Arkansas basketball‘s horrendous start on Saturday is best-represented by an 18-0 Missouri run during the first six minutes that proved to be an insurmountable deficit.
The Razorbacks (11-7, 0-5 SEC) never recovered, losing by that exact margin in an 83-65 loss that drops John Calipari‘s squad into the further depths of the SEC cellar.
But the slow beginning lingered further, especially across one category that’s turned into a consistent weakness for Arkansas in conference play.
The Hogs did not take their first free-throw attempt until there were 11:34 remaining. They finished the night 4 of 8 from the line and have failed to register 15 free-throw attempts in three of their five SEC games this season.
In total, Arkansas ranks 14th in the league, averaging 18.6 free-throw attempts per game against SEC competition, which is an inflated number based off the outlier performance when the Razorbacks shot 35 free throws against Florida.
More: Arkansas basketball stumbles again, falls to Missouri for fifth consecutive SEC loss
More: SEC basketball power rankings: Undefeated Ole Miss soars into top-three
“Maybe some of these teams are really good at, at guarding the bumps and all the other stuff,” Calipari said. “But we’re driving the ball and the idea is to get fouled. So, we’re the only team that does this. Everybody else seems to do that body check and all that stuff. So, we’re going to keep driving it, see if they’ll call them and we’ll see.”
Arkansas’ offense needs a boost, and Calipari clearly thinks it could come with more free shots 15 feet from the basket, even as the Razorbacks shoot just 70.8% at the line.
However, this wasn’t a core belief at the beginning of the year.
After going 20 for 25 at the free-throw line against Pacific on Nov. 18, Calipari said he doesn’t like games where his team is getting constantly sent to the line because it lets the other team rest. He wants the opposition to get heavy legs late in games.
But that tune has changed in January as Arkansas is struggling to even give itself a chance these SEC losses. Easy points have dried up, and the most difficult conference in America is starting to steal the Hogs’ soul.
“The whole league is physical and they’ve got good players and good coaches,” Calipari said. “This is a hard league. We’re going to have to figure stuff out and they’re not like, you have this game coming up, no. And it’s everybody in the league, not just Arkansas. Everybody has games against really good teams and you got to figure it out.”
The Razorbacks will return home Wednesday night and try to get out of this conference malaise against No. 23 Georgia, where Calipari’s challenge to get to the line more will face another stiff test.
Only one team in the SEC gives up fewer free-throw attempts per game than the Bulldogs.
This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Arkansas basketball, John Calipari crave more free throws amid SEC slide
