<LINK_TEXT text=“http://www.wholehogsports.com/news/2016 … r-houston/”>http://www.wholehogsports.com/news/2016/dec/07/5-observations-arkansas-84-72-win-over-houston/</LINK_TEXT>
— Manny’s impact, especially late when he had 4 points, 3 boards and 2 assists during the 14-3 run that iced the game. Also had some really solid defense, as usual. On Macon’s 4-point play, Manny came up with the strip to start the break and had great court awareness to find Daryl on the wing. 6 points, 7 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal, 0 turnovers. Solid.
— Daryl didn’t look like someone who’d been injured Saturday and missed Sunday’s practice. He just plays with a confidence that’s contagious. Scored 17 and hit 3-4 3s. Leads the team with a 60.7 true shooting percentage.
— I thought the halfcourt defense was largely pretty solid. Houston is a good offensive team, so it was going to score some points. The biggest issue defensively was when they didn’t get set. Got caught napping a few times and Sampson had a nice pressure breaker that caused some problems.
In the halfcourt, the Cougars hit some tough shots. There were times the Hogs broke down, but overall I thought the man defense was pretty good. Mostly switched across the board, which kept them from having to play 4 on 3 off blitzes/traps very often. Rotations were generally good. The switch to the 2-3 zone was interesting. Yielded some looks and crevices. Allowed 107.5 per 100, which isn’t great but better than the 123.4 they came in averaging. LSU did hold them to 94.2, for reference. Cougars got cold/tired late and missed some makable shots, but overall I thought it was a step in the right direction against a good opponent.
— Dusty played well off the bench again, scoring 17 in 17. He’s averaged 15 points per game in 19 minutes the last two while hitting 5-10 from 3. Allows the defense to get off to a better start and allows him to work as the unquestioned main option in a second unit that is destroying opponents. The four-man grouping of him, Anton, Arlando (who I thought had some really nice defensive work) and Trey (solid game, too) has outscored teams 48-13 in 18:14 the last two games, with C.J. and Adrio working in there as the fifth guy. Hogs’ bench outscored Austin Peay and Houston a combined 89-26.
— The depth showed. Mike’s rotation has been 11 deep the last 3 games. Macon, Hannahs, Kingsley and Dustin were all in double-figures while Anton had 9 and allowed Mike to sit Jaylen, who had a rough game. He’s got options. Trey had some big moments. C.J. can score. They have four guys averaging 10+, six averaging 8+ and eight averaging 6+.
— Stray thoughts