Fans of the No. 9 Arkansas Razorbacks will have to continue to wait to see star freshman Nick Smith Jr. back on the court, as he remains out indefinitely with right knee management.
Head coach Eric Musselman said Monday that there is no update on the status of Smith, who left the Dec. 17 game against Bradley and hasn't returned since. Musselman also confirmed that Smith will not play Wednesday's game at LSU.
"Nick’s out indefinitely," Musselman said. "He’s not playing in this game. Otherwise the status would change. So we need somebody to step up, for sure."
In the three games that Smith played and didn't have a minutes restriction (not including Bradley game, when he left early), he averaged just 19.6 points, 2.3 rebounds and three rebounds per game.
Smith is an elite scorer and not having him or sophomore forward Trevon Brazile (torn ACL) might begin to hurt the Hogs more than it has with SEC play starting.
"But yeah, certainly with the makeup of our roster, with Nick and TB not playing, somebody’s kinda got to step up and have a big game for us, for sure," Musselman said.
Musselman did sound confident about his team's depth, though, and that is a good mindset to have with an 11-1 LSU team on deck.
"We’re kind of changing our identity as the season is progressing because of the injuries, but I think our ball club is a confident team, and I think that we understand that we only have so many limited opportunities to play on the road, and this is one of those opportunities," Musselman said.
Guard Ricky Council IV brought up the fact that the team played its six games of the season without Smith seeing the court, so playing without him is doable.
"We played our first couple games without him," Council said. "When he’s ready he’ll be back. That’s all I can really say on that. I don’t know when he’s going to be back. … We’ll be fine. We’ll be fine. We’ll adjust."
Council's 18.3 points per game ranks third in the SEC, and he will be needed more in the absence of Smith. Arizona State transfer Jalen Graham looked solid in last Wednesday's win over UNC Asheville, and if he could come along consistently, that would give the Hogs another offensive weapon.
The Hogs will look to hand the Tigers their second loss of the season at 8 p.m. CT Wednesday inside the Pete Maravich Assembly center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The game will be televised on ESPN2.
