Sweet Spartan Revenge: UNC-Greensboro Beats Razorbacks

Last year UNC-Greensboro came close to win over Hogs, but this one never in doubt

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — A year after coming close against Arkansas, UNC-Greensboro claimed a massive scalp, 78-72. They handed the Razorbacks' first loss of the season. A late flurry of triples was a day late and a dollar short and did little to mask the abysmal 4-for-23 from deep for the Hogs. 

"We have to make adjustments," coach Eric Musselman said. "We can’t keep doing the same thing, because every team’s personality, every team’s personnel strengths and weaknesses are different. I’ve got to come up with a little bit different scheme than what we’ve seen thus far. And we will. Whether it works or not, I don’t know."

One game after Musselman gave his team a failing grade defending the three against Old Dominion, one of the top marksmen in the country descended on Fayetteville to give Musselman more headaches. UNC-Greensboro Spartan guard Keyshawn Langley, who shot 42% from deep a year ago, made four triples in the first half as the Spartans raced out to an early 26-19 lead. 

The visitors gave the Razorbacks all they could handle in the opening exchanges. Meanwhile, the Hogs' shooting woes continued from the field and deep. Arkansas started the game 6-for-19 from the field and only made one three-pointer the entire first half. 

Mounting frustration forced the passionate Musselman to sprint on the floor to call a timeout and give a stern lecture to guard El Ellis for taking an ill-advised shot at the 6:51 mark of the opening half. 

The final 60 seconds of the opening 20 minutes encapsulated the lethargic showing by Musselman's team. Trevon Brazile committed Arkansas' 12th turnover, while Langley hit his fourth triple on the half's final possession, scoring 18 of his 23 points in the first half.  The Razorbacks had no one in double figures entering intermission.  UNC-Greensboro stretched its lead to 38-24 as the teams headed for the locker room. 

"You can't have a bad shooting night and a bad defensive night," guard Tramon Mark said. "If you have both of those, you are not going to win the game."

The snowball of bad news continued out of the break, Makhi Mitchell quickly picked up his third and fourth foul less than 2 minutes into the second half, forcing him to the bench. Arkansas' defense, which had been passable for most of the first half, suddenly gave up easy interior shots on three straight possessions, allowing the Spartans to keep the Hogs at arm's length. 

With the Hogs incapable of making any jump shot, Arkansas reverted to the archaic way of getting three points, the three-point play. A series of and-ones cut the lead to just eight, finally giving the rambunctious crowd something to cheer about. The momentum pendulum finally swung as Arkansas continued to attack the basket. A Mark layup cut the deficit to just 50-46. 

Davonte "Devo" Davis ended an over 8-minute stretch for Arkansas without a made jump shot with a turnaround with 7:51 left to go. A quick 5-0 Spartan spurt keyed by a Joryam Saizonou triple, UNC-Greensboro's ninth. Much of the Hogs' hard work was erased and the lead was extended back to double figures and all but put this game away with around 4 minutes left. 

"The only good thing about this is it’s still early in the season," Mark said. "We’re about to leave for the Bahamas. We can get right back on track, take it game by game, possession by possession."

The Hogs will look to bounce back as they play away from Bud Walton Arena for the first time this season. Arkansas takes on Stanford in the opening game of the Battle 4 Atlantis in Nassau, Bahamas. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Nov. 22. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU and FuboTV.

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