FAYETTEVILLE — Five observations, with video, from Arkansas’ 91-76 win over North Florida.
— The Dallas Moore show
North Florida guard Dallas Moore came into Saturday averaging 30 points in his last three games. He dropped 22 in the first half against the Hogs and finished with 34, the fifth-best output from an opposing player in Bud Walton Arena history.
Moore got his points in a variety of ways, from hitting deep 3-pointers to kissing floaters high off the glass for buckets. The degree of difficulty on his shots were almost always high.
It didn’t help that there seemed to be some confusion on how Arkansas wanted to defend him at times. Daryl Macon said the game plan coming in was to deny Moore the ball and blitz him on pick-and-rolls. The Hogs wanted to blitz to take the ball out of Moore’s hands, a strategy used on occasion against NBA sharpshooters like Steph Curry and Damian Lillard. The move made some sense, especially considering North Florida doesn’t exactly have playmaking screeners like the Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green or the Portland Trail Blazers’ Mason Plumlee to toast the blitz with quick reads after receiving a pass at the top of the key.
It worked well at times, but the Hogs struggled to execute consistently in the first half, either not trapping effectively or not trapping at all as the 6-foot-1 senior made 8 of 12 shots, including 4 of 6 from 3-point range.
Trey Thompson is too deep in the paint on this. The play could've effectively turned into a drop look, a potentially viable tactic for a player of Thompson's mobility, but Thompson knew he was out of position and was leaning forward as Moore turned the corner, giving the guard a path to the hoop. He still had to convert a tough finish, which he did.
Here, Moore escapes the blitz at the end of the half, again beating Thompson. The bigs struggled to stay with him all night, understandably.
Arkansas’ players also appeared to underestimate his range, giving him too much space on several deep looks from 25 and 26 feet.
Here, Bailey hangs back rather than aggressively blitz, because, well Moore is 25 feet away. An open look most won’t think of taking. Moore makes it. It’s tough to adjust how to guard that.
In the second half, the Hogs did a better job denying him the ball, chiefly Anton Beard. When he did get the ball, the Hogs did a good job pushing up and crowding his airspace, ensuring he didn’t get off any looks from beyond the arc. That led to some drives, especially when Arkansas’ bigs were too slow to slide with him, but he only attempted three 3-pointers in the second half, making none.
Arkansas’ full-court pressure also sped up North Florida and limited Moore’s touches in the halfcourt (more on that later). Arkansas went to its zone for a bit, being careful to track Moore above all else.
That went in, but Moore’s teammates shot just 38.9 percent. Arkansas’ defense against the Osprey start left something to be desired, but North Florida only posted an offensive rating of 96.2, a solid overall effort Mike Anderson would no doubt take in every game.
— JUCO guards lead spurt
Macon jumped up out of his seat when Jaylen Barford hit a late-clock 3-pointer to give Arkansas a 65-63 lead with 12 minutes left in the game. Macon checked into the game 22 seconds after Barford’s shot, which gave the Hogs a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
Barford scored again on a layup to extend the lead to four, then Macon knocked down two 3-pointers in the span of 13 seconds. In all, the two junior-college transfer guards combined for 11 straight points over the span of a little more than two minutes as the Hogs took control.
In all, they combined for 27 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and six steals in the victory.
Barford scored 14 points, had four rebounds, three assists and three steals. He shot just 6 of 16 from the floor and only made one of his five 3-pointers, but the one make was referenced repeatedly by Moore and North Florida coach Matthew Driscoll as the turning point in the game. He shot it with confidence and bailed the Hogs out of a stalled possession against the Ospreys’ 2-3 zone, signaling the start of the quick run.
Macon scored 13 and added four rebounds, four assists and three steals. Both of his made 3-pointers came during the run as he picked up where Barford left off. Shooting with confidence is never an issue for Macon.
— Pressure defense wears on Ospreys
Moore played the first 37 minutes of the game, but had to sit for the final three after cramping up. He’d played 38 or 39 minutes three times coming into Saturday, but wore down after going against Arkansas’ extended pressure defense.
The Razorbacks forced 11 of North Florida’s 19 turnovers after halftime, leading to 16 second-half Arkansas points. It was instrumental in the game-changing run and helped keep the Ospreys from rallying.
Arkansas is creating takeaways on 20.5 percent of opponent possessions, a figure that is up from last year’s mark of 19.6 and more in line (if slightly less than) a typical Anderson team. Saturday, the figure was 24 percent, a number the Hogs will be hard to beat when they hit.
— Offense passes zone test
North Florida largely went to a 2-3 zone in an attempt to slow Arkansas’ offense. The Razorbacks still scored 112.3 points per 100 possessions, almost identical to their adjusted offensive efficiency of 112.2, which ranks No. 26 in the nation.
At times, the Hogs bogged down and with possessions that meandered around the arc. Barford’s 3 bailed out a poor possession. But Arkansas moved the ball crisply, piercing the middle of the zone with penetration or passes to the high post.
Macon continues to flash his passing vision and ability. He had a few ambitious passes that failed to make it through a vineyard of North Florida arms, but also generated a few easy looks by threading the needle through the zone.
Anton Beard continues to be the best Razorback at knifing into the paint and taking what the defense gives him, whether it be a crafty finish or heady dump off. That talent is especially useful against zones.
The Hogs battled stagnation while playing hot potato around the arc ocasionally, but more often had impressive sequences against the zone, which also opened the door for offensive rebounding…
— Hogs dominate glass
Arkansas entered the afternoon ranked 254th in the nation in defensive rebound percentage, allowing opposing offenses to snag 32 percent of their misses. The Hogs allowed only 23 percent Saturday while beating the Ospreys up on the glass on the other end.
Arkansas turned 15 offensive rebounds into 22 second-chance points, grabbing an sky-high 42.8 percent of its misses, as it outrebounded North Florida 42-27. Six players had two or more offensive boards, including Arlando Cook, who had a team-high three.
Three cracks at it on that lengthy possession.
This has been a strength for the Razorbacks all year. They rank fifth in the nation in offensive rebounding, snatching 40.7 percent of their misses, according to KenPom.com. The focus on the glass hasn’t hindered their ability to get back either — they entered Saturday surrendering just 14.9 percent of opponent field goal attempts in transition according to Hoop-Math.com, a mark that is tied for second in the nation.
Obviously the Razorbacks have enjoyed a physical advantage against the majority of nonconference foes they’ve faced. That gap will lessen or disappear altogether against most SEC foes. But their work on the offensive glass is an encouraging trend.
Stray Thoughts
— Barford’s two blocks were impressive, especially one off the glass on a Moore transition layup.
— Thomas banked in a turnaround, fadeaway jumper from the baseline. It was a heck of a shot, one he hadn’t shown before (neither had anyone else on the team).
— Moses Kingsley hit two baseline jumpers, the second time in recent memory he’s had multiple jumpers go after struggling to hit any early in the year. He doesn’t get much lift on his shot, but his recent upward trend is a positive both for the Hogs and his pro stock, which has fallen of late.
— Anderson went with a new starting group in the second half, replacing Macon and Watkins with Beard and Hannahs. Both lineups were average.
— The frontcourt duo of Arlando Cook and Trey Thompson was +9 in 13:31 on Saturday and is +35 in 20:37 the last three games.
— Speaking of Thompson, where did that alley-oop finish come from? He went way up to snag the pass. Impressive.