FAYETTEVILLE — Stanley Umude was arguably the biggest bright spot for Arkansas in its 81-68 SEC-opening loss at Mississippi State last week.
One of the nation’s best scorers in previous seasons at South Dakota, he finished with a game-high 19 points on 7 of 12 shooting off the bench. Defensively, he added 2 steals, his most in a game since Dec. 1 against Central Arkansas, and 1 block.
He limited Bulldogs players to 1 of 7 from the floor when the nearest Razorbacks defender.
"I was just trying to take what the defense was giving me,” Umude said. “My teammates were finding me in good spots and I was able to knock down shots that I work on."
Asked for his thoughts on the wing’s performance, Razorbacks coach Eric Musselman’s analysis was short and sweet.
"He really scored the ball,” he said. “You know, he shot the ball with great confidence."
Given the response, it was clear Musselman wants more consistent play from Umude before doling out praise.
While he did perform well in his first SEC game, it was Umude’s first double-figure scoring outing in nearly a month. He also grabbed just three rebounds in 26 minutes.
Umude averaged 8.7 points in December, his lowest monthly average since November 2018. He shot 41.8% on 7.9 attempts per game and hit just 18.8% of his looks from three-point range.
Included in his most challenging month in years was a scoreless outing against Charlotte in which he finished 0 of 6 shooting, and a brief five-minute stint in the lineup in the Razorbacks’ 81-55 victory over Elon on Dec. 21. Simply, Arkansas could stand more of the Umude it got against the Bulldogs.
"Right now, through our first X amount of games, the consistency from player to player has not been there, which makes it difficult on a rotation. It makes it difficult on teammates to know what you’re going to get on a nightly basis.
"That’s not any one particular player at all. I think that’s kind of been across the board right now with our roster."
Considering Umude’s athleticism and measurables (6-10 wingspan, team-best 35-inch vertical), he has tremendous defensive potential. He has shown great instincts in a number of instances this season.
But Musselman has also called for him to step up his play on that end of the floor a handful of times, too, particularly when it comes to defending the three-point line and out of bounds plays, both along the baseline and sideline.
According to CBB Analytics, Arkansas’ team defensive rating is 101.7 in 275 minutes with Umude on the floor and 93.3 in his 245 minutes out of the lineup. The Razorbacks, though, hold an offensive rating of 112.5 when he sees the floor.
As Umude showed against Mississippi State, he can be a matchup issue for opponents, scoring at all three levels, in the half court and in transition. Per CBB Analytics, he is 5 of 10 from three on the left wing, 6 of 8 shooting along the left baseline and 18 of 24 at the rim this season.
Tuesday against Vanderbilt is another chance for Umude to state his case for a larger role and put an end to his fluctuating playing time.
"I think with Stanley and with a lot of guys, it’s consistency,” Musselman said. “I think that as a coach and a coaching staff, you want to walk in a locker room pregame and kind of know what you can pencil in both offensively and defensively."