Nick Smith Jr. starts hot, Joseph Pinion finishes strong in Arkansas Razorbacks exhibition win

Arkansas freshmen Nick Smith Jr. and Joseph Pinion flashed their abilities for the first time in Bud Walton Arena during an 83-49 exhibition win over Division II Rogers State on Monday.

Smith began the game by scoring the Hogs’ first seven points, all of which came before the Hillcats could make a basket.

Head coach Eric Musselman said Smith was the one guy watching film during the pregame meal, and that led to him being ready to play.

“I kind of sat back and watched, and he was the one guy that was watching film of our opponent,” Musselman said. “We had more talking and communication in our team meal probably than we’ve had since I’ve been here…I thought Nick was ready to play. And when we ate team meals, Moses (Moody) was the guy that had his chair straight in front of that video, too.”

Smith was tied with Missouri transfer Trevon Brazile for a team-high nine points at halftime, and that was what he finished with after he played just 4:27 in the second half. He also added three rebounds and two assists in just under 20 minutes of play.

“He brought the spark to begin with,” Brazile said. “We know what he can do. We trust him with his shot and his decision making. When he comes out like that it helps bring a little energy to us too.”

Pinion, who did not come in as a five-star McDonalds All-American like Smith, finished with a game-high 15 points after finding a groove from three in the second half.

The Morrilton-native finished 4-6 from beyond the arc, but it was his defensive play that Musselman was impressed with.

“I think with Joseph, his biggest thing is getting loose balls and defending,” Musselman said. “No. 0 hurt us at times and I thought he did as good a job tonight defensively as anyone we had on No. 0.”

Musselman has voiced his concern about the ability for this year’s team to shoot the three ball. He ran more plays for Pinion than any other player against Rogers State, and Pinion delivered.

“We probably ran more plays for Joseph tonight than we did anybody that checked into the game, including our starters,” Musselman said. “We ran him off red screens at least six times, maybe seven, so we called plays for him, which is a good things. I think if people try to zone us and we’re not making shots, I think tonight, he played his minutes, which is all you can ask.”

Though he played just 13:35 against the Hillcats, Pinion made the most of his time on the court. He was one-on-one with the ball-handler, Isaac Johnson, as the shot clock ticked down during the second half and his lockdown defense led to a shot clock violation.

Pinion had a 3:28 stretch in the second half where he scored 12 points and hit two 3-pointers, including a nice shot from well beyond the arc.

“We already know that guy can shoot,” Brazile said. “We already know every time he shoots it, we think it’s going in. The big emphasis was defense and he did a really good job defensively tonight.”

The Hogs will travel to Austin, Texas, to face the Texas Longhorns for their second and final exhibition game prior to the start of the 2022-23 season on Monday, Nov. 7 against North Dakota State.

Saturday’s game at Texas is set to tipoff at 3 p.m. inside the Longhorns’ new Moody Center. The game was previously going to be streamed on the Longhorn Network, but that is no longer happening, per a UA representative.