Razorbacks Make Run at Reaching Walsh's Goal

Pinion, Graham steal the show, make case for more time against UNC-Ashville

Author:
allHOGS Staff
Publish date:
Dec 22, 2022 12:46 AM EST

In this story:

Arkansas Razorbacks

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Following the win over Bradley in North Little Rock, guard Jordan Walsh expressed a personal goal of beating a team by 40 early enough to guarantee Cade Arbogast and Blake Lawson at least eight minutes of well-earned time in the spotlight.

Well, Wednesday night against UNC-Ashville, it appeared the rest of the team took on that goal also as Arkansas knocked off the Bulldogs 85-51 despite not scoring a single field goal in the final 2:42 of the game.

UNC-Ashville was overwhelmed from the outset as the length and athleticism of the Razorbacks was too much.

The Arkansas defense was so exhausting that Bulldogs' forward Nick McMullen fell to the ground around the 10:20 mark and had so little energy to get up as he watched the ball go the other way that he barely crossed mid-court by the time Anthony Black, who was guarding McMullen, got the rebound, pushed the ball up the floor, and worked the ball over to Ricky Council who found a cutting Jalen Graham for the dunk that gave the Hogs a 22-9 lead.

The lead stretched to 30-9 less than a minute later before UNC-Ashville finally reached double digits on a free throw.

Arbogast and Lawson did get extended minutes, clocking in just shy of three minutes of work. It was still a bit short of Walsh's goal, but a strong step in the right direction nonetheless.

Dunks were definitely the story of the night, along with Graham, who led the team with 16 points in only 19 minutes of play. 10 of those points came before the midway mark of the first half.

Dunks and lay-ups were the story for both good and bad reasons.

Musselman will likely have a section of practice dedicated to lay-ups and dunks at some point before SEC play opens next week. That's because the Razorbacks missed so many, even when uncontested.

However, the one person who didn't miss his dunks was Joseph Pinion. The sharpshooter hit the floor and knocked down a couple of quick threes, but then got the house warmed up by letting many of the fans see him dunk for the first time.

Then he put all doubts that he too has ridiculous athleticism with a highlight dunk where the Morrilton product lept just shy of the SEC logo, curling the ball in against his arm before dropping the hammer and bringing down the house.

It left a usually animated bench known for its antics when the rim starts rocking completely stunned while former Arkansas Razorback Joe Kleine instantly declared Pinion an entrant into the college dunk contest at the end of the season.

It was a memorable moment that not only put the freshman in double figures for the first time in his Razorback career, it caused Graham to playfully quip after the game that Pinion proved some white men can jump.

Graham also proved his ability to elevate earlier in the game when Pinion floated a high arching lob that Graham had to get into the stratosphere to pull down for the jam to put every on notice that this was their night.

Musselman's Razorbacks will take a week off to enjoy the holiday festivities before traveling to Baton Rouge to follow up the Liberty Bowl with the SEC opener on the road against LSU at 8 p.m.