Arkansas Razorbacks 70 - Bakken Bears 59 (actual score)

 Another Scoring Error leads to the 2nd erroneous score of the 4 games played in Italy.  The final score of this one should be 70-59 rather than 73-59.

Arkansas jumped out to a 15 point lead in the 1st Quarter which may be partially due to the Italian team not being able to fully warm up as they had problems with the goal on their end so as I understand it they didn't get a full time to warm up.  The Razorbacks didn't have that issue.  Arkansas started Anthony Black, Nick Smith, Trevon Brazile, Barry Dunning, Jr and Kamani Johnson.

The 2nd half saw Bakkan outscore the Razorbacks to cut the deficit to 11 - Devo Davis scored just before the end of the half to extend Arkansas' 9 point lead to 11.  Trevon Brazile owned the scoring in the first half for Arkansas going a perfect 9 for 9 from the field and 1 for 1 from the line to lead Arkansas.

Nick Smith did not play the entire 2nd Half.   I didn't listen to the broadcast because I don't care for the Arkansas announcers so I'm not sure if they said why he was sitting.  He was on the sidelines.

Anyway, Arkansas started the same 5 in the 2nd except for Smith - Devo started in his place.

I did a 2nd half score to show that the 2 teams finished the 2nd half both with 29 points.  The veteran Italian team exploited the Razorbacks a couple of times on inbounds plays forcing the Razorbacks into turnovers and also bothered them a couple of times with traps.  This was another game where the play was physical with a lot fo contact being allowed.  Ricky Council missed a dunk and a couple of lay ups as did Anthony Black.  28 turnovers won't make Coach Musselman happy although a few wouldn't be turnovers in college games - FIBA rules.

You can see from the Box Score that the rotation was less in this final game even with Nick sitting the entire 2nd half.  The primary rotation appears to be:  Anthony Black, Nick Smith, Trevon Brazile, Kamani Johnson and 1 - Barry Dunning, Jr,  Jordan Walsh, Ricky Council IV or Devo Davis.  Those 8 played the most.  The Mitchell Twins played some but less.  Jalen Graham just hasn't seemed comfortable yet nor has Derrian Ford.  Ford and Pinion didn't enter the game until the final minute to play.

They have a lot of video to review and use to teach between now and the start of the season.  The talent is there.  Let's see how it evolves.

Razorback men Basketball Cumulative 3 game stats Europe Tour

   This is MY compilation of stats from watching the games.  As far as I know, there are no official stats so I know there may be some variations out there IF you can find anyone else posting stats from the games.  I know I saw some reports crediting Nick Smith with 21 points in the first game while I and others had him with 17.  

Some of the turnovers have been communication errors - thinking a teammate will cut and they don't type of thing and some simply do to hussle but ultimately having the ball go out of bounds off the player.  

Free Throw shooting - Kamani has surprised doing very well while Walsh and Dunning have only hit 50% but low volume.

Barry Dunning has simply been solid.  Coach Musselman singled him out for not turning the ball over.

One final game to go

UA Razorbacks 75 Orange Bassano 54

 University of Arkansas Men's Basketball team won their 3rd game on their European tour against a young Italian team whose oldest player was 19.

This was a more physical game as the officials let them play.  It was the old No blood no foul, play on system it seemed.

The Starting 5 for the Razorbacks were: Anthony Black, Nick Smith, Derrian Ford, Makhi Mitchell and Kamani Johnson.

Anthony Black hit a 3 on the first possession and the Razorbacks led throughout.  It was 24-16 after the first quarter, 41-30 at halftime and with a 16-0 run in the 3rd, the Razorbacks enjoyed a 65-39 lead going into the 4th Quarter.

The 4th quarter wasn't a pretty one for the Razorbacks as the Italians outscored them 15 to 10.

The Stats will be a little misleading due to the physical nature of the game.

Jordan Walsh is the perfect example as he was just 1 of 6 from the field but all 5 of his misses were driving to the basket and with a lot of contact.  No fouls were called.  Below is 1 screenshot.

The second half starters for the Razorbacks were: Anthony Black, Nick Smith, Devo Davis, Trevon Brazile and Kamoni Johnson.

For the 4th Quarter, the Razorbacks sent out a 5 guard lineup basically in Black, Smith, Council, Devo and Dunning.

All 15 players played which includes the 2 walk-ons.

Here is MY Box Score for the game.  You'll note I have 2 team fouls which of course isn't real.  I just couldn't tell from the broadcast which Razorback was called.  That seems to be par for the course with these broadcasts.  I tried to get all the stats but won't guarantee I didn't miss some or score it differently from others.  At times it is a judgment call as to who gets the Turnover, Steal, or even basket (Black and Johnson both tipped a ball for example in the 2nd game - I gave the basket to Black others may have given it to Johnson).

