Razorbacks’ Problems in Paint Keep Surfacing as SEC Grind Exposes Gaps

Here’s the thing Arkansas keeps bumping into like a coffee table in the dark: If you can’t live in the paint, you can’t survive the SEC.

Not long-term, anyway. And Saturday against Kentucky felt like another reminder written in bold ink, with a couple of exclamation points and maybe a sarcastic underline.

It started with Kentucky getting the ball inside early, floating one up, missing it, grabbing the rebound, and scoring anyway. One possession. One snapshot. Two points.

And a whole season’s worth of concern packed neatly into a few seconds.

That bucket was part of Kentucky’s fast start and part of an eventual 44-point night in the paint.

It also fit right in with 10 offensive rebounds and 35 total boards for the Wildcats. Arkansas didn’t just lose that space. It rented it out.

This isn’t new. The Razorbacks’ issues down low have been sitting in plain sight for a while. Their two-point defense sits at No. 240 nationally and near the bottom of the SEC.

Their offensive rebounding rate is middle of the pack, while their defensive rebounding trails far behind. None of that screams disaster by itself. Together, it sounds like a warning siren.

Against Kentucky, those numbers weren’t abstract. They were alive and moving. Garrison’s second-chance score summed it up perfectly. Missed shot. Lost rebound. Easy finish. Repeat as needed.

That’s why the frontcourt story has become so puzzling. Arkansas has pieces. It has options. What it hasn’t had is consistency.

Nick Pringle and Malique Ewin represent the tradeoff. Pringle’s individual offensive rebounding numbers look solid, sitting comfortably in the upper percentiles nationally.

But when he’s on the floor, the team’s overall offensive rebounding dips compared to when Ewin plays center.

Ewin flips that script. His offensive rebounding percentage is elite. When he’s in, Arkansas cleans the glass better on that end. The problem is what happens on the other side. Defensive rebounding and efficiency slip when Ewin replaces Pringle.

That’s the tug-of-war. Pick offense, lose defense. Pick defense, sacrifice offense.

Neither choice feels great when the league schedule doesn’t offer many nights off.

Trevon Brazile usually fills the four next to whichever center gets the call. With Pringle at center, Arkansas posts strong offensive and defensive ratings, whether Brazile is there or not.

With Ewin at center, the offense spikes even higher, but the defense drops sharply, especially with Brazile alongside him.

Against Kentucky, the contrast couldn’t have been clearer. Ewin gave Arkansas something. He scored 11 points, rebounded, and stayed active.

Pringle, meanwhile, didn’t score, didn’t grab a rebound, and barely left a mark on the box score. Plus-minus isn’t gospel, but it’s notable that Ewin was one of the few Razorbacks on the positive side.

John Calipari didn’t sugarcoat it afterward.

“It wasn’t one of [Pringle’s] better games, but I love the kid. I’ve enjoyed coaching him, but he’s got to give us more,” Calipari said. “It’s mainly defending and rebounding and flying up and down the court.”

That’s the job description. It hasn’t changed.

Calipari also explained why Ewin stayed on the floor. Ewin was rebounding. He was playing well. So he kept his minutes. That decision made sense in the moment, even if it exposed the larger issue.

There’s also the small-ball option, which looks tempting until you check the fine print. Brazile at the five produces explosive offense. It also produces defense that falls apart fast. Arkansas scores at a high rate in those minutes, then gives it all back and more.

That brings us to the idea everyone keeps circling back to: playing Pringle and Ewin together.

It’s happened, but barely. Nineteen total minutes. All in nonconference games. Against buy-game opponents. The sample size is tiny, and the competition wasn’t exactly SEC-level.

Still, the numbers jump off the page. Offensive and defensive ratings both landed at the top of the charts. Rebounding improved across the board.

It wasn’t perfect, but it addressed the biggest concern.

“I think we tried it a few games, and we kind of dominated on the boards when we did,” Pringle said after the South Carolina win. “That’s definitely something that I feel like we are going to more especially being in SEC play.”

That was then. Since then, the lineup hasn’t returned. Calipari has said practice time has been limited, especially with two games a week. Experimenting in league games isn’t ideal and that’s fair.

The Kentucky game showed the cost of standing still.

Arkansas now has a full week before heading to Mississippi State. Calipari gave the team time off, then time to work.

Whether that includes revisiting the two-big lineup isn’t known. What is known is that the Razorbacks can’t keep giving away the paint and expect different results.

This team doesn’t need perfection down low. It needs reliability.

The Hogs need someone to claim space, secure rebounds, and turn missed shots into one-and-done possessions.

Until that happens, Arkansas’ margin for error stays thin.

And in the SEC, thin margins don’t age well.

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