Arkansas Razorbacks El Ellis (9 points, 6 assists) and Trevon Brazile (19 points, 11 rebounds) after 80-75 win over the Duke Blue Devils in front of a record crowd at Bud Walton Arena.
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00:00 - Now, bounce back game for you,
00:02 I know trying to put the Bahamas behind you,
00:04 but started the game really helping the team,
00:06 beating those players out top,
00:08 getting drives and then kicking out.
00:10 Then you got some scoring offense in the second half.
00:12 Talk about your game tonight
00:13 and what it's been like getting a dig out of this.
00:16 - Man, I was in my head in the Bahamas,
00:19 not really playing my game, being indecisive.
00:22 But tonight, Coach Marsh sent me clips of me
00:26 from last year when I played against Duke
00:27 and he just told me to play my game,
00:28 go out there, play confident,
00:30 and really just look for my teammates.
00:31 And that's what I did.
00:33 Started the game, I would look for my teammates,
00:34 get my guy shots, and when I needed to score, I'd score.
00:37 So, felt good.
00:38 - Last four games for you,
00:42 big response against an All-American again tonight.
00:45 Talk about your performance and what it took to get there.
00:48 - Yeah, you know, I'm not looking at
00:50 if somebody's an All-American or not.
00:51 I believe I'm one of those guys.
00:52 So, just going out there and it's a big win at home,
00:57 it's a great environment,
00:58 it's good to have everybody on our side.
00:59 So, I just went out there and did
01:01 what I know I can do and it was a good turnout.
01:06 - Yeah, I guess for both you guys,
01:09 you'd been one and three, lost your last home game,
01:12 and now Duke comes in.
01:13 Just how big was it for the team
01:16 to start a turnaround, winning such a big game?
01:18 Maybe, El, you could take that and then TB.
01:21 - I feel like it was big for us to get this win.
01:24 As a group, we really knew that we needed this win tonight.
01:26 I could come out with that loss to UNCG
01:28 and then the two games in the Bahamas.
01:31 But tonight we just decided we needed to lock in,
01:33 really get this win so we can get some momentum going.
01:37 - You know, going in, off them two losses in the Bahamas,
01:41 we knew we had to have today.
01:42 There was no option, we had to win this game.
01:45 And that was kind of the vibe in the locker room
01:47 before the game, was everybody was just locked in,
01:49 everybody was excited to play.
01:51 I mean, how can you not get excited with a sold-out crowd?
01:55 So it was a great bounce back game
01:56 and it was one we had to have.
01:58 - And El, I don't know if you even thought about this,
02:01 fifth win tonight for the team.
02:03 I know there's a lot more to come,
02:04 but that's more wins than you even had last year.
02:06 And I know you had a couple,
02:07 I don't really, I don't mean that to rub it in,
02:09 I really don't.
02:10 (laughing)
02:12 But, and I think you'd scored about 40 points against Duke,
02:15 so you'd done well individually,
02:17 but how big is it to beat them and then, you know,
02:19 to have a big win like this when obviously
02:21 last year was so tough for you?
02:23 - Yeah, it feels really good, you know,
02:25 to be on a winning team and to play with guys
02:27 that are really good players as well.
02:29 And to get that win against Duke, like that's big for me.
02:31 Like I was in ACC, like you guys know,
02:33 I played against them multiple times
02:34 and couldn't get the win.
02:35 So tonight to be able to get that win,
02:37 like it felt really good.
02:38 - You know, El, kind of what he went through last year
02:41 and what he's helping you guys do.
02:43 - You know, me, I feel like me and El, you know,
02:45 kind of came from the same kind of situation.
02:47 You know, I'm Missouri, my freshman year, you know,
02:49 we weren't winning games like that.
02:50 We might've won eight games.
02:51 So, yeah, just coming to a program, you know,
02:55 that's about winning.
02:56 It's a good feeling whenever, you know,
02:58 you beat a top opponent, you know,
03:00 coming from a team that, you know, doesn't win as much.
03:03 - For both of you, it seems like Austin's two best games
03:06 this year have been against Purdue in the exhibition
03:08 and tonight against, you know, big time opponents.
03:10 Just what have you make of his mental makeup
03:12 that allows him to do that,
03:13 just his performance overall tonight?
03:15 - Man, I would say like he's one of the,
03:17 he's like the best glue guy in the country.
03:20 He does everything, defends, he rebounds.
03:23 He can score when he needs to.
03:24 But he's just big for us.
03:25 And he shows up in big time games.
03:27 He's always ready no matter what.
03:30 He's a big part of our team.
03:31 - Like I said, man, he's always ready to play.
03:34 He has a lot of experience, you know,
03:36 he's played at two colleges.
03:38 So it's good to have an older guy in there.
03:41 You know, he knows how to play the game.
03:42 He knows when to make the right read.
03:45 So yeah, he's definitely one of the best
03:47 glue guys in the country.
