FAYETTEVILLE — Now that sophomore center Reggie Chaney is off suspension and Arkansas has its entire roster of eligible players ready for action, it’s time for the competition to step up a notch.
Next up for Arkansas (4-0) is a Friday night match up with unbeaten South Dakota (5-0), the nation’s top 3-point shooting team, in a game that will start at 8 p.m. at Bud Walton Arena.
“I thought we took care of business these first four games,” Arkansas coach Eric Musselman said. “We’re playing a really good South Dakota team that’s undefeated. They’ve won three games on neutral sites (and) in Hawaii. Actually the Hawaii game was a true road win for them.
“They’re the No. 1 3-point shooting team in the nation right now. So we’re going to have to really defend and come up with some type of game plan that’s a little bit different defensively than what we’ve done these first few games.”
The Coyotes are hitting 51 percent of their 3-point attempts (47-of-92), with 6-10 center Tyler Hagedorn leading the nation individually at 84.2 percent (16-of-19). Hagedorn made all eight of his 3-point attempts during one game this season.
The Razorbacks, who have trailed for only 63 seconds all season, went into Tuesday night’s game as the third-best 3-point defensive team in the country and have allowed foes to make only 8 of 69 (11.6 percent) from beyond the arc.
“The problem with South Dakota is not just the big, they all can shoot,” Musselman said. “They have got like five guys that are really, really good shooters. But we will get together and watch some film.
“We played South Dakota State a few years ago and had to play Mike Daum, who was a really good 6-10 shooter…We will put together a really good game plan and try to take them off the 3-point line as best we can.”
Arkansas sophomore Connor Vanover, a sweet-shooting 7-3 transfer from California who is redshirting this season, should be able to simulate Hagedorn in practice.
“Yes, Connor will be a great at that,” Musselman said.
Jimmy Whitt, who had his first double-double at Arkansas and his sixth collegiately with 17 points and 10 rebounds in the Razorbacks' 82-51 victory over Texas Southern on Tuesday, knows his team will be prepared for a 3-point avalanche from the visitors.
“It’s going to be a focus for us - a point of emphasis,” Whitt said. “We prepare, we’re going to prepare tomorrow, we’re going to prepare the next day and he does a great job of preparing us for each and every game. Every game has its own themes and emphasis, so we’re just going to come in tomorrow, get ready for South Dakota and play as hard as we can.”
Musselman is the first Arkansas head coach to start 4-0 since Nolan Richardson, who opened 5-0 in 1985-86 season, his first at the helm of the Razorbacks.
He will be facing a coaching friend for the second game in a row with Mike Lee coaching South Dakota. Musselman was n assistant for Texas Southern coach Johnny Jones at LSU, and Jones was an assistant for Musselman at Nevada.
“Coach Jones is a mentor, a family friend,” Musselman said. “I'm glad the game is over. Two of the guys who were on the Nevada staff beside coach Jones are with him, so hopefully we'll be able to exchange some ideas and thoughts on each other's basketball team tomorrow.
“Friday, same thing. Todd Lee and I have been friends for over 20 years and he and I worked together. I'll be happy to get these two games over playing against friends."
Chaney, who had six points, four steals and a pair of rebounds in his first action of the season, said preparation had already begun for South Dakota between the time Tuesday night’s game ended and when the players came into the media room for their post-game press conference.
“We went over it as soon as the game was over,” Chaney said. “He showed us some film of them shooting the ball really well. Everybody, the 1 through the 5 can shoot the ball. (Musselman) was just telling us about our game plan. How we’re going to guard it and stuff like that.”
Chaney, a Tulsa native who finished his high school career at Findlay Prep in Nevada, was happy to be back on the floor.
“I think I played OK for my first time back,” Chaney said. “I did a little bit of inside scoring and got some rebounds for us and got some defensive stops. My conditioning is coming back slowly. I was a little tired out there but each and every day in practice I’m going to keep working hard.”
Musselman saw the effort from Chaney as positive in his season debut.
“I thought Reggie was really good,” Musselman said. “We were a little worried about his wind, just because we don’t go up and down live much with the way that we do preparations with games. We stick to basically half-court stuff. Not playing for three games, we needed to make sure that he kind of got some rest …I thought he gave us good minutes tonight. He protected the paint. He rolled hard to the rim.
“I think he’ll get more and more comfortable with our system the more minutes that he gets with each game that goes by."
Chaney said he tried to keep his head own and get back in the good graces of his coaches and teammates.
“Just get better each and every day,” Chaney said. “Take that time off and just get better at everything and encourage my teammates while I’m not playing. Talk to and tell the they are doing a good job, and things like that.”