FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas coach Eric Musselman used one word to describe the impact of Razorbacks forward Jaylin Williams on Tuesday against Mercer: awesome.
But an admirable performance off the bench in which he battled a cut to his face and a hard fall on an already ailing back before finishing with 4 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks called for much more praise from Arkansas' third-year coach.
“I think you saw from a wind standpoint, we really need him as quickly as he possibly can to get in better shape,” Musselman said Tuesday. “But his effort, his basketball IQ, his understanding of who to pass to, when to pass to who, I thought he was phenomenal.
“He’s going to start the next game. He’s a starter for us.”
The Razorbacks’ 74-61 season-opening win was the second time in Williams’ career that he led the team in assists in a game (5). He also topped all Arkansas players in potential assists (7).
Teammates finished 4 of 5 on two-point attempts immediately following a Williams pass against the Bears and 1 of 2 from three-point range. Three of the two-point scores went to Au’Diese Toney, who had an efficient 18-point night, and JD Notae connected on the long-distance look.
Williams’ vision and savvy could very well lead to an expanded role offensively in the coming weeks, Musselman hinted Wednesday. Pulling bits and pieces of the Denver Nuggets’ offense that features 6-11 point-forward Nikola Jokic, the reigning NBA most valuable player who 64 times last season totaled 5 to 14 assists in a game, and implementing them with Williams is something the staff is toying with.
The fact that Williams also once in the win took his defender off the dribble at the top of the key and finished a left-handed layup likely helps his case.
“If you clipped his minutes that he had the ball in his hands (he) probably was at the lowest end of the team that played, but yet he led us in assists,” Musselman said. “Other guys had the ball in their hands a lot and didn’t come close to his amount of assists, so when the ball was in his hands something good happened.
“Maybe we change up some of our sets so that he can be a little bit more of a distributor, because he's a willing passer and has got great vision.”
Williams did turn the ball over three times prior to halftime against Mercer and was whistled for a moving screen in the second half, but he assisted on 27% of Arkansas’ scores when on the floor, according to KenPom data.
“Jaylin played phenomenal to me,” Toney said. “For a big to pass like that, you don't see too many bigs pass like that. Jaylin did what he did. For him coming back from an injury, he played his butt off.
“And he almost had 10 rebounds, so he was on the glass.”
Williams grabbed 23.8% of available defensive rebounds and 13.8% of the Razorbacks’ misses when in the lineup, according to KenPom. He also sacrificed his body a couple of times, taking a charge less than one minute after checking in for Stanley Umude and later diving for a loose ball near midcourt.
Defensively, he tallied the fourth multi-block game of his career and first since Feb. 27 against LSU. The Bears also shot just 3 of 10 from the floor when Williams was the nearest Arkansas defender.
“He’s going to start, I can tell you that,” Musselman said Tuesday. “I don’t know who else is, but I know he’s going to start.”