The Arkansas Razorbacks (19-11, 8-9 SEC) are below .500 in conference play once again after their 75-57 loss to No. 12 Tennessee on Tuesday night.
It was a frustrating and ugly performance as the Volunteers (22-8, 11-6) led from wire-to-wire and showed why they arguably the best defense in the entire country. The Razorbacks just couldn’t get anything going offensively in the first half, turning the ball over over 10 times and shooting just 37.5% from the floor.
At the other end, Tennessee owned the paint and offensive glass, making it tough on Arkansas to close out defensive possessions. The Vols had a 12-0 advantage in second chance points and 8-1 advantage in offensive rebounds, which helped them take a 34-25 lead into halftime. Arkansas was able to cut the lead to seven early in the second half, but it was basically more of the same and the result was never in doubt.
Arkansas’ struggles in Tuesday night’s loss were similar to what plagued them in the second half of their loss to No. 2 Alabama this past Saturday. The Razorbacks were outrebounded, overpowered in the paint and missed too many free throws in both games.
Let’s go beyond the box score and take a closer look at what happened to Arkansas in their penultimate game of the regular season.
It’s starting to sound like a broken record, but turnovers, turnover, turnovers!
(Photo by Randy Sartin – USA TODAY Sports)
Tennessee entered Tuesday night’s game with the No. 33 ranked defense in the country when it comes to forcing turnovers, as their opponents average 15.4 turnovers per game.
Arkansas entered the game averaging 12 turnovers a game, which is ranked towards the bottom of the country when it comes to taking care of the ball. If the Razorbacks were going to have any chance of pulling the upset, they were going to have to take care of the ball at a higher level than they had so far.
That didn’t happen.
Tennessee was able to force 10 turnovers in the first half and their physicality had a noticeable effect on Arkansas’ confidence. The Razorbacks stopped attacking the rim and settled for too many difficult jumpers that weren’t falling enough to keep them in the game.
“They were physical and we were not able to withstand the physicality taking care of the basketball. An assist-to-turnover ration of 16 to 8 is not a good turnover ratio,” said Eric Musselman after the game. “Unfortunately, we’ve got one regular season game and still a lot of areas we still need to teach”
Arkansas needs a lot more from Makhi, Makhel and Jalen Graham
(Photo by Randy Sartin – USA TODAY Sports)
The last 60 minutes of Arkansas basketball has not been kind to the Razorback big man trio of Makhi Mitchell, Makhel Mitchell and Jalen Graham.
If we go back starting in the second half of their game against Alabama on Saturday, the trio has combined for just 2 points, 8 rebounds, 6 fouls and a plus-minus rating of -24. That is very bad.
For reference, Devo Davis has 9 rebounds in that same span meaning he is outrebounding all three big men. This is not sustainable at all and if Arkansas is going to make a run they’re going to have to stop getting manhandled in the paint. Another thing that has happened in that same span is that Arkansas is getting flat-out dominated in the paint. They’re being outscored 76-40 in paint points which is a disparity of -36. That goes back to the issue of the Razorbacks needed a lot better play out of their big man trio.
“They completely out-physicalled us, there’s no doubt about it. The loose-ball game. The rebounding game. The screen-setting was much more forceful than ours. I’d say it’s the best defensive team that we’ve played,” said Musselman. “The rebounding up front with our bigs was not very good, as well.”
Free throw shooting will probably cost Arkansas in March
(Photo by Randy Sartin – USA TODAY Sports)
As has been par for the course for the entirety of this season, Arkansas is continuing to struggle from the foul line. In their last two games they’ve shot a combined 33-51 from the charity stripe for an abysmal 64.7%. Their opponents over the last two games have shot a combined 42-55 from the line, hitting at a 76.3% clip.
As I’ve mentioned plenty of times before, at this point in the season, the Razorbacks are what they are from the free throw stripe. They’re just not good and Musselman understands there’s really no other way you can get better except by putting up extra shots in the gym on your own time. Part of that responsibility is the player’s, and some of that is on the coaching staff as well.
“The only thing I know at this time of year is get in the gym, shoot them with confidence,” said Musselman. “It’s college basketball, the SEC, certainly you want to shoot as a team at 72% at the minimum. We have not lived up to that, and it’s our coaching staff’s responsibility to make them better foul shooters.”
Teams that struggle from the foul line generally struggle in March Madness and find themselves losing games they shouldn’t. This team could be headed for that same fate if there’s not any improvement at all.
Devo shines but offense sputters overall
(Photo by Randy Sartin – USA TODAY Sports)
The only relatively positive thing going for Arkansas in Tuesday night’s loss was Devo Davis had another solid offensive performance. He scored 13 points on 5-12 FG shooting and went 3-7 from three.
As for the rest of the offense, it was a very bad night all around.
Tennessee’s notoriously stingy defense gave the Razorbacks offense fits from the beginning. Anthony Black had one of his worst games when it comes to taking care of the basketball, as he turned it over six times against the Vols. Arkansas’ assist-to-turnover ratio was awful as they had just 8 assists to their 16 turnovers. That’s concerning.
You want your team to be playing their best basketball this time of year, but the Razorbacks have just played 60 minutes of some of their worst.
“We took a step backwards tonight, there’s no question. Both as a team and individually,” said Musselman. “We took several steps backwards. We’ll get back and try to prepare for Kentucky.”
