Eric Musselman admits Illinois has 'great size'

One concern that Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman has in playing against Illinois is their size. Despite not being small, he knows that Illinois could make his team feel small and that could change the course of their first-round game.

Ahead of their meeting, Musselman explained how that size is going to impact the game.

“I think Illinois is a really good offensive transition team, there is no doubt about that,” Eric Musselman said “But they do have great size, and when you look across the board they can block a shot at every position. That’s unique to play a team that 1-5 can alter shots and when you put together a roster with length, that’s one of the things that you want to do. That’s one of the advantages that you want to have is to try to make people shoot over the top of you.”

Arkansas and Illinois tip off at 4:30 pm on Thursday. As of now, Arkansas is a 1.5-point favorite despite Illinois having a size advantage. The winner will likely play Kansas.

“They have a point guard in [Terrence] Shannon who has great size and length and Anthony Black has great length as well. Both teams I feel are going to try to get out in offensive transition,” Musselman said.

“They probably execute the shot clock a little bit longer than we do. Having said that, transition defense is probably going to be important for both teams.”

Davonte Davis says Illinois isn’t like SEC teams

Arkansas guard Davonte Davis admitted that, in large part due to their size, Illinois isn’t like an SEC team that the Razorbacks have seen.

“I don’t know, I don’t think so, with the big they got, Dain Dainja, and, like you said, 6’8″ guard playing a 1 the majority of the game,” Davis said.

“With the length they have on the wings, I don’t think nobody in our conference — nah, I can’t say Kentucky. So I don’t think so. This is going to be new. I think it’s something thrown at us, but we will be able to execute with what they got coming at us.”

Eric Musselman wants a strong fan turnout

With the game in Des Moines, Iowa, both teams should be able to drive to the game. Because of that, Eric Musselman knows that fan support is going to be important.

“Yeah, we hope that we have a really good showing,” Musselman said.

“Champaign is an hour closer than we are, but both programs are close enough that somebody could drive to it. Our fans have traveled really well in the past and I hope that continues for us tomorrow.”