03:48 - You guys had 17 assists tonight.
03:52 Muss talked to us before the game
03:54 about just kind of the struggles with the ball movement.
03:56 I mean, what was kind of the biggest key
03:57 from that turnaround?
03:59 And you guys really seemed like you could
04:00 kind of find the open man at will.
04:03 - Really just nobody care who scored.
04:05 Like we're all just sharing the ball.
04:07 Man is happy like when you see the ball going to Bassey
04:10 after you get an assist.
04:10 So like really just the game plan
04:12 was just to move the ball, run, go offense, you know,
04:14 and be aggressive and just take care of the ball.
04:17 And that's what we did.
04:19 - Did you grow up a Duke fan from Durham?
04:23 - Of course, no question.
04:24 But when I got to college, I wasn't a fan of them.
04:27 - Coach Muss talked to us about how he spent 14 hours
04:32 cutting every single play for y'all
04:34 before this game from the games in the Bahamas.
04:35 Just how did his prep and his like attention to detail
04:39 help y'all in this game?
04:40 - You know, I feel like every game, you know,
04:44 our coaching staff, you know,
04:45 they give us everything we need to be successful.
04:48 You know, this is just another one of those games.
04:50 It was just a matter of us going out
04:51 and executing the game plan.
04:52 And you know, we did that well tonight.
04:54 - I can't remember what game I asked you afterwards,
04:59 but you said you were at like 120%.
05:02 What percentage health are you now?
05:05 - Man, I'm not, I'm not, I'm ready.
05:06 You know, I'm at a point where I'm, you know,
05:08 the injuries behind me now, you know,
05:09 it's coming up on a year since it's happened.
05:11 So, you know, I don't, I'm not even, you know,
05:13 thinking twice about that.
05:14 I don't even think about the injury.
05:17 (laughing)
05:18 - But for both of you,
05:20 Caleb, 21, five and five,
05:22 21 was obviously big, but the five assists,
05:25 I think, I think four of those were threes.
05:27 Just what did you make of him tonight?
05:29 He hit some big momentum shots, I thought.
05:31 - He's a big time player.
05:32 He really can score the ball that well.
05:34 He's really, he's a better passer
05:36 than he gets credit for.
05:37 So that five assists was big.
05:39 Must smell him about rebounding the ball.
05:40 So, five rebounds as well, like that was big.
05:43 Everybody, we got in there, rebounded the ball well.
05:46 And he got a big game.
05:47 Shout out to him.
05:48 - You know, we know, and everybody knows
05:53 how well he can score the ball, you know,
05:54 how well he shoots it.
05:55 But, you know, when he's getting five assists
05:58 and, you know, five rebounds and doing all this stuff,
06:00 you know, it's hard to beat us.
06:02 - This is for both of you guys.
06:05 So, El can take it first and then Trevin.
06:07 Obviously the crowd played a factor
06:09 in your performance tonight.
06:10 It was the largest crowd ever
06:12 in Bud Walton Arena history.
06:13 I mean, just amazing atmosphere.
06:15 What did you guys think of it
06:16 and how did it help on the court tonight?
06:19 - Man, that was insane.
06:21 Like, I haven't had that experience in college basketball
06:24 except for the Purdue game.
06:25 So, for me, like, I really just wanted to go out.
06:27 I was just excited just to be out there and play.
06:29 The crowd played a big part though.
06:30 Like, it's tough to play in there,
06:32 all those people, you know, screaming, yelling.
06:34 Like, so I feel like that home court advantage
06:36 is like different when it's packed out like that.
06:39 - You want to hit, give me a minute.
06:44 I don't got nothing to hit.
06:46 - Sorry.
06:47 - I was trying to get it.
06:48 - What was the question again?
06:49 - I just wanted to ask,
06:51 (indistinct)
06:53 just crowd every Bud Walton history.
06:55 I didn't know how to do it.
06:56 So, thank you.
06:57 - I mean, when the fans are all, you know,
07:03 all on our side, it's a good feeling.
07:06 You know, I can't imagine, you know,
07:07 going somewhere else and playing against,
07:09 you know, something like that.
07:10 So, just to have the fans there, man,
07:12 that's the best fans in the country
07:13 that are camping outside, you know.
07:15 I drove past, there was probably 5,000 students outside.
07:18 So, you know, you're probably not getting that
07:20 anywhere else in the country.
07:21 And man, I was just blessed to be a part of it.
07:24 Didn't know it was the,
07:25 I didn't know it was the most people here ever
07:27 and Bud Walton.
07:28 So, you know, that's something special.
07:30 - You guys were without T-Mark tonight
07:33 after that scary fall in the Bahamas the other day.
07:37 Just, was there some added motivation
07:38 to maybe go out and have a strong performance without him?
07:41 And then what does it say about this group
07:42 to respond the way you did without somebody
07:44 who's been such a key part to the process so far?
07:46 - Yeah, T-Mark's a big part of our team.
