The 3-seeded Arkansas Razorbacks came back from an early deficit to dominate the 14-seeded Colgate Raiders on both ends of the floor and take home the first-round victory, 85-68.
Senior forward Justin Smith led the way for the Razorbacks. He played all 40 minutes of the game and notched a 29-point, 13-rebound double-double. Smith also recorded 2 blocks and 5 steals in a commanding performance on both sides of the ball.
The whole Razorback squad locked down defensively, forcing 22 turnovers. In fact, Colgate made only one more field goal than it had turnovers.
Upset Alert
The game did not look good early for the Razorbacks. Colgate flexed its second-ranked scoring offense to go on a 16-2 tear. The run began with 10 straight points and ended with Colgate grabbing a 14 point lead.
Senior guard Jack Ferguson came off the bench and scored all 11 of his points on that run. They did all this without a single make from senior guard Jordan Burns. Usually the team’s best scorer, he got into foul trouble early and had 0 points at halftime.
The Razorbacks Answers
With their backs against the wall, the Razorbacks came alive in dramatic fashion. The team seemed to flip a switch, scoring an incredible 19 straight points.
That run included 17 straight to take back the lead before halftime. The Razorback’s senior guard Jalen Tate scored or assisted on 10 of those 17 points.
“He really does a lot of things for us, he really settles us down on offense and just gets us into our spots and our sets, and puts everybody in the right place,” Smith said. “He was definitely a big component in that run, I’m glad that he was able to stay out of foul trouble this game. We really needed him out there and he definitely delivered.”
Tate sat for just two minutes all game and was a huge reason the team got back into the game. He finished with 4 assists and 7 rebounds to go along with 15 points.
A Change in Tempo
A large part of the Razorback’s run was their forcing of the issue on both ends. Not a single one of the buckets on that 19-0 run came from beyond the arc. The Razorbacks were aggressive, going right at Colgate’s defense and showing off some impressive post-to-post passing.
The team also went into a full-court press, jump starting their defense.
“I thought our defense was incredible, our full court ‘55 defense’ to speed the game up on that 17-0 run to end the first half,” Head Coach Eric Musselman said.
Musselman said that the ‘55 defense’ was 1 of 4 full court defenses that they can go to.
A Game of Runs
Colgate came out of halftime swinging. Directly after the Razorback’s 19 point run, Colgate rattled off 9 straight. Three straight threes, from Tucker Richardson, Burns, and Nelly Cummings, gave the lead right back to Colgate.
From there, the game was on. From there, the lead for either team did not go above 6 points for 11 minutes of game-time.
The teams traded punch after punch, until the Razorbacks finally delivered the knockout blow.
The Razorbacks Grab Control
With 8:41 left, the game tied, and the Razorbacks again showed their grit. They went on a 15-2 run to take control of the game for good. Junior guard JD Notae came off the bench to hold the Razorbacks seal the deal.
Notae scored 8 of his 14 over that stretch, making big bucket after big bucket. His final three of the game came with just under 4 minutes left. It gave the Razorbacks a 13 point lead, effectively ending the game.
Up Next
The Razorbacks will be moving on to the round of 32, where they will face Texas Tech. The program will be looking to reach its first Sweet 16 since 1996.
“There was no celebrating in the locker room tonight, the other tournaments that we’ve been able to advance in, there’s a lot of celebration, even after game one, tonight there was none,” Musselman said. “When I walked in and asked if they were happy and all right, they said ‘Coach, we were supposed to win’, which is the mindset that you want your basketball team to have, and we know this next game is going to be even more of a challenge.”
