Eric Musselman addresses Arkansas' slow start vs Missouri

Barkley-Truaxby:Barkley Truax•01/05/23•

BarkleyTruax

It looked like No. 20 Missouri was going to run No. 13 Arkansas out of Bud Walton Arena Wednesday night. The Tigers’ hot streak carried over into Fayetteville, building as much as a 17-point lead during the first half.

The Razorbacks stayed the course and trailed by just seven at the break. They’d end up winning 74-68 in one of the most impressive comebacks we’ve seen in all of college basketball this season. After the game, Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman discussed what flipped the switch for the Hogs in the second half after their incredibly slow start.

“It’s all coaches’ jobs, whether it’s football or basketball, you’ve got to try to make an adjustment in the second half. You hope your team will do something on the fly, maybe changing. … We went to what we call our open offense [in the second half],” Musselman said after the win. “We went to middle pick-and-rolls. Being able to adjust on the fly, I thought, helped us tonight. … Anthony [Black] is so smart. [Davonte Davis] has been around. Kamani [Johnson]. Those three guys do a good job of ‘hey, this is what we’re supposed to do.’”

Black, Davis and Johnson combined for 21 points, 17 rebounds and six assists for Arkansas against the Tigers. None of the trio had eye-popping stats, but their leadership kept their team calm in the face of adversity and it led the way to victory.

Instead, Ricky Council IV was the hero scoring 25 points and seven rebounds, 21 of which came in the second half.

The win propelled Arkansas to a 12-2 overall record, tied with four other teams in the league – No. 7 Alabama, No. 8 Tennessee, No. 20 Missouri and LSU. It was the Hogs’ first SEC win of the season after dropping a one-score game to LSU to end the 2022 calendar year.

The Missouri win is the first leg of a three-game stretch of ranked opponents. They’ll travel to No. 22 Auburn on Saturday before hosting the Crimson Tide the following Wednesday. Tip-off between Arkansas and Auburn is set for 8:30 p.m. ET live on the SEC Network.