Khalif Battle shows elite offensive ability in season opener
When Temple transfer Khalif Battle committed to Arkansas, Eric Musselman knew he was getting a guy that was capable of scoring in bunches. That proved to be true in the Hogs’ season-opener, as Battle led the team in scoring with 21 points in a 93-59 win over Alcorn State on Monday.
“When we signed him, we felt like he was as explosive a scorer as we’ve seen,” Eric Musselman said. “He can rise up, he can get his own shot, he’s got deep range.”
That explosiveness showed, as Battle produced a number of highlight plays throughout the game. Most notable was an and-one dunk off a lob from Layden Blocker to give Arkansas a 23-10 lead with 10:34 remaining in the first half.
Battle shot an efficient 55% from the field, and made three of his six attempts from behind the arc. He did all of this coming off the bench for the Hogs, a role that Battle has embraced.
“I never cared about coming off the bench, I only care about winning,” Battle said. “The preparation comes from before the games even start, so coming off the bench doesn’t mean anything to me. Whatever Coach Muss needs…that’s what I’m going to do.”
Musselman cited injuries as the reason for Battle’s role to start the season. He spent part of the summer recovering from a foot issue that sidelined him in the Red-White game back in October.
“With his foot, he’s broken both of them,” Musselman said. “I thought he may be a little rusty, but he’s a gym rat. He lives in the gym.”
Battle talked about the mental toll of his recovery during the offseason and his hard work throughout the process.
“It was a tough summer, because I couldn’t battle with the guys like I normally do,” Battle said. “I love basketball more than anything…even when I was in the boot I was still getting shots up.”
In addition to his scoring abilities, Musselman also praised Battle’s defensive effort and his veteran leadership presence.
“KB has been so bought in,” Musselman said. “Today at shootaround he was as vocal as anybody defensively. I think he knows if you want to get on the floor there you’ve got to defend, and he’s doing that.”
Battle also flashed his ability to attack the basket on dribble drives by drawing numerous fouls and sinking eight of nine free throw attempts. At Temple, he shot 89.8% from the charity stripe last year — a metric that gives Musselman a lot of trust in the veteran guard.
“Great foul shooter, so late in games we need him to have the ball in his hands if we’re in the bonus,” Musselman said. “He was phenomenal tonight.”
Battle will look to build off of this performance going forward, and if he continues to score at this rate, he will find a potential starting role in the Arkansas rotation.
“I give all the credit to my teammates and my coaching staff for just preparing me,” Battle said. “Without these guys, I’m nothing…Iron sharpens iron. We’ve got a lot of talented guys on the team, so it could be anybody’s night any day. So I can’t really take the credit. I give it all to them.”
Up next, the Hogs will take on Gardner-Webb on Friday at 7 p.m. CT at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville. The game will be streamed on the SEC Network Plus.