Eric Musselman: Nick Smith Jr. has returned to practice

Former five-star recruit Nick Smith Jr. has recently returned to practice, Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman told reporters Wednesday.

Smith, the No. 3 player in the 2022 class, per the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies, has not competed in a game since Dec. 17. He was averaging 12.8 points per game before going down with a knee injury.

It’s unsure when he will make his return to the floor for the Razorbacks, but Musselman and company would love to see him back on the court as soon as possible. After starting the season 11-1, Arkansas has gone 7-6 without Smith on the court.

Still, the Hogs have been able to string together some wins and will seek their fourth in a row this Saturday against Mississippi State.

Eric Musselman commends Arkansas players for playing through ailments

A dominant second half performance helped propel Arkansas to an impressive road win over Kentucky on Tuesday, defeating the Wildcats 88-73 in Rupp Arena. The Razorbacks may not have looked like it, but they were battling some injuries and ailments on Tuesday night, which head coach Eric Musselman discussed after their win. 

“I mean Anthony’s toughness is incredible, I’ve talked about these guys playing through injury and Makhel continues to get rehab every day on his ankle,” Musselman said.

Musselman is referring to freshman guard Anthony Black and senior forward Makhel Mitchell, who looked far from injured on Tuesday night. The two both had superb nights on both ends of the floor. Black was the team’s second-leading scorer with 19 points, also filling the stat sheet with four rebounds and five assists and adding a block and a career-high tying five steals to his night. 

Mitchell had a monster night protecting the paint with five blocks, while also scoring a season-high 15 points on an efficient 77.8% shooting from the field. Musselman also revealed that the Razorbacks’ leading scorer Ricky Council has been fighting the injury bug as well despite showing no signs of slowing down.

“Ricky’s back got tight again tonight, during a couple huddles he had to stand up because sitting down it got tight,” Musselman said. 

Council scored 20 points versus Kentucky, recording his eighth 20-plus point scoring outing of the season. There’s no question that he’s established himself as one of the most dangerous scorers in the country, averaging the second most points per game in the SEC with 17.1. But he also leads the SEC in minutes per game averaging 35.3 minutes per game.