FAYETTEVILLE — With luckier circumstances at Purdue, Missouri State’s Cuonzo Martin would have been the winning head coach Tuesday night at Walton Arena.
Instead, Martin and his unbeaten Bears lost to Arkansas, 66-62 in overtime.
As surely as Rotnei Clarke’s 3-pointer achieving a 64-62 overtime lead with 18 seconds left beat the Bears, Arkansas freshman Glenn Bryant beat them, too.
Just ask Clarke.
“I think Glenn won the game for us,” Clarke said.
Arkansas coach John Pelphrey concurred.
“We don’t win without him,” Pelphrey said.
Martin just wished he had Bryant winning for him as planned, or more accurately, winning for the place Martin had been.
“I recruited him when I was at Purdue,” Martin, the second-year Missouri State head coach and former Purdue assistant coach, said.
From Big Ten country in Roseville, Mich., Bryant considered Purdue among others. However after leaving Dakota High in Michigan for two years of prep school at Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va., Bryant signed with Arkansas in time to blemish Martin’s now 10-1 Bears.
Bryant’s stat line off the bench versus Missouri State showed a game-high and personal record 11 rebounds, 5 points, 2 blocked shots, 2 steals and an assist in a seasonhigh 26 minutes.
It doesn’t show the rangy 6-7, 190-pound forward played many of those 26 minutes subbing for foultroubled All-SEC big man MichaelWashington. It also doesn’t show Bryant set the pick opening Clarke for the game-winning shot.
Nor does it show Bryant tallied the 3-point play maybe even more important than Clarke’s game-winner.
Missouri State was running the Razorbacks out of Walton with a 14-0 first-half run. Bryant stopped the bleeding with his steal and foul-inducing layup. The 3-point play galvanized the crowd. By halftime Arkansas led 29-27. Bryant’s big-time shot-block underneath with 36 seconds left preserved the lead.
“He brought so much intensity and toughness,” Clarke said. “He did everything for us. Rebounded and blocked shots - he did all the right things for us.”
Just like Martin had envisioned Bryant would do for Purdue.
“He’s a good player,” Martin said. “He played well tonight. A good athlete.”
The best pure athlete on this Razorbacks team.
Just not the best basketball player. Unlike more polished freshman starting forward Marshawn Powell, Bryant often has looked lost like many freshmen do. He seemed a kid wanting badly to contribute but not quite grasping where he fits on this level this soon.
Pelphrey only used him two minutes the previous game as Washington scored 25 in the 72-69 nail-biter over Stephen F. Austin.
With Washington hampered against Missouri State, Bryant saw his role and seized it.
“Coach told me to bring high energy and play defense,” Bryant said. “More than offense, I rely on rebounding and blocking shots and giving my team energy. That’s what I do.
I was doing my job.”
Doing his job sent the Hogs home happy for Christmas and brightens prospects for the new year and Thursday’s game with Baylor in North Little Rock before it.
“I’m very proud of Glenn,” Pelphrey said. “When his opportunity came, he was ready to go.”
Sports, Pages 18 on 12/26/2009