Razorbacks report

Williams was active with texts

Arkansas forward Jaylin Williams didn’t travel with the team to South Carolina for an undisclosed reason, but he texted his thoughts during the game to several players and members of the coaching staff.
(NWA Democrat-Gazette/Andy Shupe)
Arkansas forward Jaylin Williams didn’t travel with the team to South Carolina for an undisclosed reason, but he texted his thoughts during the game to several players and members of the coaching staff. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Andy Shupe)

FAYETTEVILLE -- University of Arkansas forward Jaylin Williams didn't travel with the team to South Carolina for an undisclosed reason, but the freshman from Fort Smith stayed in contact with the coaching staff throughout the Razorbacks' 101-73 victory Tuesday night.

"He was texting with several staff members, graduate assistants," Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman said. "Obviously we didn't know until we grabbed our phones, which for me sometimes doesn't occur until after our [postgame] media session.

"But some of the guys -- after I addressed the team and was heading back to the coaches' locker room -- had grabbed their phones and looked at it, and Jaylin was texting his thoughts on things that were occurring during the game, which I thought was really, really cool."

Musselman said Thursday he had no update on Williams' status for today's game against Texas A&M, but that he's doing fine.

Award semifinalist

Eric Musselman -- who has led the Razorbacks to a No. 12 national ranking, 20-5 record and 10 consecutive SEC victories -- is one of 10 semifinalists for the Naismith National Coach of the Year award, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced Friday.

Loyola-Chicago Coach Porter Moser, a former coach for the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, also is a semifinalist. Moser's Ramblers are ranked No. 20 and have a 22-4 record.

Nate Oats, who led Alabama to its first regular-season conference championship since 2002, is one of two semifinalists from the SEC.

Other semifinalists are Drake's Darian DeVries, Baylor's Scott Drew, Gonzaga's Mark Few, Florida State's Leonard Hamilton, Ohio State's Chris Holtmann, Michigan's Juwan Howard and West Virginia's Bob Huggins.

The Naismith Coach of the Year has been presented annually since 1987. Nolan Richardson is the only Arkansas coach to win it, doing so in 1994 when he led the Razorbacks to the national championship.

'Sideline view'

Coach Eric Musselman said he's not concerned the Razorbacks might look to settle for taking three-point shots against Texas A&M after they hit 15 of 33 from beyond the arc at South Carolina.

"The great thing if you get too three-ball happy is there's some empty chairs to sit in and get a rest and kind of check out the game from the sideline view," Musselman said. "We still want to be who we are, which is attacking the rim, which is getting free throws attempted, which is scoring paint points.

"If we're knocking down the three-ball, I certainly want us to take them. I think the big thing is not one pass and an ill-advised three."

Moody's service

Moses Moody, a freshman guard from Little Rock, is Arkansas' representative on the SEC Community Service Team.

Moody is a member of the UA's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and serves on the athletic department's African American Student-Athlete Leadership Council. He helped the department develop an "EQUALITY" initiative that resulted in all Razorback uniforms and playing facilities featuring the "EQUALITY" logo.

Moody also has done virtual book reading for elementary children and had a social media post to discuss the importance of voting.

Missouri forward Mitchell Smith, a senior from Van Buren, also was named to the SEC Community Service Team.

Good teammate

Arkansas senior Justin Smith made sure teammates Abayomi Iyiola and Emeka Obukwelu got in at the end of the No. 12 Razorbacks' 28-point victory at South Carolina.

Iyiola, a junior who redshirted last season after transferring from Stetson and then underwent major knee surgery over the summer for a torn anterior cruciate ligament, played for the first time in two years when Razorbacks Coach Eric Musselman put him into the game with 1:35 left.

Obukwelu, a senior walk-on, played in his fifth game this season when Musselman put him in with 59 seconds remaining.

"[Smith] told me to put Babye in," Musselman said, using Iyiola's nickname. "Then he came back and told me to put Emeka in.

"I asked him if he wanted to hold up a play card and call a play, too?"

Musselman said he appreciated Smith's gesture.

"I think it's great that he felt that way about his teammates," Musselman said.

Smith had 22 points and eight rebounds in 34 minutes against the Gamecocks before Musselman took him out with 4:27 left.

"I feel a little bad because he was two rebounds shy of another double-double and I took him out," Musselman said. "With covid, we don't get a hard copy of the stat sheet. It's on a computer.

"So I'll chalk that up to not having a stat sheet, knowing he needed two more boards."

Smith has four double-doubles in scoring and rebounding this season.

Aggies and 60s

Texas A&M is holding opponents to an average of 64.9 points and scoring 63.1 points a game.

"They make you run a little bit of clock on offense, and then when they're on offense they run opportunistically," said Eric Musselman, whose Razorbacks are averaging 83.2 points. "So their games are a lot of times grind-it-out games.

"They'll sub a lot. I mean, to try to slow the game down to some degree. When a sub goes to check in a little bit late maybe, then the ref lets them in.

"When the ball goes through the net, we've got to get the ball out quicker, before they can tap it to the referee after they score.

"There are little things that we've dissected and try to study them as much as we possibly can."

Abayomi Iyiola
Abayomi Iyiola
Emeka Obukwelu
Emeka Obukwelu

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