The Tschiebwe Ejection That Should Have Been + More Insights from Arkansas vs Kentucky

FAYETTEVILLE — A chippy recreation between Arkansas and Kentucky turned on the ejection of Davonte Davis early within the second half Saturday afternoon.

It was nonetheless a three-point recreation when the junior guard picked up two technical fouls, leading to a six-point possession that propelled the Wildcats to an 88-79 win over the Razorbacks within the regular-season finale at Bud Walton Enviornment.

The play in query occurred on the 18:15 mark and began when Davis was whistled for a foul attempting to struggle by means of a display screen by Oscar Tshiebwe. It gave the impression to be an offensive foul on the Kentucky large man, however when Davis realized it wasn’t, he reacted by demonstratively punching the air in frustration and the official instantly gave him a technical.

Making issues worse, Davis obtained a second technical foul and was ejected through the stoppage of play. It’s unclear precisely what it was for, however presumably as a result of he continued to complain concerning the name.

Arkansas basketball coach Eric Musselman declined to disclose the reason he obtained from the officers, however did contact on how large of a blow it was to his staff that they didn’t have Davis for a lot of second half.

“I’m not going to speak in any respect concerning the referees, as a result of that’s not what we do, in order that a part of the query I’ll go away alone,” Musselman mentioned. “However actually Devo is a man that from a management standpoint, from being a veteran, we’re a greater staff with us and never within the locker room, so we actually missed him. He’s been a defensive stopper for us all season lengthy.”

It was a three-point recreation when the state of affairs unfolded, with Kentucky main 42-39, however Antonio Reeves made all 4 free technical free throws and likewise knocked down a jumper, giving the Wildcats six factors in a span of 9 seconds.

The Razorbacks managed to tug inside 5 about halfway by means of the half, however might by no means get nearer than that and trailed by as many as 14 en path to their third straight loss.

“Any good participant that goes out for a staff, it’s gonna take a toll in your staff,” teammate Nick Smith Jr. mentioned. “However after that it was, we couldn’t lower the lead. We did lower the lead, however we couldn’t get on high to guide.”

The chippy nature of the sport was evident nearly from the bounce. Lower than 4 minutes into the sport, Tshiebwe and Makhel Mitchell needed to be separated after a double foul. The replay appeared to indicate Mitchell taking an elbow to the face. It appeared like a play that’d warrant a Flagrant 2 and automated ejection for Tshiebwe, which CBS guidelines professional Gene Steratore agreed with on the telecast.

As an alternative, Tshiebwe and Anthony Black, who was concerned within the ensuing scuffle, had been assessed with a double technical. Tshiebwe additionally obtained a Flagrant 1 when he hit Kamani Johnson throughout the face late within the half. Nevertheless, as a result of it wasn’t a technical, the large man was not ejected — a Flagrant 1 counts towards the non-public foul depend, however not towards an ejection like a technical foul.

Lower than two minutes after Davis’ ejection, Kentucky’s Lance Ware obtained a technical foul, but it surely wasn’t clear for what.

Extra Struggles vs. Physicality

As a lot as some Arkansas basketball followers might need to complain concerning the officiating, it’s unattainable to disregard two ugly statistics that value the Razorbacks much more.

They went 22 of 34 (64.7%) on the free throw line and, maybe much more damning, made solely 2 of 20 layups, based on the official UA stat broadcast.

Struggles on the charity stripe have turn into widespread for Arkansas, because it has shot below 70% in 15 of its final 19 video games and is taking pictures simply 62.6% over the past 4 video games.

Not ending on the rim, although, has not been as large of a difficulty this season. Arkansas did go 4 of 9 at Tennessee in its final recreation, however that was a bit extra anticipated than the 2-of-20 exhibiting towards Kentucky.

“I feel, No. 1, Tennessee is as bodily (a staff) as you’re going to play towards,” Musselman mentioned. “As we speak, we’ve got not shot that poorly across the rim. We didn’t shoot nice across the rim towards Tennessee, which is to be anticipated as a result of they’re lengthy and bodily. … Perhaps expertise is bothering us slightly bit, as nicely.”

The Razorbacks did have 9 dunks, however had twice as many point-blank misses.

“A variety of rushed photographs,” Nick Smith Jr. mentioned. “We’ve missed plenty of simple ones. We’ve simply obtained to make the straightforward play, get the basket.”

Musselman’s frustrations with how Arkansas dealt with the physicality of Kentucky prolonged past the field rating, as nicely.

“I can’t bear in mind a staff that we’ve had that didn’t get to unfastened balls (like) in that first half,” Musselman mentioned. “At one level, there have been 10 and eight of them they beat us to. That takes physicality to run by means of the ball on unfastened balls.”

