FAYETTEVILLE — Moses Moody enters Arkansas’ first-round NCAA Tournament matchup with 14-seed Colgate on Friday in the midst of perhaps the best scoring stretch of his freshman season.
The Razorbacks’ leading scorer at 17.4 points per game, Moody has matched his career high of 28 points in three of the team’s last four games and shown to be among the best three-level scorers in the tournament field.
A player who scored many of his points in the early stages of the season on spot-up attempts but showed flashes of an in-between and at-the-rim game, the star freshman has become more well-rounded throughout the season.
Arkansas coach Eric Musselman praised Moody for his desire to grow in all facets offensively since arriving on campus. He has exuded many of the same qualities as former Nevada stars Caleb and Cody Martin, who played for Musselman.
“I think early on it was his perimeter shooting,” Musselman said. “It turned into Moses understanding he was going to really have to move without the ball when he became a focal point of the opponent’s scouting report. When that happens, your game has to evolve, and his game has evolved because he’s worked hard. He’s put in the time.
“And I can tell you guys after every meal, pregame meal, postgame meal, every time the film’s going and I look out at the audience of our players, there’s one guy who eyeballs it. Those two eyeballs never move off that screen, and it’s Moses. And when we finish a meal, the last guy out of the meal is Moses when film is being played.”
Moody’s production of late has come in more than a handful of ways, such as catch-and-shoot three-pointers, off-the-dribble midrange jumpers, catch-and-shoot midrange shots, drives to the rim and scores following offensive rebounds. In the Razorbacks’ last four games, he has been dangerous from the perimeter.
Against South Carolina, Texas A&M, Missouri and LSU, Moody hit 41.4% of his catch-and-shoot threes. He has also found a great deal of success from the left wing (5 of 11) and in the right corner (4 of 6).
On the right side of the floor, he is shooting 50% on catch-and-shoot threes during that span.
“It’s just that I’ve gotten going, I’ve got the team looking for me, I’ve gotten going early and been able to sustain that throughout the game,” Moody said Tuesday. “We’ve got so many pieces on our team that anybody can have a good game on any given night. It’s just when we move the ball the way that we have we’re destined to have high-scoring games.”
During the scoring tear, his midrange and in-close offense has been strong, too. Moody has knocked down 4 of 6 two-point jumpers off the dribble, and scored three times on four field goal attempts driving the ball.
Opponents have struggled to keep him off the offensive glass. He has four buckets on four shots after grabbing his own or a teammate’s miss. Moody was Arkansas’ second-best offensive rebounder in SEC games, according to KenPom.
The evolution of his offensive package off the dribble has caught Musselman’s eye.
“I think he's elevated his game where now he's a great 1-on-1 player,” Musselman said. “He’s a great isolation player. He’s going to even be better as his game continues to grow off that. He’s a great offensive rebounder.
“Why’s he better off the bounce? Because he works. Like, when you walk into our practice site, he’s always in there, so there’s no coincidence why his game has improved. It’s because he invests.”
Moody shot only 30.9% in February, but connected on 38.7% of his three-point attempts and averaged 16.5 points per game.
Combining his last two months of play, which covers 10 games, he has been lights out from deep. Moody has made 8 of 18 catch-and-shoot threes from the left wing and 11 of 22 on the right side of the floor.
And through four games in March, he has made as many threes (13) as he did in the Razorbacks’ nine-game January, and more than in six games last month (12).
Of Moody, Colgate coach Matt Langel said one thing that stands out in film study is that he does not pre-determine his moves offensively and rely on his physical tools. Langel's staff has found the 6-6 guard to be a terrific player on both ends.
“I mean, not only is he dynamic in scoring at three different levels and have that size and length, he understands the game,” Langel said. “He reads the defense. He’s seeing what the defense is giving him and how they’re playing him and taking advantage of those things.
“For a young guy, the way I watch the game and have a passion for the game, he’s an extraordinary player.”