07:48 He had an amazing game that last game in the Bahamas.
07:50 That was career high.
07:52 He's really been able to show that he can score the ball
07:54 at will, defend and rebound.
07:56 So, yeah, I feel like guys,
07:57 well, we just have a deep team.
07:59 You just never know.
07:59 Like, we have multiple guys that can go out there,
08:01 you know, get 20, you know.
08:03 And I just, and I feel like without having him tonight
08:05 just shows like how deeply we're,
08:07 like how together we were, like when a man's down,
08:09 like, and we want to get that win for him.
08:12 - Sorry, do you want to answer that, T?
08:16 No, okay.
08:17 Hey, this was Eric Musselman's 100th career victory
08:21 here at Arkansas.
08:22 I think it's 210 or something, correct?
08:24 But your thoughts on that,
08:26 like getting Eric's 100th victory here
08:28 in such a special, you know,
08:29 atmosphere and win and everything?
08:31 - You know, we know Coach Muss, you know,
08:35 all he cares about is winning, you know.
08:37 He tells us, you know, I know last year
08:39 he used to tell us a lot more,
08:40 but he tells us, you know, we live in the island,
08:41 East Possession.
08:42 So, you know, tonight we're living
08:43 in the island, East Possession.
08:44 You know, everybody in the locker room wanted to win
08:48 just as much as Coach Muss tonight.
08:49 And, you know, I'm happy for him to get that 100th win.
08:52 - Yeah, Mozaff, I'm just happy for him.
08:56 He deserves it.
08:58 He comes in every day, you know,
08:59 first one in the gym working.
09:01 So I feel like I'm very excited
09:03 just to be a part of that 100th win.
09:05 And that's something that I can share with him.
09:07 - T, going back to the Bahamas,
09:09 I'm not sure what happened to you there,
09:10 but I don't think you had any assists.
09:11 You had six tonight.
09:13 I don't think you scored.
09:14 I mean, what do you think happened there
09:15 and kind of how'd you dig your way out
09:17 in such a big game?
09:18 - Well, I'm just got to be mentally strong.
09:20 It's going to be bad games.
09:22 Just got to be able to push through and bounce back.
09:24 I feel like I did that.
09:25 - Ellis.
09:27 - 26 assists in y'all's previous four games
09:31 on 99 field goals, about one out of every four tonight,
09:34 17 on 26, two thirds.
09:36 What was the difference on this ball energy tonight
09:39 and how did y'all spark it?
09:40 - Really just sharing the ball, moving it.
09:43 We watched a lot of film about the ball
09:45 just sticking on one side of the floor.
09:47 So we tried to get the ball to the second, third side.
09:49 And then we did that.
09:50 And guys, when guys were open, they knocked it down.
09:54 We knew how Duke was going to defend us.
09:56 We knew 2B was going to be open a lot
09:57 because of how they're a four man guard.
09:58 So we took advantage of that.
10:00 I mean, the first three, four minutes,
10:02 I was just looking for him
10:03 because I knew he was going to be open majority of the time.
10:06 - El mentioned that coach Smart sent him some tape
10:12 of him playing against Duke last year,
10:14 after the UNC game.
10:15 Was there any motivation from any of the coaches
10:17 for you like that along those lines?
10:20 - Yeah, I would say Smart,
10:21 me and Smart, right when we got back,
10:24 I was coming in two, three times a day,
10:27 watching film, watching for myself,
10:30 watching where I'm going to be at
10:31 and responding to the film, Duke.
10:32 And we really game plan for Duke, really hard.
10:37 All the guys were bought in.
10:39 Everybody was doing their own positional film.
10:42 And the coaching staff did a great job
10:44 of getting us ready for today.
10:45 - Final question, Bill.
10:49 - Hey guys, I don't know if you realize,
10:51 I think there was like 13 or 14 ties,
10:54 first half, some lead changes.
10:56 You guys finally got some separation
10:57 with like an 11 to two run and Califf scored seven.
11:00 He led you with 21.
11:02 Well, what do you think he'd that run?
11:03 Just what'd you think of his game tonight?
11:05 L and PB maybe?
11:07 - I feel like defensively, we were really good.
11:10 That's what got us that separation.
11:12 And I feel like when we got that separation,
11:14 we just kept pushing.
11:16 KB came up big with some clutch buckets.
11:18 He had a really good night.
11:19 That's something that he's going to do every other night.
11:21 So that's big for us.
11:23 - Bill, what was Duke doing at the end?
11:25 We don't have control yet to mid-court.
11:28 Anything you hadn't seen there?
11:30 - No, I wouldn't say there's nothing I haven't seen,
11:32 but like, we just got to do a better job of that.
11:35 We have to get in the ball and just,
11:37 and we was really trying to stall a little bit too.
11:39 So when we get it in,
11:40 we just got to just break the pressure and go.
11:43 We got to do a better job of that for sure.