Point guard play was 'A-plus' for Arkansas in win at Mizzou
After being left searching for an answer at point guard following Saturday's loss to Kentucky, Eric Musselman and the Arkansas Razorbacks (11-10, 2-6 SEC) might've found an answer or two after a 91-84 victory at Missouri on Wednesday.
Freshman Layden Blocker was given his third start of the season against the Tigers and he was tasked with running point guard at times on the road in an SEC environment. Blocker held his own for the most part, as he logged nine points, three rebounds, two assists, one steal and three turnovers.
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After not playing due to coach's decision against Kentucky, sophomore guard Keyon Menifield Jr. answered the call with 16 points off the bench for Arkansas. The Washington transfer was 4-11 from the field, 2-3 from three and 6-6 at the free throw line while adding two rebounds and three assists.
"Point guard play was phenomenal," Musselman said postgame. "I give it an A-plus... Keyon the last two days at practice, he was focused, so he got the nod tonight getting 32 minutes. His free throws were very important going 6 for 6 and the ball flows really well when he’s out there. I thought he made a couple of great pocket passes that might not have gone down as assists because maybe one of our bigs took two or three dribbles.
"But I thought our offense was really good. I mean, 91 points on the road is a large number and I thought we played consistently offensively both halves. I thought defensively the first half (was) great. Defensively the second half, much areas that we need to improve on."
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Junior guard Tramon Mark also ran the point at times, and he scored a team-high 22 points on 8-13 shooting from the field. Mark added four rebounds, one assists, three steals and two blocks against Mizzou. After missing the Ole Miss game a week ago due to migraines, Mark is getting back to his usual self.
"He knew that we were a team, that we were down in numbers, and so he gave it his best shot," Musselman said. "I thought tonight, I thought in practice too yesterday and in shoot-around today, he looked like his old self as far as energy and having fun. And he was joking around with guys today at shoot-around, and certainly I thought he looked like he had fresh legs, as well."
Mark is a mainstay in the lineup no matter what, but Blocker and Menifield have been fighting for minutes just about every night. The performance of that young backcourt duo was encouraging Wednesday.
"I thought those two guys tonight played extremely well off each other," Musselman said. "I thought they both were extremely unselfish. I thought defensively they were really good. It created a little more defensive havoc for the opposition. We were able to extend our defense a little bit more, which probably goes in line with those 10 team steals."
Mussleman also contributed the quickness of Menifield and Blocker to the Hogs' ability to keep the ball in front and control the paint defensively. Arkansas held Missouri to a 10-23 mark on layups and 30 points in the paint, plus the Hogs had six blocked shots.
Up next, the Hogs will travel to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for a matchup against the LSU Tigers on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 11 p.m. CT and it will be broadcast on ESPN2.