Live Blog: Arkansas vs. Bradley

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Welcome to a sold out Simmons Bank Arena.

Some of the crowd is late arriving, but definitely not from Southeast Arkansas. Between Pine Bluff and Little Rock Arkansas fans were blowing by anyone not driving well above 80 to get their first chance at seeing this Razorback team in person.

Arkansas came out trying to hit a lob, but Bradley sniffed it out immediately and picked it off.

The Braves got an early basket inside, but Mikhel Mitchell answered back with a strong inside bucket on the other end.

Jordan Walsh goes to the ground after fighting his way through for a tough bucket inside to make it 4-2 with a shade more than 17 minutes left to go.

Arkansas blows an assignment and Musselman throws his hands up signaling the three several seconds before the shot went up to give Bradley a 7-6 lead with about 15 minutes left in the half. The head Hog is dropping a long string of words that may not be holiday friendly at the moment.

The interior defense of Bradley is giving the Hogs fits. Council hit a crossover to get free to his left on a drive, but had it rejected and was sent crashing to the floor. He will now head to the bench for a breather.

The dead crowd is alive now. Jordan Walsh down the lane for a dunk. Bradley tries to run it out and the Hogs come up with the steal. Anthony Black then drive the lane and lofted a lob to Walsh for the alley-oop and we've got a timeout.

And he oop pic.twitter.com/c98rCmJy8v
— Arkansas Razorbacks Men’s Basketball 🐗 (@RazorbackMBB) December 17, 2022

Hogs 13-7 with 12:27 left in the half as we take a breather.

The Razorbacks are moving the ball well today. Six passes and then Council takes it to the rack off the right side. He isn't going to be denied this time and it's 15-7 Arkansas with under 12 minutes remaining.

Malevy Leons tries to back the ball down inside against Walsh and Kamani Johnson, goes to lean back on what he expects to be one of their bodies and falls through the gap between them for a walk.

Black makes the Braves pay with a twisting floater in the paint and the Hogs have opened up their first double-digit lead of the game at 17-7 with 10:45 to go.

Walsh is dominating today. Takes a kickout three off dribble penetration and it's now 20-8.

Nick Smith checks into the game and almost immediately goes for an alley-oop. The pass is just a tad off and he is unable to gather it for the dunk.

Score update: 20-12 8:40 1H

The ball is thrown away on the out of bounds play out of the timeout and the Hogs are looking to push the lead back out to double digits again.

Jordan Walsh powers a shot through a much bigger defender down in the paint and Arkansas leads 22-12 with 6:30 left in the half.

Bradley picks up its sixth foul of the half and during the momentary break, Walsh checked out to a loud show of appreciation for his work from the crowd.

Smith hits both free throws and it's now a 27-16 Arkansas lead with 4:45 remaining.

Smith picks up a foul on an attempted steal and Musselman and this crowd is hot. Council this comes up short trying to block the ensuing shot and that's two fouls on the Hogs in a span of four seconds.

This is a much different Razorback team than a few weeks ago. These guys are fighting each other for the offensive rebound this afternoon.

Bradley is a team projected to be a 13 seed right now in the NCAA Tournament. They're playing like it at the moment. Their inside game and quickness is going to cause teams trouble.

Davonte Davis sneaks in from behind and snatches the ball away, whipping it ahead to Black for the easy bucket to make it 32-21 with 3:03 left in the half.

They're breaking out a feature in the arena they are calling the Muss Mixtape. The claim is that Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas" is on the Musselman playlist.

Arkansas holds Bradley to a shot clock violation out of the timeout. Jalen Graham has checked into the game.

Ja'Shon Henry goes to block out Council. However, the Arkansas guard had already left his feet and ended up going for a piggy back ride on Henry that lasted a full two seconds before he dropped off safely to the floor. Foul on Council obviously, but the most important thing is the Hogs avoid another injury.

Graham has a dunk rock in and out, but the Razorbacks get the offensive rebound that Graham puts up and in to send the Hogs to the half up 37-25.

Early in the second half and we're in injury watch. Black tweaked his knee to open the second half and Smith is laying on the floor in the hallway under the stands talking with the trainers and a non-stop cramp in his quads.

Arkansas came out looking to put this one away, but Rienk Mast of the Netherlands hit a jumper as the shot clock expired to keep Bradley in it 46-34 with 14:47 left to play.

Davis with a crossover into a classic pull-up jumper stretches the lead out to 53-34 and it's all but assured that there will be no Hofstra-like upset this year.

Black and Mitchell take turns blocking shots to force a shot clock violation. Davis then pops from the corner for a three and is all smiles as he plays to the crowd.

Bradley responds with a timeout and for the first time all game, it is deafening in Simmons Bank Arena.

Score update: 56-36 12:01 2H

The teams trade technical fouls as it got a little tense, especially for Bradley head coach Brian Wardle. Things have settled down now though and the Hogs are cruising, 63-44 with 7:42 left to play.

Following a foul by Bradley, Davis called the team together and laid out at least six cuts in describing what he wanted everyone to do. He then got to the ball worked around quickly to a streaking Black who hit the lay-up and drew a foul in the process.

Black's free throw officially makes it a 20-point game at 66-46 with 7:06 to play.

It appears the discussion of the day is how a tap on one's own head is considered grounds for a technical foul.

Earlier in the game Walsh looked at the Arkansas bench, tapped the top of his head and pointed at his chest. In response, a coach on the sideline did the same thing and turned to the bench as if Walsh was signaling to have someone come in for him.

The refs immediately hit Walsh with a technical.

WITH NO REGARD pic.twitter.com/mQbcrnHVCr
— Arkansas Razorbacks Men’s Basketball 🐗 (@RazorbackMBB) December 17, 2022

Walsh has just been hit with a Flagrant 1 foul after a review by the officiating crew. That will be his fifth foul.

Walsh walks over to shake hands with the Bradley coach and gets a standing ovation as he heads to the bench. The crowd has now turned its attention over to the Bradley players shooting the series of free throws and is showering down boos to the extreme.

Things have quieted down now except for one teenager sitting in the stands behind the Arkansas basket who is relentlessly trying to coax the rest of the crowd into a "Refs you suck!" chant to no avail until his mother tapped him on the knee and share a few words of wisdom with him.

Johnson with a vicious block. Black then plows through Bradley's James "Pop" Weathers, and this is starting to get demoralizing. Black knocks down 1-of-2 and it's now 71-49 with 5:47 left.

Despite the lead, Musselman seems in no hurry to go to the bench.

Council now has 16 on the day.