Hogs' poor three-point defense proves costly versus Tide
The Arkansas Razorbacks are proving to be a far cry from "lockdown" on three-point defense this season and it was costly versus the high-volume shooters of the Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday afternoon.
The Tide entered the game ranked ninth in the nation in three-point field goal attempts, so limiting them on the perimeter was, obviously, a major part of the game plan for the Hogs.
When asked on Friday leading up to the game how he felt about that aspect of the Razorbacks' game so far this season, head coach Eric Musselman didn't sugar coat the difference between this year and last year's top ranked perimeter defense.
"We have not defended as good as we did last year," Musselman said Friday. "We’re not as quick laterally across the board. Not having Justin Smith has really hurt us defensively. I think that when you see a player close out, and his man has the ball, and if you have a high hand up, that’s what we did last year almost on every catch. I’ve got to continue to do a better job in getting, especially our younger guys, to follow the game plan on both sides of the ball. But you can look at the numbers. We’re not taking away the three like we did last year."
Knowing how Alabama would attack didn't make it any easier on the Hogs in Tuscaloosa–even with 18 minutes contributed from newly healthy Smith. Shooting 33.3% on the season from three, the Tide shot 41.7% against Arkansas. Senior John Petty Jr. went 5 of 9 and moved atop Alabama's career three-pointer list.
On top of Petty's performance, six more Alabama players had makes from deep, increasing the defensive difficulty for the Hogs. Nate Oats' guys made seven three-point shots in the first half while Arkansas could only tally 19 points.
"All the drills that we’ve done on defending the three, we’ve done those drills," Musselman said post-game. "Obviously my message or my coaching is not getting through on defending the three-ball. Because we saw last year us leading the nation in it. And a lot of that is we have a lot of guys who are reluctant to guard the three-point line because they’re worried about getting blown by on the dribble because of lack of lateral quickness."
Arkansas's three-point defense has, naturally, gotten worse as they've entered SEC play–allowing 36.3% versus 30.4%. Getting Smith's defensive presence and length will help as he acclimates back to a full workload but the Hogs will need all around improvement and quickly.
Auburn returns a visit on Wednesday and the Razorbacks allowed 15 threes against the Tigers in the round one victory.
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