Eric Musselman assesses the play of Nick Smith in return to action

Arkansas coach Eric Musselman is still working out how to integrate Nick Smith back into the rotation. The five-star freshman guard made his return to the court Saturday against Mississippi State after a nearly two-month absence due to a knee issue.

Smith came off the bench and played just 17 minutes, finishing with five points on 2-of-7 shooting in the 70-64 loss. Musselman revealed postgame that Smith was not on any sort of minutes limit, though the 17 minutes is nearly six less than his season average of 22.7.

“(Smith’s minutes are) a dilemma that we have to try to figure out and solve,” Musselman said postgame. “I thought he played fine. But we have to play better as a team for sure.”

Smith was the No. 3 overall prospect in the 2022 class according to On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He is a projected top 10 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft according to a recent mock draft from ESPN. Smith has played in just six games this season with four starts to average 11.7 points per game.

His return couldn’t have come at a better time for the Razorbacks (17-8, 6-6 SEC), who are attempting to make a late push in the regular season to improve their NCAA Tournament seeding. Arkansas is listed as a No. 9 seed according to Joe Lunardi’s latest projections and closes the season with games against No. 1 Alabama, No. 10 Tennessee and Kentucky.

Before that, the Razorbacks next face Texas A&M at 8 p.m. CT on Wednesday in College Station. It will be interesting to see whether Eric Musselman increases the minutes given to Nick Smith at all in his second game back.

Eric Musselman attempts to process Mississippi State loss

Eric Musselman was visibly disappointed after Arkansas fell to Mississippi State by a score of 70-64 on Saturday.

A rough first half doomed the Razorbacks, even with a ferocious comeback attempt during the second half of the game. Afterwards, the Arkansas leader attempted to process Arkansas’ loss.

“I give Mississippi State a ton of credit. I thought they were really physical,” started Musselman. “Proud of the second half effort. Scoring 41 points. Defensively, first half, not who we are at all. First half, offensively, not who we are. … Tough to overcome when their guards are so efficient from three, and then add in the fact that their team went 6-of-10 from three.”

Prior to the loss to the Bulldogs, Arkansas had been on a hot streak, capturing three consecutive victories and getting back into the NCAA Tournament conversation. With every game meaning so much for Musselman’s squad, it’s easy to see why he was dejected after Saturday’s loss.

Still, there’s plenty of time for the Razorbacks to make their case, and nobody should count out Arkansas moving forward.