Arkansas responds well in absence of Brazile
Through eight games of the season, Arkansas forward Trevon Brazile led the team in rebounds and he was a strong scorer while playing starter minutes as the first guy off the bench.
When Brazile suffered a torn ACL in last Tuesday's win over UNC Greensboro, head coach Eric Musselman and his team had to find a way to weather the storm of losing a key piece to the puzzle.
"We had a conversation the night when TB got hurt," freshman forward Jordan Walsh said. "We watched film, the next day too, and (Musselman) kind of like reiterated, but he said, you know 'TB's out. He was having a great start to the year. He had tremendous potential. He started the season off great, but now we need somebody to step into his role.'"
Walsh said Musselman mentioned him, both Makhi and Makhel Mitchell and Davonte Davis as players who will need to step up and try to fill in the production that Brazile had.
In Saturday's 88-78 win over Oklahoma at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Walsh played on a different level than he has so far this season. In 31 minutes, Walsh scored 12 points, recorded three rebounds, one assist, two steals and a block. He also led the team with a +/- of plus-12.
"Obviously it’s never good when you lose a friend and a teammate, but the win felt good," Walsh said. "Before the game we talked about how we were going to play the rest of the season for TB. Everything is dedicated to him, because he won’t be with us. We all miss him."
Musselman mentioned after the Oklahoma game that Walsh stepped up, but it won't be just one guy to make up for the absence of Brazile. The only two returning players on the team, Kamani Johnson and Davis, both played quality minutes and provided a spark off the bench.
"We see it every day," guard Ricky Council IV said. "Kamani's always gonna be the toughest down low. Devo's always gonna put pressure on the ball. And they both made big plays for us tonight."
Davis scored five points and added two rebounds and two assists in 24 minutes. Johnson also scored five points and he brought down five boards, three of which were off the offensive glass.
Musselman said the team changed its normal schedule prior to the game against the Sooners, and that seemed to pay off.
"Usually we practice at home then we travel," Musselman said. "hat’s been the way that we’ve done it since I’ve been at Arkansas. We did not do that. We left at noon (Friday) and decided to practice here without having a practice at home so they could get a little bit more rest rather than getting in at 10 in the morning and trying to practice and come here. Thursday was really kind of our only real prep day."
He went on to talk about how a two hour bus ride straight to the game allows you to do very little aside from mental reps.
"In a one-day practice, I thought we did a really good job against a really good team, against a team that’s really well-coached," Musselman said. "That’s a really good team in Oklahoma, and they’re really well coached, as well."
The Hogs got revenge on Oklahoma after last year's loss in Tulsa, and up next will be a trip to Simmons Bank Arena in North Little Rock, where the Hogs dropped a game to Hofstra last year. Musselman and his group will be looking to change that narrative as well.
"Alls that I’m worried about is playing well in North Little Rock against Bradley and our prep," Musselman said. "Certainly we’re going to miss TB. There’s no doubt. We missed him tonight. But, you know, in all sports, stuff happens and you just have to try to regroup and refocus and figure out … we’re still trying to figure out who we are. Rotations could be slightly different Saturday in North Little Rock, as well."
The Hogs will face Bradley at 3 p.m. CT Saturday in North Little Rock. The game will not be televised, but it will be available to listen on the Arkansas radio broadcast