By Aidan Joly
We saw a special one in Fayetteville on Wednesday night.
Without its best player and after struggling in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, Arkansas picked itself up and picked up an 80-75 win against No. 7 Duke.
There’s so much to discuss here. Arkansas went 1-2 over Thanksgiving week and had lost three of four coming in after an inexplicable home loss to UNC Greensboro before they headed south. While in the Bahamas, the Razorbacks lost their best player in Tramon Mark to a back injury in a game against North Carolina.
Normally, that would be more than enough to dampen the spirits of a group and especially unravel the team if they got blown out against Duke. Heck, I even questioned a few days ago if this team had what it took.
That did nothing to stop the Razorbacks against a loaded Blue Devils squad.
As the game went on it became more and more apparent that Arkansas was refusing to lose in front of a raucous crowd at the Bud Walton Center, which ended up being the highest-attended home game in program history. Even as the Razorbacks gave away a double-digit lead in the closing minutes, it seemed all but a certainty that Arkansas would still be walking out with a win.
The place was in a frenzy with legendary former head coach Nolan Richardson making a rare appearance at Bud Walton Center, new football offensive coordinator (and former head coach) Bobby Petrino in the building, complete with chants of “WE WANT BOB-BY!.” It was an incredible atmosphere for a college basketball game.
The only thing that was missing was Eric Musselman taking his shirt off after the win.
The place popped with a Khalif Battle three with 12:18 to go that made it 51-43. When he hit another three to make it 63-49 with 8:55 to go, it looked on TV like the building was shaking.
Battle stepped up, with a team-high 21 points, while Trevon Brazile hit some big shots and finished with 19. Brazile missed most of last season with a torn ACL, and this performance is a fantastic indicator of his progress.
El Ellis, who was subbing in for Mark, finished with nine points. It was nice to see him playing well again after struggling mightily in the Bahamas in limited minutes.
The Razorbacks also played well on the defensive end. They had 10 blocks, which is unheard of in today’s game, and made every Blue Devil except Kyle Filipowski and Jeremy Roach a non-factor. The Blue Devils looked wholly unprepared to deal with both a team as tough as Arkansas, as well as the massively intense environment that it played in.
Touching on Duke briefly, Jon Scheyer’s team now has to go back to the drawing board. The Blue Devils came up soft, except for the last few minutes of the game. They need more guys to step up. Last night, Filipowski and Roach were the only ones that did. Duke is now 5-2, but 1-2 against high-major competition. Plenty of opportunities await, though.
Arkansas came into this season with aspirations of winning a SEC championship. It was ranked No. 14 in the country two weeks ago. After its struggles of the past two weeks that forced the Razorbacks out of the top 25, this is a win that can reset those trajectories. It was one of the best moments through the first month of the season.
Simply put, the Razorbacks seized the opportunity. And it may have altered their season.
AJ Hoops 