Arkansas Needs to Find Consistency on Defense After Loss

Turnovers, bad shooting, bad defense kept Razorbacks behind and never recovered.

Author:
Jacob Davis
Publish date:
Nov 18, 2023 12:33 AM EST

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas fell behind in the first half due to turnovers and bad shooting. There were times in the second half when the Razorbacks looked like they would mount a comeback but couldn’t get over the hump in a 78-72 loss to UNC-Greensboro on Friday night.

An Arkansas team coming into the night shooting 40% from three made only four of their 24 (14.7%) attempts against the Spartans. Even though they connected on one three-pointer in the first half, the Hogs were turned over 12 times. Many of them on back-to-back possessions allowing UNCG to build a 14 point lead at intermission.

Coming into the night, the Spartans were one of the more efficient offenses in the nation. Led by Keyshaun Langley who finally found his stroke from deep. On the season, Langley was averaging just a shade over 31% from deep but made 5-8 attempts against the Razorbacks. He led all scorers with 23 points.

Arkansas has a serious problem with their three point defense as the No. 284 team in the land allowing opponents to shoot nearly 36% from deep. Tonight was no better as the Spartans knocked down 38% of their attempts.

Razorbacks' Eric Musselman against UNC-Greensboro on Friday night

Included in the defensive lapses were dribble drives often leading to easy layups and dunks. The Spartans shot 16-28 in the paint, outscoring Arkansas 32-30 down low.

“We are not defending the three well and aren’t defending the dribble drive,” Musselman said.

The Arkansas coach has expressed concern about how his team has defended so far. At one point during Musselman’s tenure, the Razorbacks led the country in three point defense. However, after nearly a decade he believes changes to the defensive sets are coming due to current struggles.

“We’ve basically had the same defensive concepts for eight years,” Musselman said. “We might have to change some things for the lack of ability, especially with guard play, to keep the ball in front of us and also contest the three. That seems to be problematic to do both. Tonight, we were suppose to take away the three but certainly didn’t do that.”