Pinion, Council shine in 'must-win' game against Missouri
After dropping its first SEC game at LSU last week, No. 13 Arkansas needed to bounce back in what head coach Eric Musselman described as a "must-win" game against Missouri on Wednesday evening.
Starting 0-1 in conference play with the loss to LSU was one thing, but a trio of ranked-matchups followed, and the Hogs needed to secure a victory on their home court. They did just that with a 74-68 win over the 20th-ranked Tigers.
"I told the team it’s a must-win," Musselman said. "I don’t like to tell people that, but quite frankly, it was a must-win tonight for us. Maybe that had an effect of how we played the first half, because I’ve never told a team this early in the year. But I felt like with the toughness of the league, that this was a game, especially because we had a long prep time…if you have a long prep time, I hope that we would play good basketball, and I thought we did defensively."
The Razorbacks saw their largest deficit of the season in the first half when they trailed the Tigers by 17 with 9:31 to play in the first half. The offense was flat and Missouri's zone, though soft, seemed unbreakable at the time. Arkansas' win probability hovered in the 30-40% range on KenPom during that stretch.
As has become expected, Musselman found a way to game plan around what the Tigers were throwing at him, and that began with freshman guard Joseph Pinion, who led the team with seven points at halftime.
"We felt that we were going to get zoned tonight," Musselman said. "So, I felt that if in fact the first unit struggled, he was going to be an option we were going to have to look at...He shoots the ball with confidence every day. When you watch your team spot shoot, he's an elite shooter. The way their zone is where they have so many guys above the foul line, that deep corner was a sweet spot for somebody."
Pinion played a season-high 27 minutes and scored a season-best 13, nine of which came from three. He said after he drained his first deep shot, he knew he was going to play more than he normally does.
"Whenever I hit my first 3, I felt like I might have to play a little bit tonight," Pinion said. "Our shots weren’t falling in the first half, but I’m glad that I was able to hit some 3s and help us."
A big three from Pinion gave Arkansas momentum going into the first half, and it also earned him a second half start, while guard Ricky Council IV rode the bench for nearly the first five minutes after he had a +/- of minus-18 in the first half.
"(Council) struggled in the first half, so we decided to make that change," Musselman said. "I told him in the locker room, really proud of not starting and then when he got inserted into the game not letting it discombobulate his brain or his confidence."
Council entered the game with 15:02 to play in the second half and he didn't leave again. He scored 21 of his 25 total points in the second half, and 10 came from the free throw line.
A former American Athletic Conference Sixth Man of the Year, Council is comfortable coming off the bench, and it seemed to benefit him on Wednesday.
"Like honestly, just not being on the floor and seeing I can’t get through any gaps without possibly turning it over," Council said. "But it just seemed more open in the second half. I was on the bench and I got to watch my teammates play and I feel like that’s really what helped me throughout my career."
Council attacked the basket aggressively in the second half, something nobody managed to do in the first half for Arkansas. Getting to the line was clutch, especially late in the game when he made five free throws in the final 25 seconds to put the game out of reach.
With an average of 18.4 points per game, Council ranks third in the SEC in scoring. Though he's been proficient for most of the year, Council cannot be the only scoring option for an Arkansas team that is without star players Trevon Brazile (torn ACL) and Nick Smith Jr. (knee).
The emergence of Pinion on Wednesday was a bright spot, and his KenPom offensive efficiency rating of 191 was the best on the team. He also posted a team-best +/- of plus-15.
"He’s our best shooter, obviously, as you can see," Council said of Pinion. "We’re going to need that down the stretch. He hit some really big threes. It got too loud and I had to cover my ears. It was good."
Even with an abysmal first half performance offensively, Arkansas was able to win a top-20 matchup against Missouri. The victory marked the Hogs' first Quad 1 victory of the season for NET ranking purposes. The Hogs are now 4-2 overall in games against teams in Quad 1 and 2, and the are ranked No. 10 in the NET.
Arkansas will now turn its attention to the No. 22 Auburn Tigers, who will host the Hogs at Neville Arena at 7:30 p.m. CT Saturday. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.