Moody's 28 not near enough for Razorbacks in blowout loss

Arkansas guard Moses Moody dribbles into the lane during a game at Alabama on Jan. 16, 2021, at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Arkansas freshman guard Moses Moody is not used to losing basketball games, and certainly not in the manner the Razorbacks have done this week.

Just three days after LSU jumped out to a 31-point lead on Arkansas and ended up winning by 16, SEC-leading Alabama cruised to a 90-59 rout of the visiting Razorbacks on Saturday afternoon.

Moody, who did not lose a game his senior season at Montverde (Fla.) Academy and only lost three games there as a junior, led Arkansas with a season-high 28 points.

Otherwise the Razorbacks (10-4, 2-4 SEC) looked punchless on offense for the second straight game. But Moody sees an opportunity for his team to bounce back from the season's low point.

“I feel like — and I have said in the past — that at your lowest point that you are open to the greatest change,” Moody said. “So we just have to come together and try to make it through these tough games. They always say that if you make it throughout the night, there will be a brighter day.


“We have a lot of adversity right now and we have got to get through that, learn from that and feed off of it.”

Just like LSU, Alabama (11-3, 6-0) seemingly got easy shots inside. The Crimson Tide nailed 15 3-pointers while Arkansas could not hit from close in or beyond the 3-point arc.

The Razorbacks made 33.3% (21 of 63) of their overall shots and were 4 of 17 from 3-point range.

“They made a lot of shots, they hit a lot of threes and we couldn’t find the rim at vital points in the game, especially early,” Moody said. “That started us off on a bad foot. We had a lot of missed shots, a lot of missed layups. It just all went downhill.”

Missing layups has been detrimental in Arkansas' losses to Missouri, LSU and Alabama.

“Missing around the rim is a big thing,” Moody said. “That’s where everything stems from. If you are not able to see it fall from close in, it is harder to see it fall from deep. If those don’t fall, it’s hard.”

Moody said his teammates have to listen to the coaches.

“I just feel like we have to buy into what Coach (Eric Musselman) is preaching in practice — defending the three,” Moody said. “You have to trust the film. They told us those guys could shoot like that. We just have to really buy in and listen to the guys that are putting in the hours studying game film and studying the other teams. That’s on us.”

Moody still feels like Arkansas can get its season turned around.

“It is far from too late,” Moody said. “It is still the beginning of the season. It is the best time for something like this to happen so we can learn from it now instead of later.”

He pointed out graduate transfers Jalen Tate and Justin Smith are trying to lead.

“I will say that (Tate) has stepped up and we are getting Justin back into the rotation,” Moody said. “Those are guys that are going to help us from being veterans that have been through times like this in their college careers. They can just help us get through that.”

Smith was back Saturday after missing four games with an ankle injury.

“That definitely gives us a lift,” Moody said. “He is back there to protect the paint and do what he does. That is a positive having him back in rotation and back in practice.”

Arkansas has had too many turnovers in its skid, including 14 Saturday — 12 of which came before halftime. The Razorbacks trailed 42-19 at the break.

“I assume just being so amped up and ready to play that we are going out and playing too fast and not lettering the game come (to us),” Moody said about the turnovers. “We are playing too fast.”

Musselman praised Moody, but knows his team has to correct its direction quickly after playing four of its first six SEC games on the road.

Moody made 10 of 25 shots, including 3 of 7 from 3-point range. He also recorded nine rebounds.

“I thought Moses played well,” Musselman said. “He was aggressive and did a good coming off screens on some of our set plays. We were much better running set plays than we were running our transition game today.

“We have just got to get back to some of the things we taught. Obviously this group is struggling much more than last year's group in defending the three and scoring the ball, so we have to continue to address them and getting better.”