his activity defensively. And how about Devo (Davis) with five steals. That’s nine steals in your backcourt. That’s absolutely incredible."
It was Arkansas' first game in a week due to finals. Instead of looking rusty, the team looked rested and focused which was bad news for Bradley.
"Just because you have a long layoff, we were doing finals, traveled yesterday," Musselman said. "Obviously there are some areas we have to get better at but loved the fact that Jordan Walsh keeps getting better, better and better and playing with a lot of confidence as well."
Walsh said that Musselman had placed an emphasis all week on a good showing in this game.
"Of course," Walsh said. "Coming in here last year they didn’t do like they were supposed to and Coach Muss - he’s always looking to the past and the future so he knows what he wants and we have to prepare extra for it. I believe Arkansas was 12-10 in this building all time. Now we’re 13-10 and hoping the next year, the next year and the next year after that we’ll be able to come back and show who we are and keep winning."
The Razorbacks shot 31 free throws, making 22, and had 40 points in the paint. Musselman talked about the aggressive play from his team.
"We want to attack," Musselman said. "We want to be a high free throw attempt team. We didn’t rebound the ball tonight. If there is one area that I’m a little disappointed in or an area we have to get better at and probably having a few more assists, and also trying to do a little better job defensive rebound."
The Razorbacks only had 13 assists in the game and lost the rebounding battle 32-26. Ricky Council IV added 16 points, two rebounds, a pair of assists and a couple of steals. Anthony Black had 15 points, three rebounds, four assists, two steals and a pair of blocks.
Nick Smith Jr. only played 20 minutes. He ended up going back to the locker room to get his knee retaped. Musselman chose not to play him after that though he said the freshman standout was fine. Smith had a rough day on the court. He was 1 of 8 from the field and finished with five points.
Rienk Mask had 17 points and six rebounds to lead Bradley. Duke Deenb added 11 points, four rebounds and two steals. Malevy Leons had 11 points, eight rebounds and four steals.
Musselman knows the team is nearing the SEC portion of the schedule.
"Obviously the one game we lost we lost by three on a neutral court against a great team that was fully healthy with their center and they were really good when he was playing," Musselman said. "We’ve got one more (nonconference) game and then there is the Baylor game that happens a little more into the teeth of the SEC season. We have to play really well Wednesday. I can’t wait to get back to Bud Walton. I hope we have an incredible crowd for a Top Ten team that’s ranked and playing good basketball with confidence and playing really hard."
Arkansas (10-1) will host UNC Asheville on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. in Bud Walton Arena and televised on the SEC Network. UNC Asheville is at East Tennessee State and took a 7-4 mark into Saturday's game.