FAYETTEVILLE — The University of Arkansas and North Texas are playing in the second basketball game of the season for the second year in a row with today’s matchup in Walton Arena.
Arkansas beat the Mean Green 66-43 last season with Isaiah Joe, Mason Jones, Jimmy Whitt and Adrio Bailey — who all are gone from the program — combining for 53 points. The only points scored by a Razorback still on the team were nine by Desi Sills.
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North Texas Coach Grant McCasland, who was Arkansas State University’s coach during the 2016-17 season, said he’s impressed by how the Razorbacks have reloaded after watching them beat Mississippi Valley State 142-62 on Wednesday night.
“I don’t think they’ve dropped off at all,” McCasland said. “I had the blessing of living in Arkansas for a year, and I have all these people texting me, ‘How good do you think Arkansas really is?’ I think they’re really good.”
McCasland said Razorbacks Coach Eric Musselman does as good of a job as any coach in the country at getting newcomers ready to play well and win.
“I’ve been impressed with the way he’s acclimated those guys,” McCasland said. “They have an energy about the way they play the game that’s really impressive. It’s going to take everything we’ve got to put ourselves in position to be in the game.”
Some jitters
Two of Arkansas’ seven turnovers against Mississippi Valley State came in the first 1:34, which may be chalked up to some opening-game jitters.
“I asked the guys before the game if they were nervous,” Razorbacks Coach Eric Musselman said. “I don’t know if I’ve had a team say ‘Yeah,’ but they did. They raised their hands. They were honest. It’s been a long time since we’ve competed.
“Conversely, for me, it was the first time that I was really relaxed, maybe in a long, long time. I felt like I was going to practice. It was a different, unique feeling for me.”
No letting up
Arkansas outscored Mississippi Valley State 81-32 in the second half after taking a 61-30 halftime lead.
“When you get up by a lot of points, I think it’s human nature to take your foot off the gas a little bit and to get a little discombobulated and a little selfish,” Coach Eric Musselman said. “I didn’t think they did that. I thought they were executing play sets. Even with 1:19 to go, we executed a play. So I’m really proud of that.
“I thought there was only a handful of bad shots the entire game. Sometimes, that turns into what people would determine as garbage time, and it gets really sloppy. But, we told the guys you have to play your minutes and you’re still being evaluated. Any minute you get on the basketball floor is part of your resume.”
Hamlet a winner
North Texas 6-4 senior guard Javion Hamlet was the Conference USA Player of the Year last season when the Mean Green won the conference’s regular-season championship.
Hamlet averaged 14.6 points and 4.7 assists last season. He had 13 points and 11 assists in North Texas’ 116-62 victory over Mississippi Valley State on Thursday night.
“Javion is a winner,” North Texas Coach Grant McCasland said. “He does whatever it takes to win. He’s better as the game goes on. He’s a very tough, competitive playmaker that can make a three if you need it, but where I think he’s effective is when he gets into the paint and makes a floater and makes decisions and draws two [free throws].”
Quick turnaround
North Texas is playing Arkansas 46 hours after beating Mississippi Valley State and taking a bus ride to Fayetteville, but Mean Green Coach Grant McCasland isn’t complaining.
“Honestly, we’re just thankful to be playing,” McCasland said of challenges resulting from the pandemic. “We’re going to take every day as a blessing that we get to compete and be together. I’m no longer going to have anything negative to say about anything that may be difficult. We’re just going to embrace it and love it and be thankful that we get to play.”
North Texas used 11 players Thursday night. They played between eight and 28 minutes.
“We didn’t stretch anybody out too many minutes,” McCasland said. “So hopefully we’ll be able to make a quick recovery and be ready to play.”
Mean to Green
The Razorbacks are 15-0 against the Mean Green, which prompted a question to North Texas Coach Grant McCasland on whether he believes he has a team that can beat Arkansas.
“I just hope we win the opening tip,” McCasland said with a smile. “We’ll figure it out after that.”