Arkansas ended its stay in the Maui Invitational with a 2-1 record following a 78-74 overtime win over San Diego State. The win was very important, as going 1-2 would have been a tough look, even though it wouldn’t have been the end of the world.
Outside the Louisville, the Hogs got great competition in what should be two Q1 games. Creighton is the Big East favorite, while San Diego State is the Mountain West favorite. Hopefully both are able to have good years.
There was a postgame fracas, but it’s not really worth a deep discussion. Any investigation into the behavior of Arkansas coaches or players immediately ends once you see “San Diego State fans entered the court.” The main takeaway of how to deal with team/fan confrontations came from the much-analyzed Malice at the Palace, the 2004 brawl between the Pacers and Pistons in Detroit. Ever since, the “red line” is clear: coaches or players who enter the stands, or fans who enter the court, are at fault. Full stop.
You have to remember that Eric Musselman is a graduate of the University of San Diego, and the SDSU fans already dislike him from his Nevada days in the Mountain West, so it’s not surprising to hear that Aztec fans were yelling taunts and obscenities at the Arkansas bench throughout the game (the gym the tournament was held in seats just 2,500 people, so shouts from fans can be easily heard). Nor is it surprising to hear that Muss, ever the competitor to a fault, opted to dish it right back out after the game was over. None of that is an issue. Only when Aztec fans ran onto the court did it become an issue.
Advanced Stats
Neither offense did particularly well. Arkansas scored a solid percentage of possessions but a lack of 3-pointers hurt overall efficiency. The 78-74 final was, of course, due to overtime allowing for extra possessions, as the game didn’t even have as fast a pace as we were expecting.
The Aztecs really made Arkansas slow things down. The Hogs were totally unable to get in transition and took 17.2 seconds per possession, which is very long for an Eric Musselman offense. On the flip side, the Hogs’ defense allowed just 17 points in 18 transition possessions, which is incredibly good.
Arkansas turned it over slightly too often, didn’t get to the rim until the second half, and shot very poorly from beyond the arc, and those factors were the main drivers behind the offensive issues. Give credit to San Diego State on all counts, as they had the Razorbacks locked down for a while. But the Hogs eventually lived in the paint and at the line, and that’s how they’re going to win games this season.
Defensively, Arkansas rebounded really well and locked down the perimeter. That saved them even though the Aztecs threw up some absolutely trash shots that went through the net, allowing them to shoot 53% on 2-point jumpers. Matt Bradley in particular put up a few really wild shots that found the bottom of the net. He’s a good player who has had a bad start to the season, so maybe this was his “due for a breakout” game. Ultimately, this goes down as a really good defensive performance.
Kamani Johnson is your obvious MVP, grading at 95 with +6.7 net points produced during his 19 minutes. Trevon Brazile produced the most total offense. Ricky Council had high volume but was inefficient.
This was a rough game for Devo Davis, and you can see why he didn’t play in the second half. He’s never really been a good halfcourt player, so he tends to vanish in games where the Hogs don’t get much in transition, like this one. He’s a good defender, but the Hogs will have other good defenders develop as the season continues. Once Nick Smith enters the lineup, I would expect Devo to be relegated to sixth man status (or seventh man, as Brazile is the sixth man right now). He might have to be more opportunistic with his minutes, like Kamani.
Highlights
Up Next
The turnaround is somewhat quick, as the Hogs host Troy on Monday. The Trojans are 6-1. They’ve beaten a pair of non-D1 schools, but they also beat Florida State (who is 1-5 and just got drilled by Siena). Our way-too-early model pick is 74-59 Hogs, so I would expect Arkansas to open as about 16-point favorites.
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