It's looking like a starting 5 of Black, Smith, and Trevon Brazile with 2 others.  I suspect the other 2 may vary game to game more.  Jalen Graham hasn't had the type of games expected of him yet.  There's 1 game left on this foreign road trip so we'll see if he breaks out in the final game August 15.

UA Razorbacks (Men) versus Catalona Elite (Barcelona) Basketball Box Score

 

The Razorbacks faced tougher competition and had fewer loose whistles in the second game of their Foreign road trip.

Starting five:  Nick Smith, Davonte Davis, Jalen Graham, Jordan Walsh and Makhel Mitchell

The Razorbacks trailed after the first Quarter and much of the 2nd before taking a 6 point lead into half time.

Second half Starters were: Trevon Brazile, Nick Smith, Davonte Davis, Jordan Walsh and Kamani Johnson.

Third Quarter was sloppy but the Razorbacks built a lead as Catalona couldn't score.  Catalona closed the gap toward the end of the 3rd Quarter.  

The Razorbacks played fewer people in today's game with Derrian Ford seeing action only at the very end briefly and Joseph Pinion not playing.  Eight Players played most of the minutes.  Kamani Made all 6 of his free throw attempts in a game that was a lot more physical than game 1.

UA Razorbacks vs Valencia Select on August 9, 2022 Box Score

Arkansas Razorbacks 107  Valencia Seleccion 59 

I checked online for a box score from the game on Tuesday - the first game showcasing the talent of this years Arkansas Razorbacks and was slightly disappointed to only find 1 hidden behind a paywall.  I can't verify that one because I wouldn't subscribe to see it.

So for Razorback fans and others who want to know, here is MY Box Score from that game.  I watched the game 3 times - once live where I didn't worry about the stats and twice again to try and capture the stats.  

One thing I did not was that the final score is wrong.  For some unknown reason 1 point was added to the UA score with 1:02 left in the 2nd quarter.  The Razorbacks had last scored to make the game 53-25.  Valencia scored 4 points to make the score 53-29 and had the ball when suddenly the score flipped by 1 point and it was now 54-29.  The UA had only 1 FT in that 1st half and it was already included in the score.  No idea where that phantom 1 came from other than just a mistake by the score table.

Anyway, this is my final Box Score from that game.

There were a LOT of iffy fouls called by the 2 person crew against the Razorbacks.  That resulted in Trevon Brazile sitting the entire 2nd quarter.  MY foul totals may not be correctly attributed since it was very difficult (I'd say impossible) to know which player the officials gave the foul to when there were multiple players in the area.  Once example would be where 13 Jordan Walsh was the only player close to the Valencia player but the officials seem to show 2 0 which would be Kamani Johnson who was not close to the action.  

Anyway of the 16 fouls called on the Razorbacks in the 1st half, I had 8 of them as phantom or questionable calls.  It doesn't matter.  It allowed the players to deal with that adversity which will happen in the real season also.

You had I think 10 players score in the first quarter.  The Razorbacks substituted freely and played a lot of different combinations.  They should have a LOT of good video to review and use teaching.  The only player to play and not score was Joseph Pinion who attempted only 2 shots - a 3 that went off the front rim and a driving 2 from maybe 6 feet that also went off the rim.  He had a third shot possible on a 2 on 1 fast break but went with a behind the back bounce pass to Jalen Graham for a big jam by Graham.

Overall?  The Razorbacks shot 68% from 2 with I think someone said 17 dunks.  Three Point shooting was off but remember they are shooting the FIBA ball.   They were 4 of 8 in the first half from 3 but only 1 of 8 in the 2nd half.  2 of the missed shots were "heaves" at the buzzer - one by Nick Smith and one by Devo Davis so 5 of 14 excluding the 2 heaves.

Defensively there were a lot of reaching fouls called.  That is one area for improvement.  Watching the video you would say many of those reaching fouls were not in fact fouls but they were called so be more disciplined and don't reach as much.  You also had a number of iffy calls coming off of players going around screens set by the Valencia team.  Minimum contact but the officials called fouls.  It seemed as though moving screens were allowed.  Makhel Mitchell had an offensive foul called on him that even with multiple replays I couldn't find.  

Anyway, I will try to do a Box Score for each game, and I now have a form created to show shot attempts and made as well as points.

Arkansas versus Barcelona will be this afternoon, and I'll try to do a Stat sheet by late tonight.

It's going to be an exciting team ..... it already is.