Vanover turning opponents away at elite rate

Connor Vanover (23) University of Arkansas with the block against Andre Allen (22) of Southern University at Bud Walton Arena, Fayetteville, Arkansas on Wednesday, December 9, 2020.

FAYETTEVILLE — Connor Vanover has received nothing but glowing reviews from Arkansas coach Eric Musselman through five games this season.

Incredible, dominant and effective are some the adjectives the Razorbacks’ second-year coach has used to describe the 7-3 forward’s play. They perfectly sum up Vanover’s defensive impact to this point, and especially his last two games.

In Arkansas’ wins over Lipscomb and Southern, the redshirt sophomore has grabbed 18 defensive rebounds, come away with four steals, blocked seven shots and altered numerous others. Wednesday, he played a role in the Razorbacks notching their second-best defensive efficiency rating of Musselman’s 37-game tenure at Arkansas (59.9).

“We look at 3-point under-duress shots, we look at shots at the rim that are altered,” Musselman said Thursday. “I think all those things are really important from a defensive standpoint because really what you want to do defensively is just lower the opponent's percentage — each guy individually and then the team as a whole.

“I think he's done a great job.”

The Bisons and Jaguars found scoring around the rim challenging against the Razorbacks. Collectively, they were 13 of 48 (27.1%) on layups in their losses.

With Vanover in the lineup for Arkansas, their 2-point field goal percentage dipped further to 25.5%, according to HoopLens analytics.

Wednesday, he blocked two Southern shots in his first six minutes on the floor, including a 2-point attempt on the Jaguars’ opening possession that resulted in a shot clock violation. It was one of two such turnovers created by Vanover’s presence and length in the first half.

Razorbacks guard Desi Sills, who finished with 11 points and five assists against Southern, said Wednesday that Arkansas defenders have great freedom to take chances on the perimeter with Vanover on the back line deterring good looks.

Musselman wholeheartedly agreed.

“Most importantly, he's allowed us to have great backcourt pressure,” Musselman said. “He's allowed us to gamble, because if a team has a 2-on-1, he does a great job of playing cat-and-mouse and understanding to stunt and bluff then get back and protect the rim.”

According to HoopLens, the Razorbacks allowed an astoundingly low .45 points per possession with Vanover on the floor the last two games. For the season, he has also blocked 17.9% of opponents’ 2-point attempts when in the lineup, per KenPom data, the third-best rate in the country.

And Vanover is grabbing 34.9% of available defensive rebounds.

“I know Connor blocks a lot of shots and rebounds it and he's going to get it out to a point guard or a guard and push the floor and get easy baskets in transition,” Sills said. “If Connor keeps on doing what he's doing, no matter if he scores or not, he's going to be effective on the defensive end.”

Vanover, who has committed only four fouls in his 100 minutes, told Chris Dortch of Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook that he enjoys not letting opponents score on him — even if he is whistled for goaltending.

“Not letting (them) see their shots go in the basket can be sort of intimidating,” he said. “Even if they try to score, I can mess everyone up who wants to try to get to the rim.”