Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Smith hits key marks in opener
Justin Smith’s NCAA Tournament debut on Friday was one for the record books.
Smith notched his fifth double-double of the season with a game-high 29 points and 13 rebounds and joined former Kansas great Danny Manning in a significant NCAA Tournament achievement in the No. 10 Arkansas Razorbacks’ 85-68 win over Colgate in Indianapolis.
According to HogStats. com, Smith joined Manning as the only players with at least 29 points, 13 rebounds, 5 steals and 2 blocked shots in an NCAA Tournament game.
Manning had 31 points, 18 rebounds, 5 steals and 2 blocked shots in the Jayhawks’ 83-79 win over Oklahoma in the 1988 championship game.
With a strong string of second half performances, Smith has proven adept at letting the game come to him. It just happened to come to him quicker against the Raiders with 11 first-half points. Smith made 9 of 17 shots and a season-best 11 of 13 free throws.
“Going into the game Coach Muss[elman] really hammered home the point that we want to go after them inside and use our size and athleticism,” Smith said. “I was able to take advantage of that. And also I got fouled and I was able to make my free throws. I’ve been putting in a lot of work on those and I’m glad that it worked out.”
Smith played a key role on offense in the 5 spot when the Razorbacks went small.
“We obviously elected to not play with a center,” Coach Eric Musselman said. “We thought that Justin Smith would create immense problems as an isolation player and he did that against their bigs. I thought that was a big key to the game.
“We have not played Justin Smith much at that center spot, but that allowed us to play with a lot more space and creativity and let him play off the bounce against some isolations.”
Colgate Coach Matt Langel noted Smith had not played in the five spot much this year.
“He didn’t come out of the game,” Langel said. “He was super. His intensity really impacted the game.
“Smith played 40 minutes, and he had 29 points, drew 10 fouls, 5 offensive rebounds, and 13 rebounds total. He had just two turnovers. I think he took a big charge in the game. Like that’s a tough guy in my mind.
“It’s not always necessarily the prettiest that he does. And he shot 11 for 13 from the free-throw line. That’s well above his percentages over the course of his career.”
Smith is the sixth Razorback with 22-plus points and 12-plus rebounds in an NCAA Tournament game, following Corliss Williamson (twice), Sidney Moncrief, Joe Kleine, Mario Credit and Lenzie Howell, per HogStats.com.
The 29 points were a career-high for Smith in his 113th college game. His previous career high was 24 points for Indiana, where he played the last three years, against Western Illinois last season. His season high had been 22 points against Oral Roberts and South Carolina.
Cooling Burns
Arkansas guard Jalen Tate used his 6-6 height and long arms to make it a tough day for Colgate shooting star Jordan Burns, who was shut out in the first half on 0-of7 shooting before finishing with 13 points on 4-of-13 shooting.
“He’s a great defender,” Burns said. “He’s long. He’s a big point guard. They’ve got a lot of guys on their team that can defend. They play really hard. They play together. Obviously they’re ranked in the country for a reason.”
Said Colgate Coach Matt Langel, “I thought that they really guarded the ball on the perimeter. Jalen Tate uses his length really well. Davonte Davis really hawked the ball.”
Burns made a couple of NBA-length three-pointers during Colgate’s final surge early in the second half.
“It’s great to know that other teams devise game plans for me, you know,” Burns said. “It feels great that four years later now other teams are looking like, ‘We’ve got to stop this kid.’”
Another comeback
Arkansas rallying to win after trailing Colgate by 33-19 in the first half was nothing new for Razorbacks Coach Eric Mussleman.
In all three of Musselman’s NCAA Tournament victories as a head coach — including two at Nevada in 2018 — his teams overcome deficits of at least 14 points.
Nevada beat Texas 87-83 in overtime in a 2018 firstround game after being down 14 points (40-26) with 18:42 left in regulation. The Wolf Pack then beat Cincinnati 75-73 in a secondround game after the Bearcats led by 20 points (65-45) with 10:49 left in the second half.
Set, hike, 3
Arkansas freshman guard Davonte Davis made one of his three assists a special one midway through the second half.
After Justin Smith saved a loose ball into him, Davis pivoted and gave a shot fake but did not see a clean shot near the left block. Davis, having spotted JD Notae on the left wing, then “snapped” the ball through his legs to the guard. Notae’s three-point shot went through the nets to cut the Razorbacks’ deficit to 54-53 with 11:04 left in the game.
Just win, baby
The Razorbacks had to go with a small lineup and pressure defense to come back and beat the Raiders, but Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman wasn’t complaining.
“The next game’s going to have a different complexion,” Musselman said of Arkansas’ secondround matchup against Texas Tech. “We’ll probably have to play bigger than we did [Friday], I understand that.
“But that’s what this game called for. It’s really hard to advance in this tournament against anybody. I’m just happy we’re advancing and moving on to the next game.”
Buzzer beater
Davonte Davis went end to end and hit a running left-handed layup just as the buzzer sounded to give Arkansas its 36-33 halftime lead.
Justin Smith wrenched the ball away from Jack Ferguson in the paint with about 5 seconds left in the half, and the ball squirted to Davis. Colgate’s Tucker Richardson tried to run and bump Davis after he crossed half court, but the lefty freshman turned on the jets, leapt just past the free throw line and finished with a high banking shot to beat the buzzer.
Early jitters
Senior guard Justin Tate was the only Razorback with previous NCAA Tournament playing experience, and that was just one game for Northern Kentucky in a 72-57 loss to Texas Tech in 2019.
“I thought that maybe our inexperience in the tournament showed the first 10 minutes of the game,” Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman said of the Razorbacks falling behind 33-19. “Then I thought we got a little bit settled in maybe after the nerves of that first ten minutes.”
Tip-ins
■ Razorbacks Coach Eric Musselman is now 43-7 at Nevada and Arkansas when having four or more days to prepare for an opponent, including 14-0 with the UA.
■ Colgate’s 12 made threepointers were the most by an Arkansas opponent in the NCAA Tournament, per HogStats.com, with the previous high being 11 by Syracuse (1995), Bucknell (2006), and Butler (2018).
■ Arkansas, making its 34th NCAA Tournament appearance, improved to 43-32, including 17-8 in firstround games. m Eric Musselman is 3-3 in NCAA Tournament games as a head coach. He was 2-3 at Nevada from 2017-19. m Arkansas improved to 15-0 this season when scoring at least 80 points and 7-0 when at least five players score in double figures.