Survive and advance.
It’s almost a cliche during March Madness, but the court in Buffalo was home to losses by 5-seeds Iowa and UConn during the day on Thursday, so a win over 13-seed Vermont by any margin at all is impressive. Arkansas used a strong first half and big run in the second half to escape the Vermont Catamounts, 75-71. The Hogs will face 12-seed New Mexico State on Saturday.
Stanley Umude had 21 points — providing just about all of Arkansas’ offense during stretches of the first half — and JD Notae picked things up in the second half, scoring all 17 of his points there.
The Hogs got off to a slow start, due in part to poor shot selection, but settled down after Devo Davis took control of the point guard position when Notae picked up his second foul and went to the bench. A quick 5-0 in the last 30 seconds of the first half gave the Hogs a 34-27 halftime lead. The lead grew to 36-27 but the Hogs promptly blew it, surrendering a 9-0 run to tie the game.
Back and forth we went through the second half until the Hogs began to surge following the under-8 timeout. A pair of Jaylin Williams free throws made it 58-53 and gave the Hogs their first multi-possession lead in ten minutes. After that, it was all about holding on. The Hogs made enough free throws down the stretch to survive.
Instant Analysis
March Devo shows up again
Devo Davis hasn’t had a great year. You could call it a sophomore slump considering how good he was down the stretch last year. But it was shades of the 2021 NCAA Tournament when Devo entered the game. He scored 10 points, grabbed four rebounds, and dished out three assists in the first half. The Catamounts slowed him down in the second half and he yielded point guard duties back to Notae, but he finished with 14 points.
Both teams protect the ball
Vermont is a really good team. The Catamounts were as-advertised. They had a great offensive scheme, hit nine 3-pointers, and protected the basketball. The Hogs took care of the ball too, leading to a game with just 11 total turnovers (6 for Vermont, 5 for Arkansas). The Hogs had two steals and the Catamounts had one.
If you read the preview, a quick glance at the final stat sheet isn’t a surprise:
The Catamounts are a jump shooting team, so they take a lot of 3-pointers, but don’t draw many fouls or get offensive rebounds…. They are solid but not overwhelming as a 3-point shooting team, but they use the high volume to space their opponents and get open 2-point shots, so they rank 6th in the country there.
This game went at Vermont’s preferred style and pace, but the Hogs won by getting the line 25 times (and making 20) and getting 8 offensive rebounds against the 2nd-ranked defensive rebounding team in the country. Vermont shot exactly their season average (38 percent) from beyond the arc but that was really all they had going for them.
The ball didn’t lie
I thought the officiating was mostly fine until the end. The first half was very free-flowing, with the first nine minutes featuring zero fouls called on either team. But for some reason, the whistles tightened in the second half. It was definitely that way for both teams, but at the very end the Catamounts were beneficiaries of several questionable calls, including an out-of-bounds call that shocked the TV commentators. But, as they say, the ball don’t lie: Vermont hit just 10 of 17 free throws for 58.8 percent. That figure really should be 10 of 18 since it includes a miss on the front end of a one-and-one. If the officials gave Vermont some free points, the Catamounts gave them right back at the line.