SEC MEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND

Minute to minute: UA’s lack of depth makes task tough

Arkansas guard Desi Sills (left facing) and coach Eric Musselman (right facing) are shown during a game against Missouri on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2020, in Fayetteville.
Arkansas guard Desi Sills (left facing) and coach Eric Musselman (right facing) are shown during a game against Missouri on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2020, in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- The University of Arkansas basketball team faces long odds with a short bench this week in Nashville, Tenn.

To win the SEC Tournament -- and earn the conference's automatic NCAA Tournament bid -- the Razorbacks need to win five games in five days.

That figures to be especially challenging because the Razorbacks typically have relied on seven players for most of the minutes in SEC games.

Senior guard Jimmy Whitt is averaging 38.0 minutes in SEC games, junior guard Mason Jones and sophomore guard Isaiah Joe 35.2 each, and sophomore guard Desi Sills 32.1. Whitt is tied with Alabama guard Kira Lewis for averaging the most minutes in SEC play, and Jones and Joe are tied for eighth.

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"It's going to be tough," Joe said when asked about winning five games in five days. "But it's doable."

The Razorbacks (19-12, 7-11) are attempting to become the first team to do it at the SEC Tournament since it was expanded from four days to five in 2013 with the addition of Missouri and Texas A&M to the conference.

Auburn has advanced the farthest as a team playing on the first day of the five-day format. The Tigers beat Mississippi State, Texas A&M and LSU in 2015 as a No. 13 seed to reach the semifinals before losing to Kentucky 91-67.

Two games were added to the start of the tournament with the SEC going from 12 to 14 teams, with the No. 11 seed playing the No. 14 and the No. 12 seed playing the No. 13.

Arkansas, which won its only SEC Tournament championship in 2000 by winning four games, fell to the No. 11 seed this week after losing at Texas A&M 77-69 on Saturday.

That loss dropped the Razorbacks from No. 41 to No. 47 in the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings, which likely ended their hopes for an NCAA Tournament at-large berth.

Arkansas will play No. 14 seed Vanderbilt (11-20, 3-15) around 8:30 p.m. Central Wednesday in Bridgestone Arena after No. 12 seed Ole Miss plays No. 13 seed Georgia.

"I don't think we can get too far ahead of ourselves," Whitt said. "We've got to focus on a game at a time.

"Our biggest thing is: How can we beat Vandy? What's going to be our game plan? What are going to be our themes? How are we going to go in there and be the best team that night?"

Razorbacks Coach Eric Musselman said his team's total focus is on Vanderbilt.

"It's utterly insane to talk about five games in five days," Musselman said. "I mean, that's ludicrous.

"We have one game, and if we don't win that one game, talking about anything beyond Wednesday is senseless. We have a one-game season. If we are able to advance and win that game, we'll get ready for the next game and then so on and so forth.

"To do anything other than figure out how to beat Vanderbilt would not be very smart. That's the same thing for anybody that plays on Wednesday. It's the same thing for anybody that plays on Thursday. If you're thinking about anything else, then good luck to you."

Vanderbilt finished last in the SEC regular-season standings, but the Commodores bring a two-game winning streak into the SEC Tournament after beating Alabama 87-79 in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and beating South Carolina 83-74 at home.

"There's not anybody in the SEC that wants to play Vanderbilt right now, I can tell you that," Musselman said. "They've played well the last two games."

Arkansas beat Vanderbilt 75-55 in Walton Arena on Jan. 15 in the teams' only regular-season meeting. Whitt led the Razorbacks with a career-high 30 points.

The Commodores beat LSU 99-90 at home -- the same score as the Razorbacks beat the Tigers in Walton Arena on Wednesday, Musselman pointed out.

"They're scoring the ball a lot better than when we saw them earlier," Musselman said. "And as we all know, you throw out any game that's happened in the past because it's completely and utterly irrelevant."

Vanderbilt won't be playing on its campus in Memorial Gym, but the Commodores are in their hometown to face Arkansas.

"It's a huge challenge," Whitt said. "Vandy's been playing well and they get to play at home, which is unique in a conference tournament. So we know we're going into a hostile environment."

Before a reporter told him, Musselman said he didn't know the Arkansas-Vanderbilt winner will play No. 6 seed South Carolina (18-13, 10-8) on Thursday night.

"I had a meeting with our staff and it was like, 'Look, between now and when the game ends against Vanderbilt, I don't want anybody talking about anything other than, 'How do we beat Vanderbilt?' " Musselman said. "That's how much respect I have for them. That's how I feel about how well they're playing.

"I mean, I'm just going to keep saying it. I'm not saying it to say it. It's the truth. Vanderbilt is playing good basketball. They get to sleep in their own beds, they're not traveling. This is a problematic game in a lot of ways."

Musselman said while Vanderbilt represents a one-game season, he has packed enough clothes to last through the weekend.

"There's more than one polo in my bag right now," he said.

Musselman also has a fondness for Bridgestone Arena, where his Nevada team won its first two games in the 2018 NCAA Tournament. The Wolf Pack beat Texas 87-83 in overtime and rallied from a 22-point deficit in the final 11 minutes to beat Cincinnati 75-73.

"I do like that arena, I'll tell you that," Musselman said. "We've won some games there before. That was the year we went to the Sweet 16. It's my favorite building."

Favorite next to Walton Arena, right?

"Yeah," Musselman said with a smile. "Exactly."

Sports on 03/10/2020

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