HawgBeat's coverage of Arkansas basketball is brought to you by CJ's Butcher Boy Burgers , which has locations in Fayetteville and Russellville.

Tip off of the rematch is set for noon Saturday and the game will be televised on the SEC Network.

Getting back on track won’t be easy for Arkansas, as it returns to Fayetteville for a home game against Mississippi State. The Bulldogs beat the Razorbacks 77-70 in Starkville last month.

The result drops the Razorbacks to 16-8 overall and, more importantly, 4-7 in SEC play. They have lost six of their last eight games, with one of those wins being a non-conference victory over TCU in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.

In fact, according to the SEC Network broadcast, the Razorbacks had trailed by 10 or more points for a total of only 10 minutes and 59 seconds out of 940 minutes over their first 23 games. Against the Volunteers, they trailed by that much for 28 minutes and 18 seconds, including the final 27-plus minutes of the game.

It was by far their largest margin of defeat this season, blowing past their seven-point losses to Western Kentucky, Kentucky and Mississippi State. Arkansas had been one of only nine Division I teams - out of 353 - without a double-digit loss this year.

The Razorbacks were dominated from start to finish and trailed by as many as 27 points in their 82-61 loss at Tennessee.

For the first time during the Eric Musselman era, Arkansas was on the wrong end of a blowout Tuesday night.

Jones off the Bench



Rumors that star Mason Jones would be suspended for the Tennessee game proved not to be true, but he did come off the bench for the first time this season.

Musselman said in his pregame interview with Chuck Barrett that it was purely a strategic move in an effort to get some scoring off the bench and to shake up the Volunteers’ defensive game plan.

“We need some type of punch off the bench, and then the way we look at these games, especially the later games, is every team is geared toward stopping Mason early in the game and face guarding him, so we felt like maybe this is a little bit different look for our opponent,” Musselman said. “We certainly need Mason to play at a high level and to give us a lot of points, but maybe this changes things up and gives us a little bit more scoring punch off the bench."

However, SEC Network analyst Joe Kleine - who played for the Razorbacks in the 1980s - seemed to indicate it was actually a disciplinary move, saying the first-year coach was “sending a message.”

Jones was seen on television arguing with Musselman during a timeout in Saturday’s loss at Missouri.

Scoring Droughts

Arkansas had its worst shooting performance of the season Tuesday night, making just 30.6 percent (15 of 49) of its field goals. Its previous low was 33.3 percent (19 of 57) against Kentucky last month.

Those offensive struggles were on display in two nearly identical stretches - one in each half.

The Razorbacks went 7 minutes and 44 seconds without a field goal between the 16:45 and 9:01 marks in the first half, and then 8 minutes and 40 seconds without a field goal between the 17:47 and 9:07 marks in the second half.

It was the second straight game in which Arkansas got off to a really slow start offensively. Against Missouri on Saturday, it didn’t even have a field goal attempt until Desi Sills made a three-pointer exactly four minutes into the game.

After scoring just nine points in the first 10 minutes against the Tigers, the Razorbacks managed just six points over that span against the Volunteers.

Turnover Fest

One reason Arkansas had a hard time getting anything going offensively is because it couldn’t protect the ball. In the game’s opening 10 minutes, it committed nine turnovers.

Even though they had only one more the rest of the half and four after halftime, the Razorbacks still blew past their season average of 12.0, which ranked second in the SEC coming into the night.

It was a similar story against Missouri, as it had 10 turnovers in the first half and picked up its 11th less than 30 seconds into the second half before committing only three more over the game’s final 24 minutes.

Minutes for Henderson

Starters Adrio Bailey and Reggie Chaney each picked up a pair of fouls in the first seven minutes of the game, leading to Ethan Henderson getting significant minutes Tuesday night.

The Little Rock Parkview product played a season-high 17 minutes, including 13 in the first half. Coming into the game, he had played just 14 total minutes in SEC action.

Musselman wasn’t tempted to put either of his usual big men back in before halftime after their two quick fouls because Henderson actually played well. The 6-foot-9 sophomore was solid on defense, grabbed four rebounds, notched a steal and even threw down a dunk.

It was Henderson’s first field goal since Dec. 3 against Austin Peay and just the third time in his career that he played 10 or more minutes.

That early foul trouble also led to Jamario Bell getting some action before halftime. A member of Arkansas’ football team the last five seasons, Bell hadn’t played meaningful minutes in basketball since he graduated from Junction City in 2015.

He grabbed a rebound and blocked two shots in five minutes. His only other appearances this season came in the closing seconds of blowout wins over Tulsa and Vanderbilt.

Jones Stays Cold

A 40-point performance against South Carolina last week capped a historic stretch for Jones, as he became the first player in school history with three straight games with at least 30 points.

He cooled off significantly in Saturday’s loss at Missouri, shooting just 3 of 14 from the floor and missing all six of his attempts beyond the arc. He did manage to score 17 points, though, thanks to going 11 of 14 from the charity stripe.

Coming off the bench at Tennessee didn’t seem to help. Jones made all six of his free throws, but shot 1 of 10 from the floor. That included a 1-of-5 performance from three-point range.

It has been a significant drop off in production for Jones. On the heels of a six-game stretch in which he averaged 27.2 points on 46.5 percent shooting, he’s scored 26 total points on 4 of 24 shooting (16.7%) in Arkansas’ last two games.

Bright Spots

Jimmy Whitt Jr. scored a team-high 19 points for the Razorbacks. Although he didn’t shoot particularly well (4 of 13) and had a couple of his shots blocked, he managed to draw 10 fouls and make 11 of 16 free throws.

Making his sixth straight start, Reggie Chaney made all four of his shots to score 10 points, pulled down a team-high six rebounds and had two of Arkansas’ six assists. The sophomore from Tulsa is averaging 8 points on 60 percent shooting and 7 rebounds since entering the starting lineup.