By Otis Kirk

FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas trailed for 20 seconds on Tuesday night in Bud Walton Arena on its way to an easy 97-65 win over Georgia.

Arkansas (19-9, 8-7) got an outstanding performance from freshman guard Nick Smith Jr. Smith scored 26 points including 5 of 8 behind the 3-point stripe. He also chipped in a rebound and two assists in 29 minutes. It was Smith's second start in a row and both have been blowout wins. The Hogs downed Florida 84-65 this past Saturday. Eric Musselman praised Smith following the game.

"And obviously getting Nick Smith back getting into the flow it really, really changes us," Musselman said. "I give our guys a ton of credit playing the way they have without Nick, without TB (Trevon Brazile). And now certainly getting Nick back at this time of year is so huge for us."

The Razorbacks held a 43-23 lead at intermission. The lead stretched to as much as 35 points, 97-62, with 27 seconds remaining in the game. Arkansas shot 64 percent (37-58) from the field. They were also hot behind the 3-point line hitting 11 of 20 attempts (55 percent). The 64 percent is a school record for an SEC game.

"We’re getting better," Musselman said. "I think that’s 7 out of 9 SEC games we’ve won. And two games that were certainly winnable that we didn’t win so I think we’re playing really good basketball at the right time of the year. I think it’s a basketball team that’s getting better on both sides of the floor both offensively and defensively." 

Arkansas' defense had another good game. They held Georgia to 19 of 52 (37 percent) from the field. The Bulldogs hit six of 18 shots from behind the 3-point stripe. Arkansas forced 13 turnovers which led to 20 points. The Hogs also came up with seven steals.

"I thought both sides of the basketball we played really, really well," Musselman said. "Really good. Fundamentally defensively we were so sound. Holding Georgia to 36 percent. We defended the three really well in the first half as far as not allowing many attempts. We still have to do a better job of defending without fouling. But our ball movement was absolutely incredible. We had 266 passes which is an all-time record for any team that we’ve coached."

The Razorbacks finished with 26 assists compared to only six for the Bulldogs.

"I thought our offensive flow, the pace that we played at tonight, 43 points in the first half, 54 points in the second half and scoring 97 points," Musselman said. "Every guy that checked in tonight - which was our entire roster -played really, really well. Played the right way. The sharing of the ball was phenomenal."

Arkansas' bench was very productive as well. Arkansas' bench outscored Georgia's reserves 41-20. Ricky Council IV led the bench production with 22 points, three rebounds, four assists, one block and two steals. Morrilton's Joseph Pinion added six points in four minutes hitting both his 3-point attempts. Jalen Graham, who was big against Florida off the bench, added eight points, five rebounds, two assists and a pair of blocks.

Anthony Black had another complete game for Arkansas. He scored 10 points and added four rebounds, eight assists and two steals. Jordan Walsh started on Tuesday night. He had nine points, seven rebounds and two steals. Smith, Black and Walsh were all five-star recruits in the most recent recruiting class by Musselman and his staff. Makhi Mitchell had seven points, five rebounds, four assists, a block and one steal. Musselman likes how several players are making key contributions.

"We really are," Musselman said. "Graham came in and gave us three field goals. Rebounded the ball with five defensive rebounds in 15 minutes. And even Pinion. Joseph came in and knocked down 2 of 2 from three in his four minutes. Derrian Ford, two rebounds and had two nice, unselfish assists. All the guys that checked in.  

"Walsh had a very productive second half. Anthony  Black’s ball movement. Devo Davis’ defense once again just outstanding. And Ricky offensively was really, really good. And not only did Ricky Council have 22 points but those four assists and two steals."

Georgia was led by Kario Oquendo with 20 points while Jabri Abdur-Rahim put in 12 and Justin Hill 10 points. Musselman knows the competition level goes up tremendously in the final three regular season games.

"We understand the two (road) games we’re playing," Musselman said. "Both teams are playing so well at home. Both Alabama as well as Tennessee. So two huge challenges ahead of us. And then we finish a home game with Kentucky. So three very difficult games. When they gave us the schedule that came out our staff knew this 3-game stretch was going to be very, very challenging. You play them one at a time and hopefully we’re a team that’s playing with confidence right now." 

Arkansas will be at No. 2 Alabama on Saturday at 1 p.m. and televised on ESPN2. Alabama (23-4, 13-1) will be at South Carolina on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. also on ESPN2. On Jan. 11, the Tide handed Arkansas its first home loss of season 84-69.