Eric Musselman says Jordan Walsh is playing with 'great confidence'

Arkansas freshman Jordan Walsh is fresh off of a stellar performance for the Razorbacks on Saturday, leading the team with a career-high 18 points in their 76-57 win over Bradley. Following their victory, Razorbacks head coach Eric Mussleman spoke about the physical and mental growth of the true freshman in his first season with the team.

“He’s playing with great confidence I think number one,” Musselman said. “I think number two, he’s making threes with his feet set, he’s not taking a large volume of threes but the quality of shot selection that Jordan has had has been really really good.”

Walsh has made 50% of his three-point attempts in his last two games for the Razorbacks, but has also been shooting lights on in general from the field. In his 18-point outing on Saturday, Walsh didn’t miss a single basket, making all seven of his shot attempts while also adding three rebounds and four steals to his showing.

Mussleman also believes he’s improved his finishing ability as well through some lessons learned during the team’s exhibition matches in Europe this summer.

“And then I think in Europe he learned going to the basket to finish through contact and to go strong at the cup, I think he’s really improved in that area too of going with some authority to the rim,” Musselman said.

Walsh’s role on the team within their first 11 games has already made a big impact on their success, and if he continues to improve even more throughout the season, the sky’s the limit for him and this talented Razorbacks team.

Eric Musselman shares how Arkansas forced more turnovers against Bradley

Arkansas handled business on Saturday when they faced Bradley from the Missouri Valley Conference, defeating the Braves 76-57. The Razorbacks dominated the game in a variety of different ways, and one that stood out the most was on the defensive end forcing turnovers, which head coach Eric Musselman discussed after the game.

“I hope that defensive tenacity, active hands, we’ve talked a lot about it,” Musselman said. “Trying to attack the dribble when the ball hits the floor and is coming back up to the palm of the ball handler to try to be really aggressive with your digs on the dribble.”

The Razorbacks forced Bradley into 27 turnovers on Saturday, getting their hands on an impressive 16 steals in the contest. Arkansas currently has six players on their roster averaging a steal or more per game, but Musselman still believes there’s room for even more improvement in that department.

“And then I think the next part of that is how do you get deflections when your man passes?” Musselman asked. “I think we’ve always been a good team jumping in passing lanes, but I think we’ve added attacking the dribble a little bit better and trying to attack the pass with deflection. And then when you’re long and athletic, that certainly helps.”

Arkansas does boast a tall and long roster, with a starting lineup featuring 6-foot-5 guard Nick Smith Jr. as their shortest starting player. They definitely have a lot of defensive potential, which was clearly on display for them Saturday, and it will be interesting to see if they can continue to make it a calling card of theirs moving forward.