Cheesy approach does job for Hogs

Razorbacks Coach Eric Musselman is shown in this file photo.
Razorbacks Coach Eric Musselman is shown in this file photo.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Eric Musselman's top advice to his University of Arkansas players before Saturday's 92-71 rout of Vanderbilt was "Don't eat the cheese."

Of course that was a metaphor for imploring the Razorbacks to not buy in to all the praise and acclaim they might have been hearing since they rallied from a 19-point deficit to outlast Auburn 76-73 on Wednesday.

To hammer home the point, Musselman had cheese taped underneath the chairs in the visitor's locker room at Memorial Gymnasium early Saturday.

It was a cheesy move, but the Razorbacks' attacking mentality was evident with a 9-0 start and efficient play on both ends of the floor.

"We try to get creative, try to come up with new ideas," Musselman said. "We did use cheese. It was taped underneath their chairs. The players ... they're going to tell you the truth.

"I'm not saying it had one thing to do with the way we played, but certainly there was a few guys that got a good laugh out of it."

All the Razorbacks flew home happy from Nashville after the wire-to-wire whipping of the undermanned Commodores, who had several players out due to covid-19 quarantining, headlined by 6-9 forward Dylan Disu.

For the Razorbacks, the comparison of the current vibe to this point last week is stark.

One week ago, Arkansas had absorbed back-to-back losses at LSU and Alabama in which the Hogs trailed by 31 and 25 points in the first half, respectively.

Now the Razorbacks are riding a two-game SEC winning streak, just their third in two seasons under Musselman, heading into Wednesday's home game against Ole Miss. Arkansas has not won three consecutive SEC games since March 2-9, 2019, when Coach Mike Anderson's club sandwiched home wins over Ole Miss and Alabama around a road win at Vandy.

Musselman's Razorbacks won back-to-back SEC games twice last season: at Ole Miss and at home against Vanderbilt on Jan. 11 and 15, then again over Missouri and Tennessee on Feb. 22 and 26.

Building on the the vibe from Vanderbilt is key for Arkansas (12-4, 4-4 SEC), which is mixing with the middle of the pack in the conference.

"It feels good," said forward Justin Smith, whose rapid recovery from ankle surgery has been one of the critical factors in the Hogs' resurgence. "Once you can start getting a couple in a row, it gets kind of hard to stop.

"Hopefully we can use this momentum to keep going and take it game by game, and not really worry about the game that is coming after it. Just focus on that game and just keep doing what we're doing, because it's working right now."

Musselman threw a little curve ball into the mix in Nashville. He had suggested he might go with only a seven-man rotation after sticking with that strategy for the big second half comeback against Auburn, but he did not hold to that.

The Razorbacks used nine players against the Commodores. Eight of them scored, with freshman Jaylin Williams not taking a shot in his nine minutes, and each of them dealt significant contributions beyond the highlight of the 51 combined points for Moses Moody and Jalen Tate.

Every Razorback who played shot 50% or better with the exception of guard JD Notae, who went 2 for 10. Reserves Vance Jackson and Davonte Davis combined to go 5 for 5, with both of Jackson's makes from three-point range and all of Davis' coming inside the arc.

The starting five of Moody, Tate, Smith, Desi Sills and Connor Vanover shot a combined 29 of 48 (60.4%). The Razorbacks' field goal percentage of 57.1% (36 of 63) frustrated Vanderbilt Coach Jerry Stackhouse and stood as the best single-game showing in the Musselman era.

"I thought each guy who checked into the game did a really good job," Musselman said. "I thought [for] Vance, it's not easy for a player to sit the first 16 minutes and then you put him in the last four minutes of the first half. Vance came in and he banged a three. I thought Vance's shot selection was really good.

"I thought Devo [Davis] did a good job going 3 for 3 from the field. He got a couple of loose balls. Got to take care of the ball a little more in transition. So I think everybody really, really played well.

"Notae was rebounding the basketball, and I thought he shared it a little bit more. We've got to get his field goal percentage up from where it is and where it has been. I thought Connor played his best game in a while as well."

The Razorbacks made effective use of back-door cuts, screening and driving into the paint from various angles, and their open-flow offense and fast break looked smoother than they have in many games.

According to HogStats.com, the Razorbacks have scored 48 points in the paint in consecutive games for the first two times against SEC competition under Musselman.

All the arrows look to be pointed up for the Razorbacks, who play their next three conference games at home against Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Texas A&M, with a road trip to Oklahoma State mixed in on Saturday.

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Arkansas men vs. Ole Miss

WHEN 7:30 p.m. Wednesday

WHERE Walton Arena, Fayetteville

RECORDS Arkansas 12-4, 4-4 SEC; Ole Miss 8-6, 3-4

SERIES Arkansas leads 49-33

TV SEC Network

RADIO Razorback Sports Network

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