Arkansas' Anthony Black expected to play vs. UConn, despite foot injury

Freshman Arkansas guard Anthony Black is on track to play against Connecticut in the Sweet Sixteen tonight. There was concern over a foot injury for Black, but according to college hoops insider Jon Rothstein, the star rookie is expected to suit up and give it a go against the Huskies.

Here was Rothstein’s report, which he tweeted:

“Arkansas’ Anthony Black (foot) is expected to play in tonight’s Sweet 16 game against UConn, per a school spokesman. Averages 12.6 PPG, 5.1 RPG, and 4 APG.”

Black took over point guard duties for the most part this season and is the team’s second-leading scorer and also its best perimeter defender. This Arkansas team lacked guards even before Nick Smith went down for a lot of the year, and Eric Musselman has just had to play Davonte Davis and Anthony Black every minute possible. Those two each average more than 35 minutes per game this year, with Black leading the way by a smidge.

He’s a crucial player for the Razorbacks and needs to play for the Hogs to feel good about their chances. If Black is for some reason unable to play or aggravates his injury during the game, fellow freshman Nick Smith will need to break out of his slump.

Towards the end of the regular season, Smith was finally living up to his pedigree out of high school as one of the best pure scorers in the 2022 recruiting class. However, Smith has really struggled to start the NCAA Tournament. In the Hogs’ first round win over Illinois, Smith played 28 minutes but made two of his 10 shot attempts, scoring just six points — his lowest total in a month. Then, in the second round comeback victory over Kansas, Smith was hardly a factor as he missed all four of his shots in only 16 minutes of action. Instead it was Davonte Davis, the veteran, who carried the offensive load with 25 points before he fouled out with a couple minutes to play.

So, Nick Smith has just six total points on 2-14 shooting so far in the NCAA Tournament. On one hand, Eric Musselman has to be counting his lucky stars that Arkansas was able to muster enough offense to win two tourney games with such poor outings from Smith. But also, Arkansas is going to need better performances out of Smith this weekend if they want to break through and make a Final Four. Especially if Black is limited in any way.