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Musselman: 'We just have to go back to the drawing board'

Arkansas senior Adrio Bailey, averaging 6.9 points per game this season.
Arkansas senior Adrio Bailey, averaging 6.9 points per game this season. (Arkansas Athletics)

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After starting the 2019-20 season 11-1 in non-conference play, it looked like Eric Musselman had found the formula to win despite obvious size disadvantages but now, at 16-10, the disadvantages are seemingly more insurmountable and SEC play has exposed Arkansas's overall talent and depth deficiencies.

Arkansas came back within three against Florida on Tuesday night after getting down by 19 points, but eventually the game slipped away for a 73-59 loss.

"We went through all of our non-conference and played four guards, I thought we were hard to matchup with," Musselman started explaining Tuesday night. "When Isaiah Joe got hurt we started going with two bigs and that has not worked at all.

"We haven't rebounded any better with two bigs, our defense isn't nearly what it was because of lateral foot-speed and now we've lost all of our creativity on the offense."

As it turns out, Isaiah Joe's knee injury, holding him out of six contests, has impacted the team far beyond the 16 points he provides a game.

On top of being a threat from deep and spreading the floor, Joe is a much quicker defender than the second big they replace him with on the court (whether it's Reggie Chaney, Jeantal Cylla or Ethan Henderson).

The lack of "lateral foot-speed" became increasingly apparent Tuesday night as Arkansas struggled to keep 6-foot-5 guard Keyontae Johnson in front of them. Johnson scored 24 points but only had to make four field goals to get there, the Razorback defenders took care of the rest.

"We told our guys he was one of the best dribble-drivers in all of college basketball," Musselman said. "We can tell our guys, 'slide your feet,' but if he's quicker off the bounce, well that's why he ends up with 17 foul shots."

Musselman hasn't liked Arkansas's offense much lately either. Tuesday night's game was the first time this season the Hogs have been held under 60 points.

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