FAYETTEVILLE — In the days leading up to 10th-ranked Arkansas’ season opener against North Dakota State, the Razorbacks practiced with a different starting lineup than it floored Monday night.
In fact, the starting five changed a bit at the team’s shoot around just hours prior to tipoff. A key change: the addition of Wichita State transfer Ricky Council.
The move — as well as Council’s play throughout the game — paid big dividends for Arkansas, which defeated the Bison 76-58 in Bud Walton Arena in the absence of freshman guard Nick Smith.
“Obviously, roles were really shuffled in a short amount of time,” Arkansas coach Eric Musselman said. “We put Ricky in there at the last minute and I think it really benefitted us.”
That assessment might understate Council’s overall impact in the win. In his 36 minutes on the floor, he finished with a game-high 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block and 1 steal.
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Arkansas outscored North Dakota State by 20 points (72-52) during his time in the lineup.
Offensively, Council was dynamic, scoring at all three levels effectively. He knocked down one of the Razorbacks’ 4 three-pointers in the game and, in the first half, hit a turnaround, off-the-dribble jumper from the left short-corner area.
But he was at his best attacking the rim. Council was relentless for stretches getting into the heart of the Bison defense, capping multiple dribble-drives with scores through contact.
“I thought Ricky was overly aggressive,” Musselman said. “I mean, his energy when he had the ball was phenomenal. I thought he had great bounce off the dribble. I thought he attacked the rim really well. He’s a really, really good mid-range shooter, and his three-point shot when his feet are set, he can make three balls as well.
“Teams are going to have to guard him at the three-point line, and if they don’t — I think he was 1 of 2 tonight — he’s going to have games where he makes 2 or 3 threes, and that opens up the rest of his game.
“I thought he did a great job of just being really, really aggressive while also not turning the ball over.”
Council accounted for six of the Razorbacks’ first nine points. He added the first field goal of the season with a layup following his own steal.
Council then teamed in the second half with Missouri transfer Trevon Brazile on an 11-0 run that ballooned Arkansas’ lead to 49-31. Roughly three minutes later, he added the highlight of the night.
Council, moving to his left, got by his defender and put down a reverse dunk that ignited the crowd. As he ran to the other end, Council tapped the top of his head twice and pointed in the direction of his teammates on the bench.
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"I always know Ricky is going to do some crazy stuff,” Brazile said. “You never know with that guy. The reverse dunk was just ... I've never seen somebody reverse on somebody just driving down the lane. He's crazy."
Aside from Brazile and strong stretches from junior guard Davonte Davis, Council was the heartbeat of the Razorbacks’ offense. According to the advanced stats summary of the game, Arkansas scored 1.98 points per minute with Council on the floor.
That number dropped to 1.08 in his three-plus minutes out of the lineup.
Council’s 8 two-point buckets tied a career high, and his 22 points were his most in a game since scoring 31 on Central Florida on Jan. 26 while at Wichita State.
According to HogStats.com, Council is the eighth Razorback since 1980 to score 20-plus points in his debut. He is the seventh transfer to do so.
"That was the game plan: Attack the rim,” Council said. “That's what we did. Simple as that. … It was fun. I still don’t think we played our best basketball, and we came out with a W against a pretty good team.”