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Published Mar 19, 2021
Hogs go small, turn up the pressure to run past Colgate
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Andrew Hutchinson  •  HawgBeat
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HawgBeat's coverage of Arkansas's journey in the 2021 NCAA tournament is present by Wright's Barbecue. Already serving up the best meats in Arkansas, you can now also find Wright's meat rub and sauces at Walmart.

Finding his team in yet another first-half double-digit deficit Friday afternoon, Eric Musselman thought back to a conversation he had with his son the night before.

The second-year coach told Michael, the Razorbacks’ director of recruiting, that he might go to a four-guard lineup and turn up the full court pressure at some point against Colgate. That point came when they were down 14 with about five minutes left until halftime.

It resulted in a 17-0 run to end the half and an eventual 85-68 win over the Raiders that sends Arkansas to the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament.

“That was a way to change the tempo of the game if we needed to do that,” Musselman said. “We tried all three centers, I didn’t like the complexion of the game at all or the pace of the game, and that 17-0 run with four guards and Justin Smith out there, I think that changed the complexion.”

That stretch came with Moses Moody, the SEC Freshman of the Year, on the bench with foul trouble and the Razorbacks reeling.

Colgate had made 11 of its last 14 shots, including 5 of 6 from beyond the arc, to build a 33-19 lead while Arkansas was shooting just 28 percent (7 of 25) for the game.

When Musselman called the Razorbacks’ 55 defense - their full-court, man-to-man defense - they started forcing turnovers.

The Raiders came into the game ranked eighth nationally by turning the ball over only 10.1 times per game and were on pace for that in the first 16 minutes of the game. They were seemed flustered over the final four minutes of the half, though, committing seven turnovers.

“I feel bad that I didn't have our guys prepared for that part of what Arkansas did,” Colgate coach Matt Langel said. “They hadn't done that very often, certainly not in the SEC, and it ended up being the difference in the game. Clearly, the points off turnovers led to points in the paint and just created a tide that we couldn't overcome.”

Arkansas’ run started when Davonte Davis came up with a steal on a bad pass by Jordan Burns, the Patriot League Player of the Year, and went coast-to-coast for a fast break layup.

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