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Arkansas

Eric Musselman calls out Auburn for pre-game disrespect after upset win

by:Austin Brezina•02/08/22•

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Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman (Wesley Hitt | Getty Images)

After a thrilling overtime upset over No. 1 ranked Auburn, Eric Musselman made a point to call out their pregame disrespect that motivated the Razorbacks. Arkansas topped the Tigers 80-76 in an overtime finish that will send a shockwave through the national rankings.

Eric Musselman on Auburn’s disrespectful pregame dancing

“It was awesome, what a game! You know, they danced on our logo before the game — we watched that,” said Musselman after the game. What a great win for this program, it’s so awesome! I thought we played with incredible toughness. Auburn did a great job on the backboards, they offensive rebound, they’re physical, they’re long, they’re strong — but our guys didn’t back down, we went toe-to-toe with them.”

Prior to tip-off, the Tigers did their pregame ritual of dancing in a team huddle to psych themselves up. This time however, it appeared that they were purposefully dancing a bit too close to the Razorbacks’ logo on center court. The fans in attendance caught the disrespect being shown, as well as the Arkansas players according to Musselman.

“We thought we were gonna win. We walked in here, we thought we were winning this basketball game. The locker room felt it before the game, we thought it in shootaround and then we went out and did it.”

The huge win was Arkansas’ second-ever win over an AP No. 1 ranked team in school history. The last time the Razorbacks defeated a No. 1 was in 1984 when they beat North Carolina.

“Incredible, clutch player,” said Musselman on JD Notae’s performance during the upset win. “He commands so much attention from the defense. I’m speechless because this was such an awesome win. We’ve won nine-in-a-row, we’ve gotta go play a really good Alabama team on the road. But this win right now we’re gonna enjoy it tonight.”