Arkansas ran its SEC win streak to two games, dominated Georgia 97-65 in a cannot-lose game at Bud Walton. The big story was Nick Smith, who scored a season-high 26 points on 9 of 14 shooting in his second start since his return from knee management.
Georgia isn’t very good, and as we noted in the preview, when the Bulldogs lose, they tend to get run out of the gym, but it was still nice to see the Hogs thoroughly whip an inferior opponent.
Team Stats
Goodness: Arkansas outscored Georgia 82-41 in halfcourt. This was Arkansas’ most efficient halfcourt performance of the entire season, and since Nick Smith has started getting more minutes, Arkansas’ halfcourt offense is on the way up:
These were two pretty weak opponents, but that obviously bodes really well for Arkansas’ chances moving forward.
Arkansas took its time, spending 17.9 seconds per possession and only scoring 15 transition points – though two of them were on this really nifty reverse dunk by Ricky Council IV.
How to be good in halfcourt: don’t turn it over and shoot 73% eFG%. That’ll do it. Arkansas didn’t need to crash the offensive boards or have a particularly optimal shot selection. This was an almost-perfect offensive performance.
We get some major “they are who we thought they were” vibes with Georgia’s offensive performance. They got to the line – that’s all they do well – but struggled to score around the rim.
Individual Stats
This was a very balanced effort from Arkansas: no one who played had a negative plus-minus. A couple notes:
- Check out Devo at +31. Devo led the Hogs in plus-minus in just 28 minutes. That’s two straight games where he’s had single-digit usage (just 8% this game) but led the team in plus-minus. The return of Nick Smith has allowed him to thrive as a defensive specialist who is not under major pressure to carry the offense. The Hogs tend to play well when he doesn’t shoot much, and that’s not a criticism of him at all.
- Zero turnovers from Black is interesting, given that’s where he’s struggled this year. I think Smith’s game really unlocks Black too. NBA scouts have to love watching him team up with Smith.
This was an almost perfect all-around performance by Arkansas. Can’t really ask for much more.
Up Next
The dreaded final stretch is here. Hog fans certainly hoped the Razorbacks would hit this stretch with an SEC record better than 8-7, but that’s where we are. Arkansas needs to win one game – at home over Kentucky in the finale will suffice – but stealing one of these road games against Alabama or Tennessee would be huge for seeding, as Arkansas would probably like to avoid an 8- or 9-seed with its 1-seed draw in the second round.
Both games look suddenly winnable. Tennessee has now lost five of its last seven as Rick Barnes appears to be hitting his March stride a little early. The Vols are still really good defensively, but their bad offense is starting to catch up with them.
The situation at Alabama is also worth monitoring, as we learned Monday that Tide star Brandon Miller provided the gun that was used in the shooting death of a young mother, a death for which a former Alabama player is now facing murder charges. We are not lawyers, so there’s no sense in trying to evaluate this legally beyond noting that Nate Oats’ comment about Miller just being “wrong place wrong time” is an incredibly inappropriate response for which Oats is rightly being criticized. It doesn’t sound like Oats, Miller, or Jaden Bradley (who was apparently also at the scene of the shooting) are going to be suspended, but public backlash against Alabama’s handling of the situation could force the university’s hand. Arkansas travels to Tuscaloosa on Saturday.
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