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FAYETTEVILLE — Call him the ‘Auburn Killer.’ Or the ‘War Eagle Slayer.’
That’s how Jalen Tate described teammate Desi Sills after he scored a team-high 22 points in Arkansas’ dramatic comeback win over the Tigers on Wednesday.
It was a slump-busting performance for the junior from Jonesboro, as he had averaged just 6.5 points in the five games since his career-high 23 points at Auburn three weeks earlier.
“He has a huge heart and plays as hard as he can night in and night out,” Tate said. “We need him out there. We tell him that all the time. It's just great to see a guy like that, the work paying off for him and it coming around."
Coming off the bench for the third time in four games, Sills looked like he did throughout non-conference play. He took only one three-pointer and consistently attacked the rim during his 32 minutes of action.
Head coach Eric Musselman said they ran a lot of plays for him and he delivered. Not only was he an efficient 7 of 12 from the floor, but he also made 8 of 10 free throws. It was a career high for free throws made and attempted.
“We love Desi, we need him to play well for us,” Musselman said. “We need him to be aggressive like he was. I think he came out with incredible intent to get to the rim and not settle and draw FTAs and get to the rim as much as possible.”
Over Arkansas’ last five games, Sills shot just 25.7 percent (9 of 35) - bookended by a 1-for-11 performance against Missouri and 1-for-8 performance at Alabama. In between those games, he completely vanished in the Tennessee loss.
“When I'm in a slump, I feel like my team ain't as good as when I produce,” Sills said. “My teammates kept talking to me and encouraged me to keep my head up high. I just kept working each and every day. I feel like it paid off tonight.”
Here are a few other notes, tidbits and stats from the Razorbacks’ 75-73 win over Auburn…
Another Slow Start
It took Arkansas more than 12 minutes to reach double figures in scoring Wednesday, with Jalen Tate knocking down a three-pointer from the corner at the 7:48 mark to make it 23-11.
After managing only eight points on 3 of 19 shooting before that point, the Razorbacks were sparked by Tate’s three and went on to shoot 58.7 percent from the floor the rest of the way.
The 67 points they scored over the final 28 minutes would have equated to a 96-point output over 40 minutes, which was a dramatic increase from the 27-point pace they had early on.
It was a very similar start as Arkansas had in its two blowout losses last week. The Razorbacks needed 9 minutes and 34 seconds to reach double figures at LSU and 11 minutes and 58 seconds to do so at Alabama.
In those games, Arkansas started 4 of 19 and 1 of 10 from the floor, respectively, before getting it going and averaging 42.5 second-half points.
