Arkansas searching for answer at point guard
The Arkansas Razorbacks (10-10, 1-6 SEC) are in an even tougher spot after their 63-57 loss to No. 6 Kentucky (15-4, 5-2 SEC) inside Bud Walton on Saturday, and head coach Eric Musselman finds himself still searching for answers at point guard.
Arkansas' offensive struggles continued against the Wildcats, as the Hogs were held to under 70 points for the 6th time in seven games through conference play.
"We’re not a good offensive team," Musselman said postgame "All you’ve got to do is watch the game. We struggled at taking care of the ball, but because of effort and defense tonight, we were in the game. There have been a lot of games we haven’t had a lead at all."
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Louisville transfer point guard El Ellis turned the ball over a game-high five times Saturday at the point guard spot. Guard Tramon Mark also had three turnovers, and senior guard Devo Davis didn't even play as he's stepping away from team, per release.
“As the leader of the program that, you know, my job is to continue to tinker," Musselman said about the point guard spot. "I don't have an answer right now for you on that or I would tell you. We put T-Mark there for a while and then that makes it, you know, difficult for him and he's wired to score. We had turnovers from other guys, fouls from other guys. We just gotta continue to search and find something.”
Ellis was expected to have a significant role when Eric Musselman brought him to Fayetteville through the transfer portal. His first four games, he averaged 14.2 points per game and added 3.7 assists per game, while playing an average of 30 minutes per game.
All of that changed when Arkansas traveled to the Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis in November. He did not score once in the Bahamas and he's been held scoreless in eight total games while he's played under 10 minutes on seven occasions. Ellis scored four points and notched one rebound and one assist Saturday.
The emergence of sophomore point guard Keyon Menifield looked promising after his 32 point, five assist game in his third game deemed eligible as a Razorback. In conference play, though, he's averaging 3.7 points per game and 1.1 assists per game in just 12.5 minutes per game. Menifield did not play (coach's decision) on Saturday against Kentucky.
Layden Blocker is a solid four-star freshman out of Sunrise Christian Academy. The scoring has been inconsistent, but he’s given the Hogs quality minutes and he plays hard every possession. Opportunities have been slim for Blocker, and he played just one minute in the second half Saturday despite Ellis having three turnovers in 15 minutes during the second half.
“The turnovers, I mean, we need better point guard play straight up,” Musselman said.
Saturday's game marked Arkansas' third worst game for offensive efficiency, per KenPom, and the Hogs also notched their third worst turnover percentage of conference play so far.
While it may be too late in the season for Musselman to correct Arkansas’ issues at point guard spot, finding any type of momentum will be crucial, especially with guys like Menifield or Blocker who have an opportunity to return next season, given the fact that the NCAA Tournament is now a long-shot.
Up next, Arkansas will travel Wednesday to take on the Missouri Tigers (8-12, 0-7 SEC) in Columbia, Missouri. The game is set to tip off at 7:30 p.m. CT and will broadcast on the SEC Network.