Keyon Menifield Jr. shares his thoughts following win over Georgia

The Arkansas Razorbacks battled their way to a 78-75 win over the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday. It was one of the better games of the weekend, with both teams trading blows in the final minutes. Following the hard-fought victory, Keyon Menifield, Jr. spoke with the SEC Network crew.

He provided a big-time spark off the bench for the Hogs, stuffing the stat sheet with 15 points and four rebounds.

“We needed everybody on the team to put in that work and go hard for us to win. Go on a winning streak. And that’s what we need. So, I come off the bench and work hard and do whatever I can for us to win,” Menifield said.

Before transferring to Arkansas, Menifield played for the Washington Huskies in the Pac-12 Conference. What have been some of the biggest adjustments for him in moving from the Pac-12 to the SEC?

“For sure, how strong they are. They’re bigger and stronger here. So, I’ve gotta get bigger and stronger to be able to defend in the SEC instead of the Pac-12,” the sophomore said.

Earlier in the season, Menifield exploded for 32 points in a win against UNC Wilmington on December 30th. Since then, what has Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman asked of him?

“Just be myself, you know. Don’t go out there and be timid. Just do my best and go out there and work hard. And when I do that, I feel like I can do a lot of good things,” Menifield said when speaking with the SEC Network crew.

Arkansas also got 15 points from former Louisville Cardinal, El Ellis. The Hogs handed the Bulldogs their fifth straight loss, but it’s easy to see Georgia has plenty of talent on their roster. They got double digits from Justin Hill (18 points), Silas Demary Jr. (19 points), and Russel Tchewa (10 points).

It was an impressive showing down the stretch from both teams, with both sides trading crucial buckets. Arkansas connected on 28 of their 49 shots from the field (57.1%). The Hogs also hit 5 of their 14 shots (35.7%) from three-point range.

Georgia hung in the game until the very end, despite only hitting 4 of their 18 three-pointers (22.2%). Jabri Abdur Rahim had a chance to put the Bulldogs ahead with 26 seconds remaining, but missed his three-pointer from the corner. Arkansas drilled some clutch free throws in the final 30 seconds to close the game out.

The Hogs moved to 12-11 overall and 3-7 in the SEC. Georgia moved to 14-10 overall and 4-7 in the SEC.