Eric Musselman says Anthony Black was 'phenomenal' on offense against Auburn

With Arkansas losing two of their top four scorers heading into SEC play, Eric Musselman needed someone to step up. Thankfully, that relief has come in the form of enhanced offensive play from freshman guard Anthony Black.

After having one of the best games of his young career in a loss at Auburn over the weekend, Musselman applauded Black for his aggression considering the Razorback’s circumstances. He said the freshman would have been in the entire game had he not been in foul trouble because he was making such a big impact.

“Well, if he wasn’t in foul trouble, I guarantee you he would have played 40 minutes,” Musselman said. “He’s just played really good basketball, he’s in great shape. I thought he was phenomenal offensively. Much like he was for us in Maui where we needed some points. He was extremely aggressive, both in the halfcourt and in transition.”

Black is averaging 12.5 points and a pair of team-highs with 3.8 assists and 1.7 assists per game. He has been efficient as well during his 15 games with a 48.8% shooting clip from the field.

He kicked it up a notch on The Plains this weekend, though. Black records 23 points, seven rebounds, four assists, a steal, and a block on 45.5% shooting in 30 minutes. Black’s aggression showed in the box score too. He got to the free throw line a career-high 16 times against the Tigers with 13 makes overall.

As Musselman said, it was reminiscent of his stretch in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational. He averaged 22.3 points per game in that three-game stretch to go along with 4.7 boards and 4.3 assists on 54.9% shooting from the field and 87.1% from the charity stripe.

As they now sit at 1-2 in the SEC, Musselman will need Black to keep this stretch up for Arkansas. His next opportunity to do so will come in a very big moment as the Razorbacks will host No. 4 Alabama in Bud Walton Arena tomorrow night.