Arkansas Stuck In Neutral, Passed by Middling Georgia

Hogs dominated by Bulldogs, who were picked No. 12 in preseason SEC poll

Author:
Jacob Davis
Updated:
Jan 11, 2024 7:31 AM EST
Original:
Jan 10, 2024

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — For most of the five seasons Eric Musselman has spent coaching Arkansas, his teams have always seemed to overcome deficiencies. It’s become apparent following a 76-66 loss at the hands of Georgia that the current version of the Razorbacks lack certain traits of previous teams.

There’s no killer instinct, drive to be great or desire to compete. This roster doesn’t seem to be bought into what Musselman’s staff is teaching. Arkansas is simply going through the motions, and there’s no light at the end of a dark tunnel.

Turnovers

Again, this sounds familiar if you’ve been following along. Senseless, repetitive mistakes and not learning from them screams carelessness. The Razorbacks were forced into 15 turnovers Wednesday night. On multiple occasions, Arkansas’ turnovers led to easy Georgia baskets.

Arkansas had a chance to pull within four prior to the media timeout with eight minutes to go. A turnover two feet from the basket by Trevon Brazile led to a Georgia fast break by RJ Melendez. He missed the shot, but was able to sink a pair of free throws, extending the Bulldogs lead to back to eight.

Killer stat of the night was the Bulldogs outscoring the Razorbacks 25-10 off turnovers. Arkansas came in averaging 12 turnovers per game. The 15 given up tonight equals the amount against Oklahoma in Tulsa, which resulted in a 79-70 loss.

Defensive awareness

While there were a few key defensive possessions during Arkansas’ run in the second half, it was mostly due to the spark brought by Tramon Mark. He cut off driving lanes and forced double teams in the post leading to a few points off turnovers.

The ugly part was the Razorbacks couldn’t hold together a consistent defensive plan and never led in the game. Rotational efforts guarding three-point shooters are lacking. Arkansas gives up an average of six made three-point attempts per game which ranks No. 251 in the country. If there is no improvement soon, that number will continue to swell as Georgia drilled 9-of-29 threes on Wednesday night.