After First Half Struggles, Hogs Settle in for 49th Consecutive Season Opening Win

Athleticism of Arkansas Razorbacks too much for North Dakota State in second half

allHOGS Staff | Nov 7, 2022

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Arkansas Razorbacks

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Ricky Council and Trevon Brazile made their presence felt and Davonte Davis played the role of floor general as Arkansas kicked off the new season with a 76-58 win over North Dakota State.

Brazile went a single game as a Razorback before going for his first double-double with 21 points and 12 rebounds after a year at Missouri. He also hit three 3-pointers, which was a big leap toward the 11 he was able to knock down all of last season.

As for Council, it was a display of athleticism in every way possible. Whether completing spinning drives down the lane, floating in jumpers or burying a shot from behind the arc, there was nothing Council couldn't do on 22-point night while hitting 9-of-14 shooting.

As for Davis, being the elder statesman in the team is something he has settled into nicely. While pointing teammates to the right locations and providing a steady hand when the offense struggled to get in sync, Davis showed consistency at the line and used his patented high floating lay-ups to post 18 points in the win.

As for North Dakota State, the goal was to get big man Andrew Morgan going down low while finding a way to generate production from Grant Nelson on both ends of the floor.

Morgan made his presence felt early on, but Arkansas found a way to disrupt his game with athleticism. However, Nelson did eventually heat up, going 5-of-9 from the floor and 6-of-8 from the free throw line for 17 points.

Arkansas now looks head to Fordham on Friday while North Dakota State moves on to a Thursday night showdown against Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse.

HOW IT ALL UNFOLDED

It's a beautiful, cool night outside. The perfect kind of weather for the first game of what is the most anticipated season since Arkansas went to back-to-back national championships.

Despite packing the roster with so much elite talent, Arkansas coach Eric Musselman has decided to allow his more experienced players set the tone and show the younger players how it should be done with the exception of freshman Anthony Black.

Starting 🖐 for our home opener and season 💯 of @RazorbackMBB @AnthonyBlack24_ @MrDevoBuckets @Rickythe4th
Makhi Mitchell@KamaniJohnson20 pic.twitter.com/Xa4B9waT7R
— Eric Musselman (@EricPMusselman) November 8, 2022

Ricky Council starts off with a steal and drives the length of the court for a free throw. However, Andrew Morgan, whom we said would be an issue, hits a jumper to get North Dakota State on the board to make it 3-2.

It's clear Arkansas is going to use its athleticism to get the Bison off balance, but it's a rainbow jumper for Ricky Council that stretches the lead to 7-2. Council then hits a scoop lay-up for six quick points to stretch it to 9-2.

Boden Skunberg hits a three to take a bit of pressure off and Grant Nelson gets a big block on an ally-oop attempt. Nelson then banks in a shot while drawing a foul to trim the lead to 9-8.

One person Arkansas will not see tonight is freshman guard Nick Smith.

Trevon Brazil gets on the floor and manages to do his best Jalen Williams impression by taking a charge to help the Razorbacks hold into a 12-8 lead.

Jordan Walsh gets fouled on a drive and his first two points for Arkansas comes from the free throw line to make it 14-8.

Skunberg with a nasty fake on Anthony Black draws a foul from the 3-point arc to leads to three made free throws to cut it back to a one-possession game again at 14-11.

North Dakota State's movement and height is giving Arkansas trouble.

The Bison had a chance to tie with a good look by Waddle, but it rims out. However, Sam Hofstreiter goes to the same corner and buries the three to tie it. This Bison defense is creating problems inside as the Razorbacks have struggled to get things going inside.

Davonte Davis with a nasty spin move while taking a Bison defender to school, but he used too much of his forearm to create space at the last moment, drawing an offensive foul.

Arkansas has won 48 consecutive home openers going all the way back to 1974, but North Dakota State is doing all it can to see if it can end that streak. The Razorbacks are in for a fight as we're at 16-14 roughly midway through the first half.

Morgan backs down Kamani Johnson and gets a wide open look at the basket after Johnson goes to the floor that rims out. However, Johnson is called for the flop, which appears to be the case after an overenthusiastic head motion gets him the automatic technical foul call.

What was once an up and down game that plays to the strength of the depth present on the Arkansas bench has slowed dramatically into a pace more fitting North Dakota State's short, yet very talented, bench.

