Three-point shooting woes reappear at worst possible time for Arkansas basketball

“Great looks.”

Those two words were said five separate times by Tramon Mark when talking to the media Wednesday night after Arkansas basketball’s latest loss. The Razorbacks suffered a 76-66 defeat on the road to Georgia that dropped their record to 9-6 overall and 0-2 on in the SEC.

Mark was referring to the Hogs’ 3-point shot attempts. He felt like Arkansas executed its offense and found openings from downtown against the Bulldogs, but they just couldn’t convert. Arkansas finished the night 3-of-21 from 3-point line, and the ice-cold shooting was a huge difference in another demoralizing defeat.

“I thought we had good ball movement. I thought we had good spacing. We ran more middle pick-and-rolls,” Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman said. “But the 3-of-21 from three, I mean, if you’re a shooter, you’ve got to make open shots.”

Struggles from downtown have now become a two-year problem for the Razorbacks. Arkansas ranked 318th in the country last year, shooting 31.3% from 3-point range. 

Musselman knew this was an issue that needed to be fixed, so he went into the transfer portal and brought sharpshooters like Jeremiah Davenport and Khalif Battle to Fayetteville. He also hoped Davonte Davis’ prowess in the SEC last season would carry over to this campaign, and Trevon Brazile would return for a full season. There was plenty of optimism Arkansas would be serviceable from 3-point land.

The Hogs had made strides, entering Wednesday ranked 139th in the country and shooting 34.3% in the category, but they’re reverting back to old ways in the SEC. Arkansas is 10-of-45 (22.2%) from three through two league games.

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“I shot 0-for-4 from three,” Mark said before going on his rant about all of the misses.

“My last three was a great look. I think I shot one that was kind of forced, but all the other ones were good looks. But the other guys like (Battle) and (Brazile) got great looks. Keyon (Menifield Jr.) got great looks. I passed to them in transition and we got great looks. We just got to make them. We weren’t making them tonight. Devo got great looks.”

The missed threes were hardly the only reason Arkansas fell to Georgia. The Hogs committed 10 turnovers in the first half as Georgia built a 10-point lead at halftime. The Bulldogs scored 25 points off turnovers and won the bench battle 40-19.

But this version of Musselman’s Razorbacks isn’t the same defensive stalwart as previous years. Arkansas struggles to keep guards out of the paint and gives up too many wide open 3-pointers. If the defense is going to take a step back, the offense must take a step forward to replicate the program’s recent success.

“I mean, 3-of-21. We had a bunch of defenders in the past that could go 3-for-21,” Musselman said.

Despite a small surge in non-conference play, the three-point shooting looks like a problem, again. That’s bad news for a team now facing pressure every time it steps out on the court, with each loss representing another hit to an uncertain NCAA Tournament resume.