Arena Lights Not All That Disappeared for Razorbacks

Before nearly folding like a house of cards, Musselman had a trick up his sleeve, giving sophomore guard Joseph Pinion his first start in 33 games in a Razorback uniform across two seasons. Despite only playing 33 minutes across seven games this year, it's the clearest indication that Musselman is looking for rotation answers, especially at the guard position. 

Simmons Bank Arena would have its own trick, with the lights going out just before tipping off, but both teams opted to soldier on. The Razorbacks started far more efficiently from the field. Still coming back from a nasty fall in the Bahamas, Tramon Mark took advantage of a Lipscomb zone defense that allowed him to spot up from three. Three triples, including one from the top of the key, gave Mark 15 of his 17 points in the first half to lead all scorers . 

The Hogs started 15-for-23 from the floor, including a layup from Keyon Menifield for his first basket in the Razorback uniform (he was just granted an NCAA waiver for immediate eligibility) to push the lead to 35-25.

Arkansas did a good job holding a high-volume triples team (25 attempts per game) until back-to-back triples suddenly cut the lead back down to four with an 8-0 run. The Hogs used a clean inbounds play for a Mark layup to push the lead back up to eight before halftime, 41-33.  

The Razorbacks continued their efficient shooting with suffocating defense and came out on the half on an 18-6 spurt to explode the lead to 20.  Jalen Graham also had a good game. 12 points on 5-for-6 from the floor and two blocks. An impressive sequence of a jumper in the paint, followed by a block on the other end looked to have set the Hogs up in good position up 16 with 13:30 left to go.

The Razorback fans of Central Arkansas were in for a shock horror. After not making a three for the first 10 minutes of the first half, Back-to-back threes from Will Pruitt and McCormack suddenly gave the Bisons life. The Bisons slowly worked their way back into the game. Driving inside and not committing fouls and holding the Hogs to a season-low eight free throw attempts.

The Razorbacks' next chance to play a  more complete game is against Abilene Christian Dec. 20 back inside Bud Walton Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. and will be broadcast on SEC Network and fuboTV.