Injuries plagued Arkansas to a new extreme the last time out, but it wasn’t enough to prevent it from beating Pacific. Both Jonas Aidoo and Trevon Brazile remained sidelined after neither appeared in the second half of the Hogs’ victory over Troy in the previous game.
This left the Hogs with only seven rotation players available before both Karter Knox and Billy Richmond had to exit the game due to injuries at one point or another. Knox returned after appearing to jam or dislocate a finger on his non-shooting hand, while Richmond’s could’ve been as simple as a cramp. The latter happened late enough that his services were not needed again to close out the game.
This scenario is exactly why some have been critical of Arkansas basketball coach John Calipari’s strategy to take only nine high-level rotation players this season and fill out the end of the bench with players who are essentially a step above walk-ons…