FAYETTEVILLE — University of Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman openly discussed his team’s rugged Thursday practice last week after a 92-76 loss at LSU, in which the Tigers led by as many as 31 points.
He wasn’t as revealing Tuesday regarding the style of the Razorbacks’ Monday practice after a 90-59 loss at Alabama on Saturday in which the Crimson Tide led by as many as 36 points.
“I think I’ve been really upfront and honest with everybody about the way we’ve dealt with practices and everything,” Musselman said. “We had a good practice [Monday]. Our guys worked hard, and that’s what I’ll leave it at.”
Musselman mentioned Saturday that confidence issues creep in for players and the team after back-to-back games lost by 47 points. He said improvement must come in many areas for the Razorbacks to get back on track against Auburn tonight at 8 at Walton Arena.
“We’ve got to get better offensively for sure,” he said. “We’ve got to get better defensively for sure. We’ve got to play with a little bit of joy. And you’ve got to play with confidence.
“So how do we figure out guys enjoy playing, and then also are playing with confidence?
“We’ve got two guys that just aren’t playing with much confidence. So we’ve got to try to build that up, and we need a couple of shots to fall. And then both sides of the ball, if you’re not defending at a high clip, you can’t let that affect your offense, and then vice versa.”
Musselman didn’t point out the two players who aren’t playing with a lot of confidence right now, but Desi Sills and Connor Vanover are struggling.
Sills hit for a career-high 23 points in Arkansas’ 97-85 win at Auburn on Dec. 30, and Vanover scored 17. After combining for those 40 points in the conference opener, Sills and Vanover have an aggregate 50 points in the five games since.
“It’s kind of an across the board [thing], the confidence,” Musselman said. “I don’t think it’s just one guy, although certainly we’ve seen Desi go through streaks.
“Whether it’s Connor or anybody on our team, your minutes should be based on your productivity, and we know from an offensive standpoint we have better numbers with Connor on the floor, so certainly we’d like him to be more involved than he has been. But again, it’s going to come down to defensive matchups and how each guy is playing, and then what unit is playing well together, which right now we’re still searching for.”
NCAA play
Auburn Coach Bruce Pearl thinks the Razorbacks remain in position to play in the NCAA Tournament in March.
“I still think Arkansas is an NCAA Tournament team,” Pearl said on his Tuesday video conference. “I still think they’re a team that will finish in the top six in our league.
“They’ve probably played the toughest schedule in our league so far. They’ve already played at Tennessee, at Alabama and at LSU. Those right now look to be three of the top five teams in the league. And so they beat us and Georgia. They lost at home to Missouri, but Missouri is obviously really good.”
Searching for self
Coach Eric Musselman, asked to assess where the Razorbacks are in terms of developing an identity, said injuries have played a role in changing the team’s look.
“I’m not using that as an excuse at all, because everybody in the country goes through injuries,” Musselman said. “From an identity standpoint … look, we’ve lost to three ranked teams, one team ranked in the top 10, and two teams that are playing as good as any two teams in the country, so we’ve got to regroup.
“We’ve got to understand that there’s still a lot of basketball to be played and our identity … you’re going to go through some ebbs and flows in trying to figure out your identity, especially in a covid year.”
Moody the man
Auburn Coach Bruce Pearl called Arkansas guard Moses Moody a pro.
“He’s a big guard. He can score at all three levels,” Pearl said. “He’s a competitor. He’s as good as advertised.”
Moody ranks sixth in SEC scoring at 17.6 points per game and 15th with 5.9 rebounds per game.
Three talk
Twice during his video conference Tuesday, Auburn Coach Bruce Pearl said the Tigers would not hit 15 three-pointers on Arkansas again as they did Dec. 30 in a 97-85 loss.
Asked why he thought that, Pearl replied, “Because we’re playing in Fayetteville. We’re not going to make 15 threes. Want to make a bet?”
Later, Pearl added, “We wasted 15 threes. I mean, when you make 15 threes, you’re going to win the game, and so that was unfortunate at our place. Now we’re playing better.”
Health update
Auburn Coach Bruce Pearl said freshman guard Justin Powell is day to day while in concussion protocol. Freshman sensation Sharife Cooper, eligible for the last three games, has taken over at point guard with Powell out.
“Justin did a yeoman’s job at point guard, but Arkansas turned him over about seven or eight times [actually nine] and everybody was attacking him,” Pearl said.
Arkansas put the shorter Desi Sills on Powell for much of the game, and Sills bothered the 6-6 guard with lower leverage.
Tigers freshman Chris Moore of West Memphis, whose foul on a breakaway led to Justin Smith’s injury on Dec. 30, has been out with a sprained wrist.
“He could play against Arkansas a little bit,” Pearl said.
Flanigan talk
Allen Flanigan — son of ex-Auburn player and current Tigers assistant Wes Flanigan, and grandson of Little Rock coaching legend Al Flanigan — is averaging 14.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game as one of Auburn’s most productive players.
“I thought Flanigan was playing great before we played them,” Coach Eric Musselman said of the sophomore. “I thought he had a really good game against us, and he continues to play really well.
“I think he’s got a little bit different role now. Obviously the first time we played them you saw his ability to be a multi-dimensional player. He can guard five positions, which is very unusual in college basketball. He’s got good strength, he can shoot the basketball, he can dribble-drive, he’s a high-volume free-throw attempt player. I think he’s a great player in our league.”
Horrible half
Arkansas has had its share of bad halves in recent games, but get a load of the first half Auburn produced in Saturday’s 66-59 home win against Kentucky.
The Tigers shot 24.2% from the field, made 2 of 17 three-point tries and scored 21 points to trail the Wildcats 25-21. Working in Auburn’s favor at that point: Kentucky had made just 8 of 24 shots (33.3%) in the woeful first half.
The Tigers turned it around after intermission, heating up to 55.6% shooting (15 of 27) at Auburn Arena, with 3 of 7 (42.9%) three-point shooting.
Allen Flanigan, a 6-6 sophomore from Little Rock Parkview, led the Tigers with 21 points, including 16 in the second half on 8 of 8 free-throw shooting.