Mitchell playing as well as any center in SEC
Following a heartbreaking loss to Mississippi State last week, Arkansas (13-13, 4-9 SEC) bounced back with an impressive 78-71 road win against the Texas A&M Aggies inside Reed Arena on Tuesday.
The Hogs looked competitive throughout the entire matchup, but a lot of the credit should go to Arkansas forward Makhi Mitchell. In the first half alone, the fifth-year senior recorded a team-leading 13 points with five rebounds and a block.
"Just being totally locked in on what Coach wants and what he’s preaching and what he’s in practice doing," Mitchell said after the game. "And just going over the coverages and things like that and just playing my game so at the end of the day I’m not doing too much thinking. I know my capabilities so I’ve just got to go out there and do it."
Mitchell's career-high 22-point, 13-rebound, four-block performance against the Aggies marks the second straight impressive outing for the big man. In Arkansas' most recent win against Mississippi State, Mitchell led the way with 21 points and nine rebounds. His late-season emergence can be credited to an increase in effort and confidence.
“He’s just being aggressive," Tramon Mark said after the game. "He’s recognizing his matchups. He’s recognizing that he can score in his matchups at any time he wants. He’s just being aggressive. He’s getting rebounds, he’s getting blocks. He’s just doing it all for us tonight. I’m very proud of him.”
In six of his last seven games, Mitchell has scored double-digit points while rebounding at a high clip. For the season, he's now averaging 7.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.3 blocks with a 63.3% field goal percentage.
"Playing focused," head coach Eric Musselman said after the game. "Not distracted at all. Playing as well as any center in the SEC right now, the four blocks, look for the big man to go 10 of 12 from the foul line, and he’s really improved his free throw shooting. The staff has worked with him.
"He’s worked on it himself. When he was out this summer with his broken foot he was getting in the gym shooting foul shots. That time is paying off for him. It’s an area we knew he needed to improve in and he’s drawing fouls which is extremely important as well."
According to HogStats, Mitchell is the first Arkansas player to get 20+ points and 13+ rebounds off the bench in a game since Oliver Miller against Minnesota in the 1991-92 season.
"We need him to sustain it," Musselman said. "He’s playing as well as any center in the SEC. He’s been extremely focused. There’s no distraction with his minutes out there. We’re really relying on him. He’s coming off the bench tonight.
"Tonight, he played 33 minutes off the bench. Basically both halves sat about three minutes and then went the duration the last 17 minutes of both halves. So, really proud of how Khi and that whole group was that was out there tonight."
Up next, Arkansas will head back to Bud Walton Arena for a matchup against Missouri (8-18, 0-13 SEC) on Saturday. The game will tip off at 11 a.m. CT and will broadcast on ESPN2.