FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas guard Ricky Council had an interesting night against No. 20 Missouri on Wednesday.
The Wichita State transfer finished the Razorbacks’ 74-68 comeback victory over the Tigers with a game-high 25 points. Continue to scan the junior’s final numbers, though, and something else jumps out.
Arkansas was outscored by nine points (59-50) in his 31:04 on the floor.
“Yeah, and he made significant strides with the minus-9,” Arkansas coach Eric Musselman said of Council.
Musselman was spot on. In the first half, which saw the Tigers lead by as many as 17 points, Arkansas was outscored by 18 points in Council’s 16 minutes in the lineup.
Council, who needed 19 field goal attempts to reach 13 points in his first SEC game last week at LSU, struggled prior to halftime. He scored 4 points on 1 of 6 from the floor and committed 2 turnovers.
His play led to Musselman making what he deemed an easy decision: Sit Council to start the second half and replace him with freshman guard Joseph Pinion. The former Morrilton star sparked the Razorbacks in the first half with 7 points off the bench and finished with a season-high 13 points on 3 of 6 from three-point range.
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“I looked at that plus-minus at halftime, and you guys can look at a halftime sheet and look at the plus-minus, as well,” Musselman said. “It was great for both guys. It was great for Ricky, too, to see the team come out and play good in the second half.”
When Council checked in at the 15:02 mark in the second half, Arkansas had trimmed its seven-point halftime deficit to 42-39. And the bouncy wing immediately began making an impact.
Eight seconds after replacing freshman guard Jordan Walsh, Council added a dunk in transition. It was the first bucket in what became a 21-point second-half performance.
Though unfamiliar this season given his consistent contributions, coming off the bench is not foreign to Council. In his final season with the Shockers, he was named American Athletic Conference Sixth Man of the Year after averaging 11.2 points on 46.2% shooting, 5 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.2 steals in 21 games as a reserve.
“I’ve been there before throughout my career,” Council said. “I started on the bench my first two years, so it really wasn’t anything. It was Coach’s decision. I just had to live with it. I had a positive attitude and watched my teammates eat.”
The Razorbacks led 46-42 on Pinion’s third three-pointer of the game with 13:42 to play, but Missouri responded and tied the game 46-46 with 11 minutes remaining. Council then went into offensive hyperdrive.
He knocked down a three at the 10:45 mark to give Arkansas the lead for good. During a span of 6-plus minutes, Council scored 14 of the Razorbacks’ 20 points, and Arkansas led 66-58 by the end of his run.
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He later capped the Razorbacks’ first SEC win with five free throws in the final 25 seconds. Council has scored 20-plus points 5 times this season after doing so 4 times in 2 seasons at Wichita State.
“He was absolutely vital scoring the basketball in the second half,” Musselman said. “He struggled at LSU for the most part the whole game offensively. Struggled in the first half (Wednesday), so we decided to make that change.
“I told him in the locker room, really proud of not starting and then when he got inserted into the game not letting it discombobulate his brain or his confidence, because he looked like a guy that was pretty confident regardless of what I did.”
His outburst after halftime should not come as that much of a surprise. Entering Wednesday’s game, Council was averaging 10 points in the second halves of games, up from 7.5 points in first halves, according to CBB Analytics.
Council was 5 of 9 from the floor and 10 of 11 at the free-throw line, and added 6 rebounds in the second half against the Tigers. He scored nine points total in two games against Missouri while at Wichita State.
“He can create his own shot,” Musselman said. “The hardest thing in basketball is when the play breaks down, do you have enough players that can create your own shot? Ricky is one guy in particular that does a great job of creating his own shot.
“We don’t win the game without Ricky’s second-half isolations at the top of the key.”