Eric Musselman raves about development of Layden Blocker

Arkansas took on Texas A&M on Tuesday night in a rematch of an earlier season bout, which the Razorbacks won. It was much the same on Tuesday for Eric Musselman and the Razorbacks, this time on the road at College Station.

The Razorbacks surged ahead late in the first half and then held onto their lead throughout the second half, securing a vital 78-71 win.

In the win, a number of non-traditional contributors were involved, including guard Layden Blocker. Blocker soaked up 23 minutes and chipped in some quality moments in the contest.

“I thought he played really good tonight,” coach Eric Musselman said. “Obviously his two steals in the 23 minutes that he was in, he was able to guard (Wade) Taylor and did a really good job other than the fouls. But we want him to be aggressive defensively. I thought he was phenomenal tonight.”

Blocker and the Razorbacks did a tremendous job on Taylor, the leading scorer for the Aggies. He was held to just 11 points on 3-of-12 shooting, well below his season averages.

That allowed Arkansas to control the flow of the game.

Couple it with a strong night in the paint from center Makhi Mitchell, and Arkansas had all the ingredients it needed for a midweek upset.

“I thought Makhi Mitchell’s right now playing as good as any center in the league,” Eric Musselman said. “So both those guys were instrumental. But certainly Layden tonight gave us a huge lift off the bench as our bench play was really good and probably, quite frankly, the difference in the game was our bench play.”

Arkansas was led in scoring by Tramon Mark, who finished the game with 26 points. Mitchell wasn’t far behind at 22, while he also pulled down 13 rebounds to record a double-double. Khalif Battle rounded out the double-figure scorers, notching 15.

The Razorbacks will return to action on Saturday with a home date against Missouri. The Tigers are currently winless in SEC play.

The game will tip off at 12 p.m. ET with a broadcast on ESPN2.