Eric Musselman discusses Devo Davis' return, conditioning

Arkansas G Davonte Davis returned from a three-game absence this weekend. He looked like he hadn’t missed any time at all, though, considering he played almost the entire game off of the bench for the ‘Hogs.

Eric Musselman spoke about Davis’ return in his postgame press conference following the 78-75 win over Georgia on Saturday. He credited Davis for staying in the right shape to come back and handle those minutes and the kind of workload that came with it.

“I think he knew the conditioning. We had discussed that, on Tuesday, about the importance of his conditioning,” said Musselman. “I saw him working. We wear whatever those jackets are called where you can monitor workload. He really busted his behind this week to play catch-up a little bit from a conditioning standpoint.”

However, it still took a lot out of the senior guard after a two-week leave from in-game action during conference play.

“I mean he did ask to come out tonight, which, since I’ve been coaching him, is the first time I can remember him asking to get a quick blow,” admitted Musselman.

In 35 minutes as a reserve, Davis went for four points, four rebounds, three assists, and a pair of steals. He made his lone shot attempt, a make from three-point range, while splitting a pair of free throws.

Having Davis back out on the floor was a positive for the Razorback offense according to Musselman. He provides a versatility to the lineup where he can play several positions and be effective wherever they put him.

“Like I said, he’s a guy that understands all four positions on the floor,” Musselman explained. “We were able to play him at the four tonight and our offense, our sets? We could still get into them.”

Davis’ return gives Arkansas an experienced veteran in their lineup that they missed to end January and start February. He proved that based on the effort that he gave in a victory that pushed the team back over .500 on the year.

“(Devo) played really hard. He had some big loose balls,” said Musselman.

Musselman thankful that fans were receptive to Davis’ return

On Saturday, Davonte Davis made his return to the Arkansas lineup.

He had not played since January 24th against Ole Miss after the program announced his absence ahead of the team’s matchup against Kentucky on January 27th.

After multiple meetings with Eric Musselman, Davis came back in Arkansas’ three-point win over Georgia this past weekend. When Davis checked into the game, fans inside Bud Walton Arena rained down their support and Davis wasn’t the only one who was grateful for the reaction.

“I’m very thankful for the fans that, when he came in, that’s how they responded,” Musselman said postgame