Arkansas' Tramon Mark to miss Duke game with back injury

Arkansas guard Tramon Mark will miss Wednesday’s game against Duke as part of the ACC-SEC Challenge, the Razorbacks announced. He is still dealing with a back injury after taking a scary fall during the Battle 4 Atlantis.

Mark hit the floor against North Carolina last week and headed to the hospital. He was later released and made his way back to Fayetteville after the team returned. At the time, he had 34 points and five rebounds before leaving the game.

Mark left the court on a stretcher, and Arkansas announced an MRI found “no structural damage” after his injury.

Arkansas coach Eric Musselman hinted it was possible Mark could play against Duke if his body felt up to it, but he had to be fully ready to do so.

“If anybody is going to play as soon as his body will allow it, it’s T-Mark,” Musselman said on his radio show, via The Fayetteville Observer’s Bob Holt. “I mean, he wants to jump into practice [today]. That’s not going to happen, but he made great strides from Sunday night to [Monday] at 2:30.

“He was walking [Monday], whereas maybe 24 hours before that he was not walking. So we’re hopeful the pain goes away.”

Mark is in his first season at Arkansas after transferring over from Houston. He was one of the best players for the Cougars last season, starting all 37 games. Mark averaged 10.1 points and 4.9 rebounds per game last season.

Mark received a medical redshirt during the 2021-2022 season. He played in seven games that season, prior to suffering a shoulder injury.

In his freshman season in 2020-21, Mark helped Houston to the Final Four. He played in every game that season during Houston’s impressive run.

More from Eric Musselman on performance of Tramon Mark

Tramon Mark entered Friday’s game second on the Arkansas team in scoring at 15.8 points per game. He was shooting 50 percent from the field and 31 percent from 3-point range.

All of those numbers are now improved after the performance he put together against North Carolina.

Musselman spoke about just how impressive Mark’s performance was after the game and if he was expecting it entering the matchup.

“Well, I think he’s just a really improved offensive player playing with great confidence,” Musselman said. “And his efficiency tonight was phenomenal. I mean, you know, 13 makes on 17 shots is incredible.”

On3’s Matt Connolly contributed to this report.