Eric Musselman shares coaching advice he got from wife on Mitchell twins’ birthday

When Arkansas faced Texas A&M on Tuesday, Makhi and Makhel Mitchell started for the Razorbacks. The twins, who transferred from Rhode Island before the season, combined for 10 blocks and 18 rebounds to lead Arkansas to the 81-70 victory.

As it turns out, Eric Musselman had some help with that decision. His wife, Danielle, gave him some advice as he was walking out the door.

“I mean, as I left tonight to head to the arena, the one thing my wife said was, ‘Make sure to start the Mitchell twins because it’s their birthday,'” Musselman told reporters. “I said, ‘Yeah, OK. Thanks, Danielle.'”

That decision worked out well considering the numbers the twins put up. Musselman said the coaching staff is trying some different things on defense, specifically with Makhel Mitchell, and the success on that side of the court will be critical as Arkansas enters the stretch run.

“Both of them were good,” Musselman said. “That’s a lot of blocked shots. We’re doing some unique things with Makhel defensively on where we place him the last two games. We’ve been trapping a lot more at half court than we have all season long.

“We’re adding some defensive stuff, much like we have the last couple years. We have to continue to do that. We have to continue to try to figure out new and different things that maybe the opponent hasn’t seen us do much.”

Eric Musselman discusses recent injury woes for Arkansas

Arkansas bounced back from their SEC/Big 12 Challenge loss to Baylor, returning to conference play Tuesday and defeating Texas A&M 81-70 at home. The Razorbacks looked like a well-oiled machine on Tuesday night, especially on the offensive end.

But despite looking good, the Razorbacks weren’t feeling good, according to head coach Eric Musselman, who spoke about how many of his players have been battling injuries.

“Practice the last couple days has been unique in the fact that Jalen Graham his Achilles is bothering him, he didn’t practice one day. Anthony Black did not practice, we talked and Anthony banged knees and he has a pretty significant contusion,” Musselman said. “We were not sure leading up to the game if he would play and he played 37 minutes and 43 seconds.”