The Bison's Skunberg and the Razorbacks' Ricky Council lead all scorers at the moment with 7 points each.

Johnson draws another foul with a moving screen that allows Jacari White to drive the lane to tie it up at 19-19 with just a shade over seven minutes left in the half. Davis immediately answers with a classic Devo drive off the glass.

The "You suck!" chants have started within the student section.

Joseph Pinion comes in and fouls White hard on the 3-point attempt and the Bison are at the line with a chance to take the lead. White hits 2-of-3 to tie the game before heading over to the bench with the game tied 21-21.

Davis responds again with an easy bucket to bring a feeling of normalcy to a team that has felt a bit out of sync for most of the game. The one thing Arkansas has to be careful about is the Bison's ability to get hot from beyond the arc.

Musselman is throwing together every combination he can put together hoping to find anyone who can hit a shot. As strong as the Hogs look on defense, it's not translating on offense.

Despite this, Arkansas has hit 8-of-12 free throws to stretch the lead to 26-21.

Morgan with an athletic move that opens him up for a powerful dunk to cut it to two at 26-24 with three minutes left.

Brazile hits a three, then runs the floor to block Morgan. Morgan then returns the favor by blocking Derrian Ford before Brazile responds again with a monstrous dunk that gets the crowd going while stretching the lead to 32-24 as the half ticks away.

Davis then drains a turn-around jumper from the free throw line to finally stretch the lead to double digits at 34-24 with a minute left.

Arkansas heads into the half up 34-26.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN THE SECOND HALF

For Arkansas, Musselman will need to keep looking for a combination that has some sort of chemistry offensively.

As for North Dakota State, expect the Bison to try to find a way to get Nelson and Miller hot to complement what Morgan has been able to do with his powerful inside game.

SECOND HALF

Davis with another patented floating lay-up puts Arkansas back up by double-digits.

Skunberg with a turn-around jumper midway through the paint cuts it to 36-30 with just over 18:30 remaining.

North Dakota State with suffocating defense, but as the clock winds down, Council shoots the lane and hits on a blazing spin move to make it 40-31.

Brazile then hits a three from the corner and drives by three Bison for an easy lay-up while drawing the foul as Arkansas is starting to pull away. Brazile hits the free throw and it's not 46-31 just over three minutes into the half.

Council eats up Skunberg on another driving spin move down the middle of the lane for the easy basket and North Dakota State takes a timeout.

Brazile tries to rip the rim off with a dunk attempt from so far out it looked like he had an elastic arm as he windmilled it forward. He was fouled on the play.

It was hard to see what happened, but it looked like Jordan Walsh got kicked in the hamstring and has limped off the court.

Now Anthony Black is on the floor with what appears to be an ankle or achilles injury. He will have to be helped off the court.

Blacked seemed to be working a little better as he got to the edge of the court. It's likely he won't be back in the game even if he is OK.

Brazile with a thunderous slam followed by a reverse slam by Council to kill the small run North Dakota State had put together to make it 53-35.

Council hits a shot from deep in the right corner and he's leading all players with 17 points now.

Arkansas geting sloppy on the offensive end. North Dakota State with back-to-back dunks and is now at the line with a chance to cut the lead to 11 with over eight minutes left.

Another acrobatic shot by Council stops the bleeding for Arkansas to make it 58-45.

Another sloppy turnover by Arkansas and the Bison have a chance to cut it to a single-digit game. However, any time the Razorbacks need an answer, Council pulls out something ridiculous.

An acrobatic shot by Council stretches it back to 62-47.

North Dakota State is starting to look tired. It should be noted that Black has returned to the floor.

Nelson hits a three to give the Bison a glimmer of hope, but Brazile goes to work inside to stretch it back out to 15 at 69-54.

Now Brazile is on the floor holding the back of his ankle. It looks like he will be OK, but that's a lot of Razorbacks down holding various parts of their legs for the first game of the season.

Brazile grabs a pair of rebounds and he now has his first career double-double. He now has 18 points and 11 rebounds as a pair of free throws from Davis extends the lead to 71-55 with just over a minute left.

Brazile buries a three from the top of the key just for emphasis and we're now on 20+ watch as the final 30 seconds tick away.

Davis works the middle and shuffles free for a floater to build a 21-point lead, but Miller buries a three to cut it back to the teens, 76-58.