Block Party! Razorbacks Finding Different Shot Blockers

Despite the increase, Eric Musselman waiting for other aspects of defense to catch up

Author:
Daniel Shi
Updated:
Dec 7, 2023 9:04 AM EST
Original:
Dec 6, 2023

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas has played quite the gauntlet of a schedule in the early going. The Razorbacks have faced their fair share of 7-footers inside including Duke's Kyle Filipowski, Stanford's Maxime Raynaud and UNC's Armando Bacot, all are listed at or above 6-feet-11.

Arkansas had no issue with the height and is second-best in the country in blocks per game at 7.1. Both Trevon Brazile and Chandler Lawson average nearly two blocks a game, 1.9 and 1.8 respectively. Lawson, despite being four inches shorter than Filipowski, blocked the Duke center four times en route to an 80-75 Razorback victory.

Razorbacks' Chandler Lawson on defense against Furman — (Andy Hodges / allHOGS Images)

"He does a great job of walling up," coach Eric Musselman said about Lawson. "I think he's a really deceptive shot blocker. He's done a good job for us going vertical."

Despite the sparkling block numbers, Musselman made it clear that the Hogs are still leaving plenty to be desired on the defensive end of the floor. The Razorbacks rank 295th nationally in steals per game and 55th in adjusted defense according to KenPom which takes into account the quality of the opposition.

"They roped threes," Musselman said after Furman went 12-32 from deep and started the game 5-6. "We'd be a hell of a defensive team if we could guard the three and keep all of our blocks like we are."

Arkansas will have its hands full against an undefeated No. 19 Oklahoma team that is coming off a 72-51 win over Providence. The Razorbacks will look to put in a better defensive rebounding effort against the Sooners after Furman came down with 15 offensive rebounds.

Razorbacks coach Eric Musselman against Furman on Monday night

"We were supposed to dominate the glass," Musselman said. "Not barely win it, and we didn’t do that. Why that was, I’m not sure, but if they don’t come to rebound, or we don’t come to rebound against Oklahoma, it’s not going to be a close contest ... They (Oklahoma) have what we call flyers on the wings, that if you block them out, you can pick up some fouls on them too because they crash so hard."

The Razorbacks look to put it all together in the final Crimson and Cardinal Classic inside the BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. Dec. 9. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2 and fuboTV .