Who can improve their long-range shooting this year?

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas is no different than any other basketball program in the country in that it has a lot of work to do entering the season, but the Razorbacks have one bright spot on offense that urgently needs improvement.

For all the good Eric Musselman did at Arkansas, fans still think back to his teams that were ranked no higher than 280th nationally and failed to make 32 percent of their 3-point attempts over the last three seasons.

For now, it was a new coach, new players, same results in a small sample size as the Razorbacks combined to shoot 13 of 48 (27.1%) from beyond the arc in the preseason.

Is there any reason to be optimistic that a rise from the deep is on the horizon? Of course, and as assistant coach Chuck Martin noted Tuesday, it all starts with transfer guard Jonelle Davis knocking off the rust and getting back into shape.

“Part of it is that Nellie Davis was out for quite a while leading up to the Kansas game, so this was the first time he actually had live competition,” Martin said. “TCU was only his second game.

“He’s a guy on our team that’s very capable of making shots, and he’s been out for three weeks. It will take him some time to recover and find his rhythm.”

Davis – 3 of 9 in friendly games – has made 132 3-pointers on 36.6% shooting over the last four seasons and is coming off a year in which he set a career high at Florida Atlantic with 58 3-pointers on 41.4% shooting. .

While Arkansas has players like Trevon Brazil and Zvonimir Ivisic who will get the job done, Davis stands out as the most proven perimeter threat in the backcourt.

Arkansas needs improvement from sophomore DJ Wagner, who missed his first two attempts against Kansas and has since missed five straight, but the freshmen will also need to be difference-makers to reach John Calipari’s goal of 8-10 3-pointers per game.

The trio of Boogie Fland, Carter Knox and Billy Richmond managed just 3-for-18 shooting from three against Kansas and TCU.

While Richmond has more of a reputation as a rusher and defender, Fland shot 37 percent his senior season at Archbishop Stepinac and Knox hit 81 triples for the Overtime Elite last season.

“For our young guys, whether it’s Billy, Carter or Boogie, this is their first time playing live competition in front of a crowd,” Martin said. “It will take some time, but I definitely think we are capable of the three and I think we will do that as the season goes on.”

Arkansas officially begins its season Wednesday night against a Lipscomb team that went 9 of 21 from beyond the arc in a road win over Duquesne on Monday.

Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, and the game will air on SEC Network+.

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