Experienced Guys Step Up to Keep Hogs Dancing to Saturday

Davonte Davis, Ricky Council IV, Kamani Johnson make the plays at end to down Illinois,

Author:
Andy Hodges
Updated:
Mar 17, 2023 12:33 PM EDT
Original:
Mar 17, 2023

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — In the NCAA Tournament experience tends to matter over youthful talent a lot.

If nothing else, Arkansas found that out against Illinois on Thursday afternoon in a 73-63 win.

It's really too easy to just say Devo did it again, but he did.

The junior from Jacksonville, Ark., stepped directly into the spotlight on the biggest stage and did it again, stepping back into the limelight in lieu of longtime friend Nick Smith Jr.

Hogs' Davonte Davis celebrates a three-pointer in NCAA Tournament win over Illinois. — (Jeffrey Becker / USA TODAY Sports)

This time Davis had some help from Ricky Council IV, who finally found his shooting touch again and Kamani Johnson over-achieving in his 12 minutes of play in the game.

That trio scored 39 points and grabbed 21 rebounds and weren't overwhelmed by the moment.

Smith, the highly-recruited and highly-talented freshman appeared to be a little swallowed by everything that comes with March Madness, finished with six points on 2-of-10 shooting and struggled at times defensively.

It's not throwing Smith under the bus. Playing in the tournament has humbled many freshmen over the years, which teams with all those star freshmen often play far worse.

For Davis, he's 7-2 in NCAA Tournament games and has made it to the Elite Eight twice. Defense usually plays a huge rule and Devo seems to have a grasp on that.

"He knows that I really believe in him and really trust in him, whether he's on the ball, whether he's off the ball," Razorbacks coach Eric Musselman said later. "Oftentimes there is just a connection and a belief that he's going to come up in big moments. Tonight was another one that he was able to do that for us with his scoring.

"Let's face it, his defense as well. He was phenomenal defensively again."

He had some older guys helping him this time.

"Nothing new to him," Council said. "Those experienced teams win if you look back at it. He's been here before and he was on tonight. We needed the point and the defense of course."

Council didn't do bad himself, leading the scoring with 18 but also making plays defensively and rebounding along with Johnson.

"Kamani did a phenomenal job for us setting the tone early on the offensive glass," Musselman said. "He gives us a physicality as well."

Again, tournament experience matters. He'd been there before.

"That's why he got the start tonight is NCAA experience," Musselman said. "You're talking a player that played 12 minutes and had four offensive rebounds. Illinois had three as a team."

Don't overlook a couple of the freshmen. Point guard Anthony Black continues to play far beyond his years with 12 points, 6 rebounds and a couple of steals.

Jordan Walsh just plays with an often-maniacal effort that makes up for some youthful mistakes. It's a shame there's not a stat for hustle plays, particularly the one where he chased a loose ball and nearly ended up in the lap of the CBS broadcasting crew.

Maybe the biggest takeaway is all those talented freshmen have now been there before and can understand the whole thing, which has humbled a few guys in the Hall of Fame.

"This was our first game," Musselman pointed out. "Now all the guys that checked into the game have experience."

It will be needed against top regional seed Kansas on Saturday, the defending national champions.

That experience probably was part of why Musselman wasn't overly critical about much of anything later.

The Hogs won the game and advanced.

That's all that really matters.