Razorback senior forward Jalen Graham (#11) from Phoenix, AZ goes up for a slam dunk against Georgia Tuesday night at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, AR.
By Otis Kirk
FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas will try to do something on Saturday no one else has done and that is defeat No. 2 Alabama in Tuscaloosa.
Alabama (24-4, 14-1) is 13-0 at home this season. Eric Musselman's Hogs are just 2-6 in road games. However, Musselman has seen his squad lose some close ones away from home.
"I think we've really, you know, you look at our road games, and Baylor's a hard place to win, and we gave ourselves a chance to win," Musselman said. "(Texas) A&M, I mean, we played really well for a lot of that game. So you want to compete, you want to try to minimize the crowd involvement in the game. You have to do that by defending, and Alabama's a really hard team to defend because of their spurtability, because of their dribble-drive along with their 3-point accuracy. So gotta get ready the next two days."
Arkansas (19-9, 8-7) has rallied from a 1-5 start in the SEC to now holding a winning record inside the conference. Among the five early losses was an 84-69 loss to the Tide on Jan. 11. But in that game, the Hogs didn't have guard Nick Smith Jr. who scored 26 points against Georgia Tuesday night.
"I think that every game that Nick gets to play, I think he’s going to feel more and more comfortable," Musselman said. "I probably left him out there tonight an extra four minutes in the second half late because I wanted him to continue to get conditioning and rhythm and confidence. Again, I think he’s a player that changes our spacing and how people have to guard us."
Smith hit 5 of 8 3-pointers against the Bulldogs. Musselman talked about how playing the Tide with Smith is different than when without.
"I think anybody we play, it changes kind of who we are from and offensive standpoint," Musselman said. "For us, we defended them pretty well for most of the game and they got hot down the stretch. They’re an explosive offensive team, so we’re going to have to defend. And then offensively, they’re such a great defensive team that we’re going to have to share the ball like we did tonight. The ball has got to have eyes and find open people. And you can’t force things against their defense."
Alabama has been embroiled in an off-court issue involving some of its current and former players. The Tide downed South Carolina 78-76 in overtime at Columbia Wednesday night.
"You’re talking about a No. 1 team at one point, No. 2 in the nation, an explosive offensive team and a team that’s phenomenal defensively, as well," Musselman said.
The Tide is 10-2 since defeating Arkansas. They lost at Oklahoma in the SEC-Big 12 Challenge and at Tennessee. Musselman was asked how different Alabama is now compared to the first meeting?
"I think they’ve been really good all year," Musselman said. "You look at games at Houston, I mean, they’ve been good, in my opinion, the whole year. They’ve been one of the best teams in the country the entire year."
Freshman Brandon Miller leads Alabama averaging 19.5 points per game and had 41 against South Carolina on Wednesday. Musselman knows Miller is touted as a lottery pick in the 2023 NBA Draft much like Smith and Anthony Black.
"I mean, they have so many weapons," Musselman said. "I mean, Miller's one of the best catch-and-shoot three point guys in the league. He's got great size. (Mark) Sears gave us a lot of problems with his dribble penetration, and obviously you don't want to give up threes. (Jahvon) Quinerly does a great job of creating pace of play for them. (Noah) Clowney hit a huge three in the right corner against us. He's a guy that does a good job rim-rolling, and (Charles) Bediako inside is a great shot blocker and a rim protector.
"So they have so many different weapons. They have a player that's a McDonald's All-American that's back that was injured early in the year and gives them added depth at the guard position as well, and the wing position. So I mean, there's a reason they're ranked where they are. They're really, really good. They're really talented."
After this game, Arkansas will be at Tennessee Tuesday night before closing out the regular season at home the following Saturday hosting Kentucky. Musselman talked about the importance of the remaining games.
"Yeah, I mean, I think we're in a good space," Musselman said. "But you know, as I tell you guys all the time and I told the locker room, like, 'Florida game's over, this game is over, we'll go play the Alabama game and that game is going to be over, play at Tennessee.
"You know, so we put ourselves in a fairly good position based on how we played the last two games from a chemistry standpoint. You want your team to continue to build confidence, to continue to buy into schemes on both sides of the floor, and I think that that's where we're at right now. I think we're in a good spot, but we're playing two of the best teams in the nation in front of sold-out buildings the next two games."
Arkansas and Alabama will tip at 1 p.m. on Saturday with the game televised on ESPN2.
Photos Courtesy of Craven Whitlow CW3 Sports Action
Razorback senior forward Jalen Graham (#11) from Phoenix, AZ goes up for a slam dunk against Georgia Tuesday night at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, AR.
Razorback junior guard Davonte Davis (#4) from Jacksonville, AR and freshman guard Jordan Walsh (#13) from Desota, TX go up for a defensive rebound against Georgia Tuesday night at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, AR.
Razorback freshman guard Anthony Black (#0) from Duncanville, TX goes up strong in the paint for two against Georgia Tuesday night at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, AR.
Razorback freshman guard Nick Smith Jr. (#3) from Jacksonville, AR shoots a free throw against Georgia Tuesday night at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, AR.
