FAYETTEVILLE -- Forward Trevon Brazile dunked the ball for a 2-0 lead 19 seconds into the game and Arkansas never trailed taking a 93-59 victory to open the regular season in Bud Walton Arena.
Eric Musselman played every player on the roster with all the scholarship players getting at least four minutes of action. Arkansas held a 46-22 lead at the intermission.
The transfer guards showed off for the Hogs. Khalif Battle came off the bench to lead the Razorbacks with 21 points. Battle transferred to Arkansas from Temple. He also added three rebounds and two assists. Musselman was asked if he had to have a discussion with Battle about coming off the bench?
"Probably not a process, because he was hurt," Musselman said. "I think it kind of just naturally evolved. Obviously, the broken foot was out most of the summer. And then he had the foot problem when we went into that Red-White game, and that put him behind. That’s why, but he’s — we’re running plays for him, really explosive scorer. Great foul shooter. So, late games we need him to have the ball in his hands if we’re in the bonus. He was phenomenal tonight. And he can rise up, he has deep range. Shoots with great confidence. He’s a really good offensive player."
Houston transfer Tramon Mark added 16 points and three assists. Louisville transfer El Ellis had eight points and four assists. Brazile had 13 points and six rebounds as well.
Jalen Graham, who missed both preseason games, topped the Hogs on the boards with eight and had the same number of points. Former Morrilton standout Joseph Pinion added seven points, one rebound, an assist and two steals. Musselman was pleased to have Graham back.
"I thought he was great," Musselman said. "He rebounded the ball with some physicality, kind of grab and go. He got a defensive rebound and pushed it with some good pace. I thought he played really good. I mean, we’re not going to play 13 guys in a half. That’s just not — and guys are playing their ways into rotations and guys are playing their ways out, that’s just kind of how it happens. But we’ll probably shorten the rotation. When that is, I don’t know. The game will dictate it. But we’ve got a lot of areas that we have to get better at for sure."
Davonte "Devo" Davis chipped in five points, five rebounds and five assists (was best on team). Southern Miss transfer Denijay Harris added five points, seven rebounds and two assists. Musselman talked about Davis' performance.
"Yeah, I mean he had five, five and five," Musselman said. "So I thought across the board, he played really well. Made some great passes. The most important thing is Devo didn’t have a turnover. I thought our point guard play — we got to take better care of the ball, for sure. Maybe Devo slides over there and plays a little bit more point guard. We’ll go back and watch the film and discuss that."
Arkansas shot 52% from the field (28-54), 40% from behind the 3-point line (12-30) and 68% from the free throw line (25-37). The Razorbacks won the battle of the boards 44-26 and had a wide margin with bench points, 49-17. Musselman is hoping the rebounding can continue going forward.
"Yeah, I thought certain guys did a great job on the offensive glass," Musselman said. "(Jeremiah) Davenport, Graham, those two guys in particular, you know Devo, those guys did a good job keeping balls alive and rebounding through the corners to get to the elbow for long rebounds. And we have to get better at the point guard position getting defensive rebounds. El, you know 23 minutes, I mean, we’ve historically been a great point guard rebounding team. Tonight, El’s 23 minutes, Layden (Blocker)’s 10, we didn’t have a defensive rebound and we have to — we need our guards to go back there and help on the glass, so those are areas for us to get better at for sure."
Jeremiah Gambrell led the Braves with 17 points while Byron Joshua added a dozen points. Alcorn State shot 39% from the field, 33% from behind the 3-point line and 62% at the free throw line.
Arkansas will be back at home Friday night when they host Gardner-Webb at 7 p.m. The game can be streamed on the SEC Network+. Gardner-Webb (1-0) topped Erskine 98-58 Monday night to open its season.
Photos Courtesy of Craven Whitlow CW3 Sports Action
