Arkansas defeats Valencia Seleccion, 108-59
In the first live-action look at the 2022-23 Razorback men's basketball team, the Hogs defeated Valencia Seleccion 108-59.
The game was the first of four in Arkansas' Europe tour that will span through next Monday. From the get-go, the Hogs showed their length and aggressive defense, and they did not let up until the final buzzer.
Highly-touted freshman Nick Smith Jr. led the Hogs with 17 points, Kamani Johnson has 12, Jordan Walsh had nine and Anthony Black recorded eight points.
(Stats unofficial per play-by-play broadcaster Brett Dolan)
Below is a rundown of the full game that was streamed on FloHoops:
Pregame:
Starting five for Arkansas:
Anthony Black - Freshman guard
Joseph Pinion - Freshman guard
Ricky Council IV - Junior guard
Barry Dunning Jr. - Freshman guard
Trevon Brazile - Sophomore forward
First Quarter:
Arkansas got out to a 10-0 lead to start things off, which featured a breakaway dunk for freshman Anthony Black.
Valencia Seleccion scored its first points on a three ball and on the ensuing possession, they knocked down another three to cut the Arkansas lead down to 10-6.
The Hogs starting rotating fresh legs in around the six minute mark, including junior Davonte Davis, who tossed up an alley-oop to freshman Nick Smith Jr. to extend the lead to 14-6.
Valencia Seleccion knocked down another three at the 5:18 mark, but was unable to convert on the four-point play after the shooter was fouled.
Smith knocked down Arkansas' first three of the Europe tour to give the Hogs a 17-9 lead at the 5:03 mark.
TIMEOUT (4:18) - Arkansas 21, Valencia Seleccion 9
Rhode Island transfer Makhel Mitchell knocked down a mid-range jumper for Arkansas' first points out of the break.
Makhel Mitchell was fouled on the next Razorback possession and after knocking down the first free throw, Kamani Johnson rebounded the missed second shot and sent a bounce pass to Mitchell for a slam that gave the Hogs a 14-point lead.
Johnson was able to get another rebound off a missed shot from Smith and he put it back in for his first points of the game, extending the lead to 31-14.
Smith tossed up a beautiful alley-oop to freshman Jordan Walsh, who flushed it down. Walsh slammed another one home on the next possession, which ended up being the final shot of the quarter.
END OF FIRST QUARTER - Arkansas 35, Valencia Seleccion 18
Second Quarter:
Smith's second turnover of the game was cleaned up by a nice assist from freshman Derrian Ford to Johnson, who laid it in for the first bucket of the second quarter.
After the early turnover, Smith made up for things with another lob, this time to Wichita State transfer Ricky Council IV, who slammed it with authority to extend the lead to 41-18. Council drained a three on the following possession.
The other Mitchell twin, Makhi, hit his second field goal of the game to giv e the Hogs a 46-20 lead with just under six minutes to go in the quarter.
Smith showed why he was so highly touted out of high school with a pull-up jumper around the free throw line to extend the Arkansas lead to 28.
TIMEOUT (4:51) - Arkansas 50, Valencia Seleccion 20
Valencia Seleccion came out of the break on a 5-0 run. Walsh ended the run when he knocked down his first 3-pointer of the game as the shot clock came to an end.
The Hogs ran into the zone defense during the second part of the second quarter and they struggled to put the ball in the bucket.
At the 1:02 mark, Razorback head coach Eric Musselman received a technical foul.
A block by Walsh turned into an open slam dunk for Smith on the other end, resulting in just Arkansas' second basket after the break.
Freshman Barry Dunning slammed the ball down off an inbounds pass from Smith to give the Hogs a 58-31 lead going into halftime.
END OF SECOND QUARTER - Arkansas 58, Valencia Seleccion 31
Third Quarter:
Arkansas opened the second half with Smith's third turnover of the game, but Missouri transfer Trevon Brazile made up for it with a hard slam on the next possession.
A Razorback turnover resulted in a Valencia Seleccion 3-pointer just over a minute into the half.
Brazile made his presence known even more with a couple shots at the charity strip and a put-back layup that gave the Hogs a 64-34 lead. The Hogs' next shot came on a thunderous slam from Brazile in a clear lane.
Arkansas struggled offensively for about two minutes, but Dunning drew a foul at the 4:09 mark and drained one of his free throws. Arizona State transfer Jalen Graham grabbed the rebound on the missed second shot and he put it back up to extend the lead to 72-41.
At the 3:18 mark, Walshed used his length to steal the ball and threw it to an open Johnson for the slam.
TIMEOUT (3:16) - Arkansas 76, Valencia Seleccion 41
A missed shot from Council was rebounded Graham, who laid it in on the follow up to extend the Razorback lead to 37 points.
Johnson drew a hard foul and drained both free throws to give the Hogs 80 points.
Smith got a nice backdoor steal that turned into a transition layup by Graham that made it an 82-45 Arkansas lead.
END OF THIRD QUARTER - Arkansas 83, Valencia Seleccion 48
Fourth Quarter:
Smtih drilled a 3-pointer for the Razorbacks' first points of the fourth quarter. Per play-by-play broadcaster Brett Dolan, that made it 15 points for Smith in the game.
Walsh grabbed a rebound, drove it all the way down the court and then dropped it off the Makhel Mitchell for a slam.
Smith flew into the basket from the left side for a layup on the next Arkansas possession that extended the lead to 90-51.
TIMEOUT (7:42) - Arkansas 90, Valencia Seleccion 51
Black found Johnson down low and he drew a three-point play opportunity that put him in double-digit points in the game. Johnson missed the free throw.
Davis recorded a steal that resulted in a fastbreak for the Hogs. Ford laid in an open layup to give the Hogs 96 points.
TIMEOUT (4:53) - Arkansas 96, Valencia Seleccion 55
Black get in on the dunk party just over the four minute mark with a authoritative flush. He was able to get a layup shortly after to put the Hogs over the century mark.
Graham threw a lob for Brazile, who basically guided the ball through the net, though he didn't even need to.
The Hogs could have slowed down offensively, but they remained aggressive late in the game. Freshman Joseph Pinion made a behind-the-back pass to Graham, who threw it down to give the Hogs a 106-59 lead with just under a minute left.
FINAL: Arkansas 108, Valencia Seleccion 59