Arkansas' thin rotation has gotten even thinner, as freshman point guard Boogie Fland will miss the remainder of the season due to a hand injury, according to a report by Jon Rothstein.
Fland injured his hand during the Razorbacks' matchup against Florida on Jan. 11, a game Arkansas lost 71-63 at Bud Walton Arena. Arkansas head coach John Calipari revealed the injury last Saturday and, at the time, insinuated the former five-star would miss significant time.
"He fell in the game at our place against Florida, Billy jumped on him," Calipari said. "So, his hand is pretty bad. Don't know what we'll do going forward, but we got to make sure we get that thing right."
The New York native is the Hogs' second-leading scorer with 15.1 points per game, is second in the SEC in assists and is first in the SEC in assist-to-turnover ratio. With Fland out, Arkansas will turn to a committee-style approach to fill his shoes, associate head coach Chin Coleman said Tuesday.
"Obviously it’s natural for D.J. (Wagner) to move into that role," Coleman said. "He’s done it his whole life. He’s done it in his career. So it’s an easy fix for him just moving to that role. But committee wise, Johnell (Davis) will have to take some of that responsibility, and Billy Richmond, who has played that position some in high school. It’s different obviously on this level. But he has played the position so we’re going to ask for him to take some of that."
Fland's most memorable performance came in what is arguably the biggest win the Razorbacks have to date, against then-No. 14 Michigan at Madison Square Garden in New York City. He scored a game-high 20 points and had seven assists in the Razorbacks' roller-coaster victory over the Wolverines in the Jimmy V Classic.
The Razorbacks are back in action on Wednesday night and will take on the Georgia Bulldogs at Bud Walton Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. CT and the game will air on the SEC Network.
