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WATCH: Eric Musselman celebrates Arkansas' thrilling win over LSU

ns_headshot_2024-clearby: Nick Schultz03/03/22NickSchultz_7
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Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images

At long last, Eric Musselman can celebrate a win without a sling on his arm.

The Arkansas coach had plenty of reason to be happy after his team came away with a thrilling 77-76 victory over LSU at Bud Walton Arena. The two teams were tied at halftime, but the Razorbacks managed to hold off a late Tigers run to come out on top — and keep their good standing in NCAA tournament projections.

LSU took the lead with 53 seconds left, but a late foul by Mwani Wilkinson gave JD Notae two free throws with nine seconds left. He made both, and the Tigers couldn’t respond on the other end when Xavier Pinson missed a layup with four seconds to play.

When the buzzer sounded, Musselman and Arkansas fans started the celebration. And after spending almost two months with his left arm in a sling, he could use both arms instead of one.

In fact, prior to the game, Musselman said he wasn’t sure he’d ditch the sling because of Arkansas’ success since his surgery.

“We’ve been winning a lot of games with that sling,” Musselman said after Arkansas defeated No. 6 Kentucky on Saturday. “I hate (wearing) it, but I have two bosses: Hunter (Yurachek) and (my wife) Danyelle. On two separate occasions, I’ve been told to leave it on. I don’t wanna. I hate it, I pray every night that I’m thankful we’ve won like we have, because it has not been fun coaching with it. But it’s been one of the funnest times I’ve ever had coaching a team because of the difficulty of the schedule and the way we’ve been winning, but I don’t wish a torn rotator cuff in the middle of the season on any coach in any sport.”

Inside the box score of Arkansas vs. LSU

The victory marked Arkansas’ 14th in its last 15 games and improved the Razorbacks to 25-6 overall and 13-4 in SEC action. Stanley Umude led Arkansas in scoring with 23 points while Jaylin Williams notched another double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds.

For LSU, the rollercoaster season continues. The Tigers are now 20-10 overall and 8-9 in SEC action. They’ve also lost three of their last four games with one game remaining on the schedule before the conference tournament.

Both teams are getting ready to close out their seasons this weekend before heading to Tampa for the SEC tournament. Arkansas will take on Tennessee on the road while LSU has a home matchup with Alabama Saturday at noon ET.