Floor general El Ellis leads Razorbacks in win over Old Dominion
Arkansas moved to 3-0 with an 86-77 win over Old Dominion on Monday evening at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.
Though the result is all that matters and the Hogs were in front for most of the game, it was a struggle for Arkansas to put the Monarchs away behind a great shooting performance from the visiting team.
Senior guard El Ellis, a transfer from Louisville, led the Razorbacks in scoring with 17 crucial points on 7-11 shooting from the field.
“I really wanted to come out and take good shots and my offense came to me,” Ellis said. “I am a natural born scorer but I am really here to show I can facilitate a team and run a team, and I feel like I showed that.”
Ellis also showed his ability to be a true floor general by leading the team with eight assists and zero turnovers.
“He’s the point guard, so it’s super important for him to get everybody involved and he did that,” Khalif Battle said of Ellis. “He’s also more than capable of putting the ball in the basket. I’m proud of his performance.”
According to Musselman, it was a sheet of paper that he handed Ellis earlier Monday that might've led to the great outing.
"I gave him a sheet today of the women’s coach at Duke (who) had some great quotes about being a point guard and what Pat Summitt had kind of taught her," Musselman said. "I was on the treadmill and circled some stuff and gave it to El. He’s a guy that wants to…like he understands what areas want to see from him, which is taking care of the ball. And then quite honestly, late game, we’ve played three regular-season games and in this particular game late-game we went to El."
Being point guard is a role that Ellis is comfortable in after serving as the lead guard with a high usage rate on a Louisville team that struggled mightily on offense, and won just four games during the entire 2022-23 season.
“El is tremendously quick,” Makhi Mitchell said. “Shoot, by the time I set the screen, he be gone…I don’t want to get in his way when he’s going to the rack. Tremendous credit to him. I like playing with him as a teammate. Eight assists is great.”
Through just three games, Ellis has already been the beneficiary of an improved supporting cast that knocks down the shots he creates for them. The Hogs sank eight 3-pointers against Old Dominion, and shot 42.1% from behind the arc.
Arkansas has shot above 38% from three in all three games this season. Ellis saw the Razorbacks’ talent firsthand last season when Louisville played Arkansas in the Maui invitational, a matchup the Hogs won 80-54.
“Coach always gets on his tail in practice about having that winning mindset…he’s always joking about us beating up on him in Hawaii,” Mitchell said. “His willingness to learn and grow as a player and fit into our culture…I think that’s big for him.”
Up next, Arkansas will face the UNC-Greensboro Spartans (1-0) on Friday inside Bud Walton Arena. Tipoff will be at 7 p.m. CT and the game will be streamed on SEC Network Plus.