Photo by John D. James.
By Otis Kirk
FAYETTEVILLE -- The Red squad emerged from Arkansas' intrasquad game with a 64-59 win with Jalen Graham scoring 25 points to lead all scorers.
Graham, a transfer from Arizona State, was 10 of 11 from the field and added two rebounds, a pair of blocked shots, one assist and a steal. The White team was led by Nick Smith Jr. who had 22 points and three assists.
The announced attendance was 5,147 at Barnhill Arena and Eric Musselman was pleased with that, considering the students are on break.
"I thought the environment was great," Musselman said. "I thought it was a great crowd. With the students being out on break we didn't really know what type of crowd we would have. We walked in and we were all really surprised in a good way."
The White team jumped out to a 4-0 lead behind two free throws from Smith and a basket by Kamani Johnson. However with the game tied at eight the Red team went on a 12-4 run to end the first quarter. It was 32-24 at intermission. The game only saw one lead change and was tied three times.
"You do these things to try to evaluate," Musselman said. "Get a look at guys at different positions. Guys getting the opportunity to compete against each other. This is the only day they will get in front of the public to compete against each other. Everything else will obviously be against another opponent."
The biggest lead of the game for the Red team was 17. Behind Smith Jr, Trevon Brazile and Derrian Ford going on a 9-3 run at end of the game the White team pulled to within 61-57 before falling. In that run, Brazile had five points including a 3-point basket.
In addition to Graham on the Red team, Morrilton's Joseph Pinion scored 12 points including 2 of 5 from behind the 3-point line along with two rebounds. Ricky Council IV added 10 points, two rebounds a pair of assists. Point guard Anthony Black had a big game with four points, nine rebounds, nine assists and one steal. Jordan Walsh had four points, six rebounds and an assist. Makhi Mitchell had six points, five rebounds and blocked two shots.
Other than Smith Jr., the White team was led by Brazile with 13 points, five rebounds, three assists and a steal. Kamani Johnson and Makhel Mitchell each added eight points. Johnson added nine rebounds while Mitchell had five boards and four assists. Ford and Barry Dunning Jr. each added four points to go with three rebounds. Dunning Jr. also had two assists, a steal and one block.
"I thought what we accomplished [was] no one got injured," Musselman said. "We have a lot of video we can now watch and go back on and evaluate. Some guys play better in games and some guys play better in practice. This is our fifth participation where we had competition that was public with referees."
As far as some playing better in games and others in practice where does Graham fall on that spectrum?
"I think the thing with Jalen Graham is you are talking about an All-Pac-12, all-conference player in a Power 5 league," Musselman said. "He played today much like the video evals where he was [a] really great spin dribble drive guy you could isolate. We have felt for quite some time he shot the 3 pretty well in practice. Not that we want him shooting it all the time, but I think he can [keep] defenses honest. For sure this was good for his teammates to see him play well, and I think this was good for his confidence."
Following the game, Graham, who hit his only 3-point attempt, talked about his performance and the atmosphere at Barnhill Arena.
"What got me going early was just run the floor and trying to score," Graham said. "Just run the floor very hard. I just want to compete. I felt like I had something to show coming into this game to my teammates and for the coaching staff. Show them I want to be here and play hard."
Black, who was 0 for 3 from the field, also talked about his performance in the game.
"We have a lot of dudes that can score the ball," Black said. "My game is taking what the defense gives me. On defense, just rebounding, blocking shots and doing all the stuff."
Graham, who is 6-foot-9, 225-pounds, talked about having a 6-7 point guard who does a lot of things other than just score.
"There's a big difference in a big guard that can pass, facilitate, play defense and help rebound," Graham said. "That's a big help playing with someone like him that is not selfish and wants to help his teammates get better. We know he's going to get his throughout the season so no one is worried about that."
Arkansas will next return to the court on Monday, Oct. 24, when they host Rogers State for an exhibition game at 7:00 p.m. in Bud Walton Arena. Following an exhibition game at Texas on Saturday, Oct. 29, at 3:00 p.m. the Hogs will open the regular season on Monday, Nov. 7, when they host North Dakota State in Bud Walton Arena at 7:00 p.m.