Eric Musselman cites Trevon Brazile injury as cause of struggles for Arkansas

Few teams have had as much poor injury luck as Arkansas has had at various points this year, from star guard Nick Smith being in and out of the lineup, to Anthony Black dealing with a foot injury in the postseason, to a Trevon Brazile injury sidelining him for the season.

In fact, it was the Brazile season-ending injury that coach Eric Musselman said has impacted his team the most.

“One of college basketball’s most talented players, Trevon Brazile, is out with a knee injury,” Musselman said. “I truly think he was one of the most versatile players in all of college basketball. We kind of built our team around him. And obviously with Nick Smith being in and out of the lineup, this team has dealt with a lot.”

Brazile transferred to Arkansas from Missouri and immediately began to make an impact in the 2022-23 season.

He was averaging 11.8 points and 6.0 rebounds per game before he was lost for the year to a serious knee injury. He also added a steal, a block and an assist per game.

Still, even with Brazile out, Arkansas has managed to cope.

Arkansas gunning for Final Four berth

After picking off top-seeded Kansas in the NCAA Tournament Round of 32, the Razorbacks are in position to potentially steal a Final Four berth in the West Region.

It won’t come easy, with a matchup with four-seed UConn up first and then a meeting with the winner of second-seeded UCLA and third-seeded Gonzaga if the Hogs can stay alive.

The Razorbacks are hitting their stride when it matters most.

“We were fairly healthy the two prior years and it was the same kind of theme where maybe we didn’t start SEC play really like we would have liked to have,” Musselman said. “But we just kept kind of grinding and looking at the next game on our schedule and trying to have belief. And here we are again. But it’s a resilient team that’s overcome a lot for sure.”

Musselman wasn’t ready to end it there, though. He praised the SEC schedule for being so difficult and helping prepare his team.

“I do think the SEC schedule, it’s hard,” he said. “I think in my opinion it’s the best college basketball and college football and college baseball and gymnastics and softball, but certainly in basketball it’s probably underrated a little bit.”

Arkansas and UConn will tip off at 7:15 p.m. ET on Thursday night with a national broadcast slated for CBS.