Eric Musselman addresses free throw discrepancy in Mississippi State loss

In Arkansas‘ 71-67 loss to Mississippi State on Saturday, the Razorbacks shot 19 free throws compared to the Bulldogs’ 32. After the game, Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman didn’t bite his tongue about the discrepancy at the charity stripe.

“It doesn’t matter what we send in, what we talk about,” Musselman said. “They’re a very high steal team. Normally, high steal teams are high foul teams. I have the utmost respect for MSU [head coach Chris] Jans and the physicality that his teams have played with.”

In the game, Arkansas shot 14-19 (73.7%) from the free-throw line while MSU only connected on 19-32 (59.4%) of its attempts from the stripe. Arkansas’ low free throw output was unusual. The Razorbacks average 25.4 free throw attempts per game, the ninth-most in the country.

In comparison, MSU only averages 21.1 free throw attempts per game, ranking No. 67 in the nation. While MSU’s home-court advantage and crowd pressure can account for a few of its extra calls, the drastic gap between the two teams is understandably frustrating for Arkansas.

“[Free throws] are a part of our offense, quite frankly,” Musselman said. “We work on it, we talk about it, we drill it. It’s just as if a 3-point shooting team doesn’t get any 3-pointers. I mean, that’s part of our offense. We got 19 free throws attempted and you can look at how many we took the first half. They took 32. I don’t know what else to say other than numbers don’t lie.”

In the first half, Arkansas only shot four free throws. MSU was assessed six personal fouls in the first 20 minutes of the game while Arkansas received 11. The Razorbacks finished the game with 25 total personal fouls, six more than their season average.

Another issue for Arkansas

Free throws are only one aspect of Arkansas’ anger. The team has lost three of its last four games and is 3-9 in conference play. For comparison, Arkansas’ worst season under Musselman was in his debut campaign in 2019-20 when the team posted a 7-11 SEC record.

After the Razorbacks’ latest loss, Eric Musselman reassured fans his team hasn’t given up.

“Mississippi State is an extremely physical team. Coach [Chris] Jans is a great defensive coach,” Musselman said. “I know the fans; I know our locker room; I know our coaching staff, our players [are] super frustrated without coming away with the win.

“With any ball club, it’s: Can you improve? Do you give it your all? Are you playing with effort, energy and enthusiasm? We played as hard as we possibly could tonight.”