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Without star freshman Nick Smith Jr., the No. 10 Arkansas Razorbacks put their depth on display with a pair of great performances from unlikely contributors in Wednesday's 85-51 win over UNC Asheville at Bud Walton Arena.

Once again, Smith will miss an unknown period of time as he deals with "right knee management." The announcement that he would not play came just minutes before tipoff Wednesday, and it's the second time this season he has missed time due to the right knee issue.

"He's out indefinitely and that's what it is," head coach Eric Musselman said after the game. "So, there's nothing else. He's out indefinitely and he's going to continue to rehab as best as he can."

In his absence, Arizona State transfer Jalen Graham and freshman guard Joseph Pinion shined during the destruction of the Bulldogs.

After allowing UNC Asheville to score first and make it a 2-0 game, the Hogs never trailed again for the rest of the evening. Arkansas' largest lead was 35 points, and the big advantage, along with starters getting in foul trouble early, allowed players like Graham and Pinion to showcase what they've got.

"This was a good overall team performance," Musselman said on postgame radio. "We obviously were able to play through some foul trouble in the first half with Anthony Black and Jordan Walsh having two fouls and so it allowed some other guys some opportunities and allowed us to see what this team might look like when guys get in foul trouble with a roster that’s a little bit different than maybe it was even last game in North Little Rock."

Graham subbed in for the first time at the 13:26 mark in the first half and just over three minutes later, he had six points and a steal. He finished the contest with a game-high 16 points on 8 of 10 shooting.

"Jalen has got a great flip shot," Musselman said in the postgame press conference. "He’s got a great spin move. He can feel the defender, go the other way. I thought offensively, I’d give him a 10 out of 10. We just need some rebounds from Jalen Some physical in-traffic rebounds is one of the areas that Jalen’s got to continue to focus on."

Graham also added three rebounds, two steals and a block in the contest. His spin move in the paint is elite, and it's earned him the nickname "Spin Cycle" from the team.

"At ASU, all my old teammates, they would always watch the spin in practice but it still worked," Graham said. "I've been practicing that move since I got to college. I don't know, it's just, I've always had it for some reason, which is kind of weird, but yeah."

Along with Graham, Pinion recorded career-high marks in minutes (18:40), points (10) and assists (3). The freshman from Morrilton knocked down a pair of threes off the bench to keep the Arkansas offense churning.

"When he comes in the game you can see teammates, coaching staff, we feel like when he shoots it is going to go in," Musselman said. "When you're a great shooter, that's kind of the air that everybody has."

One of Pinion's three assists was a highlight-reel alley-oop to Graham.

Graham said he used to get up for dunks like that during his time with Arizona State, and he's still got some bounce now that he's in Fayetteville.

"I don't know if Joe heard me, but I was screaming, 'Backboard,'" Graham said. "So then I'm thinking he's gonna throw it off the backboard, and all of the sudden, I just see the ball in the air. And I was like, 'Okay, I gotta grab this.' So I didn't know I had that still, but you know, it came out of nowhere."

Pinion joined the dunk party with a pair of slams late in the game to give him double-digit points.

"Oh, you know, I've seen Joe in practice," Graham said. "We be throwing lobs up, you know. It's just like white man can't jump, and he got that...I know he can jump."

Though the Hogs coasted to a win over the Bulldogs on Wednesday, the competition level is going to take an immediate step up next time out. SEC play will begin at LSU next Wednesday, and the Hogs might not be without Smith still, on top of the fact that sophomore forward Trevon Brazile is done for the year with a torn ACL.

Playing without those two players at times during the first 12 games has allowed the squad to put its depth on display.

"We're just deep," Graham said. "We're a really good team. I haven't been a part of a team like this in my four years of playing college basketball. We have sometimes when people don't get in the game who are really good, and it's just like, people are always gonna be ready in practice - everybody's ready, everybody's competing in practice - when we compete as hard as we do, especially the bigs, it just shows that everyone is ready to play. If people go down, someone's going to step up."

The Hogs will travel to Baton Rouge to take on the LSU Tigers next Wednesday at 8 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.

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