Razorback sophomore guard Devo Davis (#4) from Jacksonville, AR drives the baseline against LSU at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, AR.
FAYETTEVILLE - Vermont conjures images of maple syrup and skiing to most but it’s all basketball to the Arkansas Razorbacks.
For at 8:20 tonight on TNT in Buffalo, N.Y., the University of Vermont Catamounts oppose the Razorbacks in the first round of the NCAA Tournament’s West Regional.
Tonight’s Arkansas vs. Vermont winner advances to Saturday’s second round in Buffalo against today’s winner between the fifth-seeded University of Connecticut Huskies and the 12th-seeded New Mexico State Aggies.
Coach Eric Musselman’s fourth-seeded Razorbacks 25-8 of the SEC are only 5.5 points favored over Vermont, the 28-5 champion of both the America East regular season and the America East Conference Tournament.
Vermont and the America East may seem obviously basketball smaller time than the SEC and Arkansas, but Arkansas favored by just 4.5 to 6.5 points shows the respect that Coach John Becker’s Catamounts wield.
Musselman knows because he’s faced Vermont in his job previous to Arkansas.
“We played against them at Nevada in the CBI Tournament,” Musselman said. “Their coach does a phenomenal job. They space the floor. They have great shooting. Their center (Ryan Davis) is one of their premier scorers. They have an off guard (Ben Shungu) that can really score the ball. So defending the three will be very, very important for us.”
The Razorbacks did not do a good job defending the three in their last game, an 82-64 embarrassing loss to Texas A&M in last Saturday’s semifinals of the SEC Tournament in Tampa, Fla.
So the Hogs first had to rid the taste of Tampa to renew for what they hope is the first of many tunes in the NCAA Tournament Big Dance.
Last season the Razorbacks exited the SEC Tournament’s semifinals then regrouped to soar all the way to the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eigtht.
“We had a lot of great older guys, a lot of vets that knew what they were doing,” Arkansas sophomore second year starting center Jaylin Williams said. “Their message to all of us was to turn the page and be ready for the next game. You have to correct what you did wrong, but just be ready. This year, we’re kind of preaching the same thing. We lost (in Tampa) but we have to get better, we have to be better next game and we can’t make the same mistakes, so we just have to get better for this next game.”
Arkansas senior All-American guard JD Notae averaging over 18 points vows to stay out of the foul trouble that plagued him to a mere 5-points game against A&M in Tampa.
“That’s going to be my focus, trying to stay out of foul trouble and play as hard as I can,” Notae said.
One positive out of Tampa during which Arkansas defeated NCAA Tournament bound LSU before losing badly to NIT bound A&M, Arkansas graduate transfer Au’Diese Toney returned from the injured list with what Musselman called a bruised metatarsal to excel.
Toney logged 38 minutes playing good defense and scoring a team high 22 points with four rebounds against LSU and scored 18 points in 38 minutes against A&M.
Starting graduate transfer forward Stanley Umude, 20 points, Toney and sixth man guard Devo Davis, 11 points were nearly all the Hogs had offensively against A&M.
Notae and Williams combined for just nine points in the semifinal loss. Reserve guard Chris Lykes, 18 big points against LSU, shot 0 for 4 from the field against A&M and scored but one point.
Even more than offense, Musselman said the Hogs must get back to the intense defense that carried them to winning 15 of 17 games including a 13-5 SEC fourth place after starting 0-3 in the SEC.
Underdogs tend to play slowdown and try to shorten the game. That comes naturally to Becker’s Catamounts since that’s their style even when heavily favored.
“They control tempo,” Musselman said. “ One of the slower paced teams in the nation.”
Don’t confuse slower paced with inability to score.
“Vermont, is a really, really good offensive team,” Musselman said. “Really good shooting team. And then from a rebounding standpoint they are one of the best defensive rebounding teams in the entire country. So we have our work cut out for us. We’re going to have tremendous respect for Vermont.”
Arkansas has rebounded well most of the season but was outrebounded by both LSU and Texas A&M in Tampa.
Davis, 6-8, leads Vermont’s scorers averaging 17.2 points augmented by 5.7 rebounds while Shungu averages 16.2 points.
Isaiah Powell, a 6-6 senior, leads Vermont’s rebounders averaging 6.3.
Like most mid-majors seldom raided for one and done players or players otherwise turning pro two or three years into their collegiate careers, the Catamounts start a veteran crew.
Starting Vermont guards Justin Mazzula and Finn Sullivan are seniors, Shungu a grad student and Powell and Davis are seniors.
Vermont sixth man guard Aaron DeLoney is a junior.
Arkansas and Vermont share one common opponent, the University of Northern Iowa, each played way back in November.
Arkansas beat UNI, 93-80 at Walton Arena in Fayetteville.
At Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Vermont defeated UNI, 71-57.
Razorback senior guard JD Notae (#1) from Covington, GA drives into the paint against LSU at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, AR.
Razorback sophomore forward Jaylin Williams (#10) from Ft. Smith, AR gets fouled going up for a basket against LSU at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, AR.
Razorback senior guard Chris Lykes (#11) from Mitchellville, MD works at the top of the key against Tennessee at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, AR.
Razorback head basketball coach Eric Musselman shows his excitement after beating LSU at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, AR.