Musselman likes the Hogs possible freshmen three-guard set

The Razorbacks’ European tour has created a great buzz as the fall nears, Arkansas finishing the trip 4-0.

The Eurotrip gave head coach Eric Musselman a chance to really see what his roster had to offer while testing some potential lineups.

Like three ball-handlers on the court at the same time.

This isn’t a new or innovative style in college basketball. Three-guard sets have been around since the early 90s. Jay Wright and Villanova became very successful using three guards in the starting lineup, sometimes even four.

Nick Smith Jr, Anthony Black, and Davonte Davis give Musselman that luxury.

“I really like how Devo, A.B., and Nick played together,” Musselman said after the Hogs 75-54 win over Orange1 Basket Bassano.

“When we had them in, one of the first things I said was ‘Hey, you guys just share the point guard position…Whoever is closest to an outlet pass (take the point),’ and they did a phenomenal job of sharing it and running different things for each other. I’m really happy with how they executed together.”

Having three freshmen on the court who can manage to bring the ball up is very underrated in college basketball, where sometimes teams might try to set up a press, like West Virginia or VCU.

But all three offer other qualities. Smith Jr. led the three-man group in scoring, averaging 18 points. Black and Davis led the team in assists (4.0), Davis even leading the team in steals per game (2.3).

It isn’t a guarantee that we will often see this exact three-man lineup on the court, but Musselman has a good problem to figure out.

Story originally appeared on Razorbacks Wire