By PAUL GOTHAM
BUFFALO, N.Y. — One year after taking the Arkansas men’s basketball team to a regional final for the first time in more than two decades, Eric Musselman and the Razorbacks are one win away from reaching the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament for a second straight year.
Standing in the way of the fourth-seeded Razorbacks (26-8) is No. 12 New Mexico State and Teddy “Buckets” Allen.
Allen scored 37 points including 18 of the last 21 in the Aggies 70-63 upset of No. 5 UConn in the West Region’s first round.
“I thought it was really cool, to be honest with you, that New Mexico State found a hot hand, and the other four guys on the team were so selfless that they kept feeding him,” Musselman said during Friday’s media session. “Sometimes teams will come down the floor and do that for two or three possessions, and then somebody will take a shot just because they think it’s his turn. I thought what Coach (Chris) Jans did and the guys on the floor was really cool. It was reminiscent of teammates understanding that a guy was cooking and to let him roll.”
Allen, who missed his first four shots of the night, finished 10-of-24 from the floor and 13-of-13 at the free throw line to set a KeyBank Center NCAA Tournament game record.
“Certainly the performance that he put forth [Thursday] night against a really, really good defensive team with a great defensive coach in Coach (Dan) Hurley, I mean, it was a remarkable performance for sure.”
Arkansas opened the tournament with a 75-71 win over No. 13 Vermont. Stanley Umude led the Razorbacks with 21 points. JD Notae scored 17 despite struggling with foul trouble.
The focus for the Razorbacks, though, on Saturday night will be neutralizing Allen who Jans described as “bad-shot taker and a bad-shot maker.”
“I think the people that have followed our team know that we put a high premium on trying to let our guys know that we want to try to contain or make difficult decisions and difficult shots by guys that are star players on the other side every team,” said Musselman who spent nine years in the NBA including three as a head coach. “I think the thing with New Mexico State, he is a dynamic scorer, talking about the best offensive player in their league, but they also have two other All-League players as well.”
Point guard Sir Jabari Rice averages 12.2 points along with 3.3 assists for NMSU and Johnny McCants scores 8.5 while grabbing 5.3 rebounds.
“Rice gives them great size and great length and three-point shooting,” Musselman noted. “Every game you have a decision to make. Do you try to make the opposing team’s best players take difficult shots and maybe spy on them a little bit, or do you try to shut down the other players and let those guys, as some coaches say, get theirs?”
UConn rotated Tyrese Martin (6-foot-6) and Andre Jackson, Jr. (6-foot-6) on Allen throughout the first half. Tyler Polley (6-foot-9) was added to the assignment in the second half.
“Teddy is a good offensive player, so a lot of focus is going to be on him,” senior guard Au’Diese Toney (6-foot-6) said. “The big line-up we have, we can switch one through five. Anybody can guard him, especially in transition. I feel comfortable with the versatility we have to be able to slow him down a little bit.”
Allen (6-foot-6) connected on 4-of-7 attempts from behind the 3-point arc Thursday’s win.
“Him scoring over length all night, I think that will be a big challenge for him,” Arkansas graduate guard Trey Wade (6-foot-6) said. “We’re going to make it as hard as we can for him.”
Thursday’s performance was Allen’s fifth this season of 30 or more points.
“The thing that people are surprised most about him is when you get up on him, he is big,” NMSU head coach Chris Jans said of Allen. “Like, he is big and brawny and strong. He is not a great vertical athlete, but he is determined, and he works his tail off. He is the hardest-working kid I’ve ever had.”
On Thursday, UConn went with a 1-3-1 zone defense for one possession that forced a turnover, but the Huskies struggled to score and could not consistently get set on the defensive end of the floor during the second half.
Arkansas set a NCAA Tournament program record committing just five turnovers in its opening-round win.
“It’s such a short turnaround time,” said Musselman whose team played the last game on Thursday. “Unfortunately, I’m not going to feel as comfortable going into this game as I did even yesterday. I mean, we had some days to prepare for Vermont. That’s not going to be the case.
“Our preparation even from this moment on is going to be much different. The way we practice today (Friday) will be a lot less taxing than any practice that I’ve had since I’ve been at Arkansas.”
Last year’s regional final appearance was the first for Arkansas since 1995 when Nolan Richardson and the Hogs advanced to the national final (lost to UCLA, 89-78).
The Razorbacks’ 2020-21 season ended with an 81-72 lost to eventual champion, Baylor. Arkansas was the only team to stay within single digits of the Bears (during NCAA Tournament play) who went on to beat Houston (78-59) in the national semi-final and Gonzaga (86-70) in the championship.
Musselman was the head coach of Golden State (2002-04) and Sacramento (2006-07).
An 8:40 p.m. tipoff is slated. TNT will televise the game.
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