FAYETTEVILLE -- No. 21 Arkansas will return to the court on Saturday when they travel to face Mississippi State.
Mississippi State (11-11, 3-6) like Arkansas (16-6, 6-3) hasn't played since this past Saturday. Arkansas lost its first home game of the season to Kentucky while the Bulldogs fell at Missouri. Mississippi State started off hot in the SEC winning its first two games before losing five in a row. They did win at LSU prior to the Missouri loss. On Thursday, Arkansas assistant Chuck Martin talked about how the Hogs have used this week to try and get back on winning track.
"Just trying to let our bodies rest a little bit and get a chance to watch film and see some of the things that we’re doing really well and some of the things that we need to improve on without the pressure of having a game in two days," Martin said. "That’s been really productive. It’s been really good."
Martin was asked what are some of the things Arkansas needs to work on the most and how they have addressed it this week?
"I think we’ve got to rebound the ball a little bit better," Martin said. "I think we have to get into the ball defensively a little bit better, which we will as the season goes on. We’ve usually gotten better and better, but we’ve got to get better at getting into the ball and keeping the ball outside the paint. And when the ball goes and hits the rim, we’ve got to have all five guys box out and go rebound it."
Mississippi State is led by Josh Hubbard. The junior guard leads Mississippi State with 20.8 points and 3.5 assists per game. He also averages 2.4 rebounds and 1.4 steals each outing. Martin pointed to Hubbard several times when discussing the Bulldogs.
"Well, they have Hubbard, who’s one of the best scorers in the country," Martin said. "He’s the all-time leading scorer in the state of Mississippi, I think. Over 260 made 3s. I think he’s second all-time in 3-pointers made at the university. He’s an unbelievable offensive talent who can score the ball as well as anybody in the country. They’ve got another guy named Epps who’s pretty good, gets downhill. (Shawn) Jones (Jr.) gets downhill. They’re a good team. Their record doesn’t indicate how good they are. Strong, physical. They’ve got an identity. They know how they want to play and they’ve got two really good — well, I say two — they’ve got three really good guards, but one elite guard in Hubbard, who’s as good as anybody."
Martin was asked how to stop Hubbard without ignoring the role players?
"Yeah, exactly what you just said," Martin said. "You know, we're not overlooking any of those guys. Hubbard is such a great talent that you can spend a lot of time talking about him, and he warrants that attention. But, you know, (Jayden) Epps is really good, and Jones is really good, and their bigs are physical and strong, and they, like I said before, their record does not reflect how good they are. They got a heck of a coach, a really good staff. You know, in this league, every single night, anyone can beat anyone. That's been proven, you know, this season alone. So we're not overlooking the other guys on a roster at all. There's a reason why they're in the SEC. There's a reason why they're playing for a coach with such a great program. So if they're at Mississippi State, they're good players."
In last season's 93-92 overtime win over Mississippi State the Hogs were pretty effective against Hubbard. He scored 17 points on 4 of 16 from the field and 3 of 11 from deep. He did dish out four assists while turning it over twice. Try same way to defend him this season?
"You know, it was a different team last year," Martin said. "It's not the same team. So we can't, you know, we can't... We can certainly learn, I guess, from watching last year's film, but it's a different team with different personalities. He's a good player, man, he's averaging 20 points a night. I know in league play the last five games, he's not scoring it as much, but, I mean, he is the all-time leading scorer in Mississippi history, high school and you know, over 260, I can't emphasize that enough, made 3s. And second all time in school history made 3s. Like, he is an elite, elite scorer. And so, yeah, we're trying to prepare for that here in the next two days."
Karter Knox and Nick Pringle struggled against Kentucky. Martin feels they need to try and get that pair going.
“Yeah, I think for both of those guys, they just need to get lost in the game," Martin said. "Get lost in the game, play hard, defend, rebound, do the little things, the simple things, and then I think you'll start to see the production that people are looking for on the offensive end. You know? Those guys play really, really hard.
"They commit on the defensive side of the ball. At times, the numbers don't reflect that on the offensive side. But if they just relax and get lost in the game, I think good things are gonna happen for both of those guys.”
Darius Acuff Jr. is the obvious standout for Arkansas. Can he help with better ball movement when he's shooting well, which he didn't against Kentucky?
"Looks like he's dominating the ball, and he is our primary ball handler, but he's been really, really unselfish," Martin said. "He's been looking for guys, but there are nights where he's got it going. And when he's got it going— we have such a great group of guys when he's got it going, no one's fighting that. Like he can hit one or two shots, let him go. But he's been unbelievably unselfish all year long. I mean, he's found guys. Like I said, he had double digit assists, if I'm not mistaken, a month ago or so, three times, right, if I'm not mistaken, and he's come close on other occasions. So for him to score the ball the way he has been, and really have double digit assists three times this season, really, it's incredible."
Arkansas and Mississippi State will begin at 11 a.m. on ESPN2.