FAYETTEVILLE — Multiple Arkansas basketball players have been limited in practice since Tuesday's victory over Mississippi State.
In an interview with KABZ-FM in Little Rock on Friday, Razorbacks coach Eric Musselman said forwards Justin Smith and Jaylin Williams “did virtually nothing” in the team’s workout Thursday.
Smith, although he has played in Arkansas’ last six games, is still recovering from Jan. 1 surgery on his right ankle. Musselman told SEC Network that trainers examined Smith’s foot and ankle during halftime Tuesday.
He scored all 10 of his points in the second half and also finished with 10 rebounds for a double-double.
Williams suffered a bone bruise to his right knee at Oklahoma State last Saturday and did not play in the second half of the 81-77 road loss to the Cowboys. He saw the floor for nine minutes against Mississippi State and missed both of his shots.
Musselman noted Tuesday that he thought junior guard Desi Sills would be fine after taking a hard fall that resulted in a left shoulder injury. Sills was cleared to return to the game, Musselman noted, but his status has not improved in the days since.
“He can’t lift his left arm to shoot,” Musselman said Friday. “We have a limited number of bodies. We’re banged up.”
Arkansas’ scheduled home game against Texas A&M on Saturday was postponed earlier this week due to a combination of positive covid-19 tests, contact tracing and subsequent quarantining within those in the Aggies’ program, allowing the Razorbacks time to rest and heal ahead of a scheduled road game at Kentucky on Tuesday.
But Musselman said he and the team would still prefer to play this weekend. The Razorbacks’ second-year coach has publicly stated he is in favor of playing the maximum number of games allowed this season.
Due to covid-19, the NCAA trimmed the number of regular-season games from 31 to 27.
“We want to play this weekend — flat out,” Musselman said Friday. “We’re into the rhythm of the season. We have a home date on a weekend. We want to play. Unfortunately, we’re not playing. A lot of people have asked what about scheduling a nonconference game. We’d love to, but we can’t because we’re holding this date for a makeup game now.
“We just want our players, our student-athletes, to get the opportunity to play the max amount of games. Hopefully this (weekend’s) game will be made up. That’s our anticipation, that we’ll have a home game against Texas A&M when the makeup week right before the SEC Tournament happens.”
Musselman was asked if there was any chance Arkansas could play LSU in Bud Walton Arena on Saturday following the SEC’s announcement that the Tigers’ game against Florida on Saturday was postponed because of covid-19 protocols within the Gators’ program. He said he was for it, but it is likely too late in the week to make that happen.
The Razorbacks are scheduled to host LSU on Feb. 27.
“It’s way above my head,” he said. “But our players and myself, I mean, we want to play this weekend. We just don’t have an opponent.
“With that being said, we took off Wednesday and we prepared for Kentucky on Thursday and we’ll do the same (Friday).”