No Reply for Antonio Reeves

Sahvir Wheeler had surgical procedure earlier this week and has been sidelined for the previous month. Cason Wallace suffered an ankle damage Wednesday that induced him to overlook Saturday’s recreation.

Down its two main level guards, Kentucky turned to Antonio Reeves and all of the senior did was flip in the very best recreation of his profession — together with his three years at Illinois State.

“We knew when Wallace wasn’t going to play that he was going to be the man,” Musselman mentioned. “I assumed they did a extremely good job of setting screens for him. Their dribble-handoff recreation actually bothered us within the first half. And so they had been bodily setting the screens, very similar to Tennessee was. … I assumed he got here off with nice pace off the dribble-handoffs.”

He poured in a career-high 37 factors, surpassing the 34 he had for the Redbirds towards Valparaiso final February, and was extremely environment friendly in doing so. He was 12 of 17 from the ground, together with 2 of 4 from past the arc, and an ideal 11 of 11 from the free throw line.

It was essentially the most factors by a single participant towards the Razorbacks since Jodie Meeks’ notorious 45-point effort for Kentucky in 2009 and essentially the most ever towards an Eric Musselman-coached faculty staff.

4 completely different gamers had scored 33 factors towards Nevada throughout his tenure in Reno, whereas three had reached 30 factors towards Arkansas since he arrived in Fayetteville.

“That’s the one greatest efficiency that I’ve seen a participant have towards one of many groups that we’ve coached exterior of the NBA clearly, in Reeves’ efficiency in the present day,” Musselman mentioned. “I imply, he was phenomenal. … I assumed he was incredible.”

Up Subsequent for Arkansas Basketball

The common season is now over and the Razorbacks are assured solely two extra video games — no less than one within the SEC Event and no less than one within the postseason, presumably the NCAA Event.

With the loss to Kentucky, Arkansas finishes convention play with an 8-10 document. That’s tied with Mississippi State for ninth place within the league, however the Razorbacks would be the 10 seed in Nashville, Tenn., as a result of the Bulldogs personal the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Arkansas will face 7 seed Auburn at 6 p.m. CT Thursday in its first recreation on the SEC Event. The winner will get 2 seed Texas A&M on the identical time Friday.

“Dropping three in a row, that takes a toll on confidence for our staff,” Nick Smith Jr. mentioned. “However as a pacesetter, I’ve obtained to come back out able to apply and inform the blokes the season’s not over. We’ve simply obtained to come back able to play (Thursday).”

The Razorbacks will be taught their NCAA Event destiny on Choice Sunday, following the SEC Event. The choice present will probably be televised by CBS starting at 5 p.m. CT on March 12.

Different Arkansas Basketball Tidbits

• The Razorbacks dedicated solely six turnovers, their second-best mark of the season. They’d solely 5 of their win over Georgia three video games earlier.
• Ricky Council IV is closing in on 1,000 factors in his collegiate profession. With 16 towards Kentucky, he’s now simply two factors shy of the milestone. He has now scored 513 factors this 12 months, changing into simply the fifth participant to attain 500-plus in his first season with Arkansas basketball, based on HogStats. The gamers forward of Council are Martin Terry (633), Scotty Thurman (540), Moses Moody (539) and Dusty Hannahs (529).
• For the eighth time this season, Arkansas began the Mitchell twins collectively. The transfer labored wonders at Rupp Enviornment final month, however was a lot much less efficient this time round. Makhi and Makhel Mitchell mixed for simply 2 factors on 1 of seven taking pictures, 6 rebounds, 1 help and no blocks in 33 minutes.
• After being held to solely 7 factors and seven rebounds within the first Arkansas vs Kentucky matchup, Oscar Tshiebwe managed to notch a double-double with 12 factors and 13 rebounds in 26 minutes Saturday. He was held scoreless and restricted to solely 4 rebounds within the second half, although. “We tried to be slightly extra bodily,” Musselman mentioned. “We obtained in some foul hassle within the first half with him. He nonetheless performed a very good recreation. You have a look at his numbers, 12 and 13 remains to be a extremely good recreation and his 4 offensive rebounds. He’s an important rebounder and performs actually arduous. I assumed he actually impacted the sport within the first half.”
• Though three others are listed as seniors on the roster, Kamani Johnson is the one one who has no remaining eligibility, so he was the lone participant honored throughout Senior Day festivities previous to the sport. Jalen Graham and the Mitchell twins — Makhi and Makhel — are technically seniors, however might play yet one more 12 months due to the eligibility reduction granted by the NCAA in response to the pandemic.
• 5-star 2023 signee Baye Fall, a giant man from Senegal who now performs at Accelerated Prep in Denver, was in attendance and acknowledged throughout a timeout. He was joined by 2024 five-star goal David Castillo, a guard out of Bartlesville, Okla.

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