Arkansas basketball falls to Baylor with early struggles against zone defense

DALLAS — Arkansas basketball can expect to be inundated with lessons across the first few weeks of the season. A program under a new head coach with an entirely revamped roster is still figuring out everything from how to win, to how to break down a zone defense.

The latter proved to be the biggest learning curve for the No. 16 Razorbacks (1-1) in a 72-67 loss to No. 8 Baylor on Saturday night. The Bears opened up in a zone defense, and a decisive start from Baylor (1-1) proved to be enough in John Calipari’s first loss with the Hogs.

“We came out lackadaisical, not knowing they were going to go zone. I mean, it was a surprise to us,” Arkansas guard Boogie Fland said. “I feel like we picked it up going into the second half.”

By the midway point of the first half, Baylor had a lead hovering around double figures. The Bears carried a 42-33 advantage into the locker room, playing mostly a matchup zone.

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The defense tricked Arkansas into settling for 3s, and the Razorbacks missed their first nine attempts from long range. They finished the night 5 of 20 and are now 9 of 39 (23%) on the season.

According to Calipari, Arkansas’ preseason injuries may have played a part in the rough start against the first defense consistently playing, including the exhibition games.

“It can’t be on them because we just haven’t worked that much against zone because we haven’t scrimmaged. We haven’t had … we’ve had five guys for weeks,” Calipari said. “Halftime we went in and said, ‘All right, we got to do it this way,’ and I think you saw that we moved the ball.”

In addition to settling for 3s, Arkansas just didn’t move the ball crisply enough against Scott Drew’s defense. Calipari was yelling at his players to make more passes throughout the first 20 minutes.

Nov 9, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks guard…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/arkansas-basketball-falls-baylor-early-100611359.html

Author : Ft. Smith Southwest Times Record

Publish date : 2024-11-10 10:06:00

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