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Key takeaways, box score from Arkansas 89-81 loss to Hofstra

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NORTH LITTLE ROCK -- Back in central Arkansas for the first time in two years, Arkansas met a disappointing outcome against Hofstra.

The No. 24 Razorbacks led for just 43 seconds and trailed by as many as 14 points en route to an 89-81 loss to the Pride inside Simmons Bank Arena.

With the loss, Arkansas is now just 12-10 since it started playing games at the North Little Rock venue in 1999 and four of those losses have been to mid- or low-major foes: Appalachian State (2007), UAB (2010), Mercer (2015) and now Hofstra (2021).

Playing without their leading scorer, the Pride were led by a near triple-double from Aaron Estrada. The Oregon transfer finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists, while former Arkansas player Abayomi Iyiola notched a double-double with 18 points and 14 rebounds against his former team.

The Razorbacks rallied late, with a Davonte Davis free throw cutting the Hofstra lead to two with just 4:53 to go in the game. The central Arkansas crowd was fired up and tried its best to will the Razorbacks to a comeback victory, but they fell short.

Hofstra answered with an 8-0 run to push its lead back to 10, 74-64, with just 2:36 to play. The rest of the game was back and forth, with both teams hitting shots and the deficit staying between 8 and 13 points.

"In the seven years I’ve been coaching, that’s the most disappointing from a competitive nature that I’ve ever coached a team, in seven years in college," head coach Eric Musselman said. "Even last year’s two losses. Both of these games, I’m disappointed in how we’ve played in a lot of different facets.”

It was Arkansas' second straight loss after a 9-0 start and it marked Hofstra's first win over an AP top-25 team since 1976.

Here are some key takeaways from the game...

Perimeter Defense

Once again, perimeter defense was a major issue for the Razorbacks, but this time it wasn’t only allowing outside shots. Although Hofstra shot just 7 of 22 (31.8%) from three, the problem was allowing guards to drive at will.

Hofstra scored 44 points in the paint, seemingly most of which came from straight-line drives to the basket or a pass to the post after help came. That was a major factor in Iyiola scoring his 18 points.

"We didn't keep anybody in front of us," Musselman said. "In basketball, you've got to be able to slide your feet.”

An extension to perimeter defense is just overall defensive awareness – or lack thereof. In a standard man defense, different guards would be in position like they were four passes away, but were only two passes away.

That just means that they were too deep and too far over from where they should be, making recovering to their man much longer. That leaves opponents open for open shots and easier drives if there is a running contest.

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