Razorback senior forward Jalen Graham (#11) from Phoenix, AZ hits a soft jumper for two against Florida Saturday afternoon at
Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, AR.
By Otis Kirk
FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas got a big game from Jalen Graham off the bench and used a second-half surge to blast Florida 84-65 on Saturday in Bud Walton Arena.
Graham took advantage of the Gators not having Colin Castleton while leading the Razorbacks with a career-high 26 points on 12 of 15 from the field. Graham also added seven rebounds, an assist and two blocks. He played 27 minutes off the bench to provide a spark for the Razorbacks. The Hogs started 3 of 10 from the field, but Eric Musselman inserted Graham and Arkansas' energy went up tremendously.
"We felt that Jalen Graham had some really good matchups tonight," Musselman said. "And obviously he was phenomenal, 12 of 15. I think two of his misses he got back. So he played phenomenal basketball for us. He did a good job defensively. He had two blocks, was plus 10 in the game."
The big game didn't surprise Graham. He liked what he had seen on the scouting report.
"Watching film on their bigs, and some of their guards I just felt I had an advantage coming into this game," Graham said. "So I just took my advantage and got to my spots and was just confident.
"Yeah, I had a feeling some of their guys weren’t real aggressive on defense. So I felt once again I was able to get to my spots and rise up over people. Once you make your first couple my confidence just went through the roof."
Arkansas (18-9, 7-7) only led 37-31 at intermission. But Arkansas went on a 17-2 run to start the second half on their way to the blowout win. Musselman was pleased with the win and the way his team broke a two-game skid.
"You know the start of the second half coming out at halftime we have not been happy with the team," Musselman said. "Obviously tonight 17-2 run to start the second half. Much better than it’s been on many nights. In the past we’ve been so good in the second half. So we took a step in the right direction for sure playing better in the second half. Fifty-two points in the paint we can draw from this game."
Nick Smith Jr., who only played four minutes in the loss to Texas A&M, got the start and played 32 minutes. Smith scored 10 points on 4 of 12 from the field while adding a rebound, one assist and two steals.
"Nick Smith’s 31 minutes were really, really valuable tonight," Musselman said. "He played two different positions for us."
Makhi Mitchell had a double-double for the Hogs with 10 points, 10 rebounds and blocked a couple of shots.
"And then I thought Makhi Mitchell with the double-double was really, really good inside as well," Musselman added.
Arkansas shot 58 percent from the field making 34 of 59 attempts. The Gators also had 59 attempts from the field, but only made 22 of them. The Hogs were 2 of 10 from behind the 3-point line with both coming in the second half. Jordan Walsh started the scoring in the second half with Arkansas' first trey. Anthony Block hit the second one with 13:13 remaining in the game to put the Hogs up 57-36.
Black had his usual complete game. Black scored 14 points, added five rebounds, three assists and a trio of steals. Ricky Council IV came off the bench with Smith getting the start and had 15 points to go with seven rebounds.
Arkansas won the battle of the boards 40-25 and had 52 points in the paint compared to 36 for the Gators. Arkansas' bench outscored the Gators 45-25. The turnovers were basically even with the Hogs giving it up 13 times and the Gators 12.
"We were, 25 to 40 on the glass - I actually thought we would have more offensive rebounds than we did," Musselman said. "But certainly to win the battle of the boards by 15 is a really good, positive thing for us. Ricky seven defensive rebounds and then Jalen Graham seven rebounds. Both those guys did a good job on defensive rebounds as well."
The Razorbacks have struggled from the free throw line at times this season, but on Saturday they made 14 of 17 for 82 percent. Musselman was asked if he was pleased with that aspect of Arkansas' game on Saturday?
"We are," Musselman said. "Obviously that Texas A&M game we missed some free throws that could have changed the outcome to some degree. So we focused on shooting free throws the last day and a half and we had the guys come in last night and get shots up at Bud Walton and who knows if it helped or didn’t help. But certainly to shoot the percentage that we did, 82 percent from the line is really positive."
Florida (14-13, 7-7) was topped in scoring by Riley Kugel with 17 while Will Richard added 10. Musselman breathed a sigh of relief when the Hogs put last Saturday's loss to Mississippi State at home behind them as well as the Texas A&M game on the road.
"We talked that you’ve got to focus only on what happens in this locker room," Musselman said. "You’ve got to only focus on us. You can’t listen to anything else. It’s about how we respond to certain things. And there’s no doubt we’ve been a really good team at home.
"Mississippi State was a game we felt like that we didn’t play our A-game and we lost that game. The game at Texas A&M we played really well. Neither team could score down the stretch against A&M and we lost that game. One that we were in position to win but didn’t. But we’re still alive. We’ve got a big home game on Tuesday and then two very difficult road games and we finish up with Kentucky. So a 2-2 split down the stretch home and road and a great environment today at Bud Walton."
Arkansas will return to Bud Walton Arena on Tuesday night to host Georgia (16-10, 6-7) at 8 p.m. on the SEC Network. Georgia has a matchup against Alabama Saturday night.
