Eric Musselman disappointed in effort by Arkansas

The Arkansas Razorbacks came into their game against the South Carolina Gamecocks off a much needed win against the Texas A&M Aggies. That was a win that head coach Eric Musselman was hoping to find a way to build on.

Unfortunately, for Arkansas, that’s not what happened and the Razorbacks fell at home 77-64 to the Gamecocks on Saturday. After the game, Musselman shared his disappointment in the effort that Arkansas made.

“It’s obviously disappointing,” Eric Musselman said. “I thought we battled against Texas A&M. We’ve now had two home games where we’re not exhibiting the energy that we need to.”

Arkansas had a bad shooting day, at only 37.1% from the field and 27.8% from three-point range, compared to the 51.9% and 50% that South Carolina shot. The Gamecocks also out-rebounded the Razorbacks 39 to 27. All of that, even though Arkansas did win the turnover battle during the game, was too much to overcome.

“So, obviously, toughness, rebounding, offensively sharing the ball. There’s a whole bunch of stuff. We played against a good team that played with more energy and more connectiveness and more toughness than we played with.”

At one point in the first half, Eric Musselman called two timeouts within about 30 seconds of each other. It was an attempt to send a message to the team that they needed to play harder.

“Just we gotta play harder. I mean, that was a pretty simple message. I mean, the team’s gotta play harder, tougher. We all see it and, ultimately, it always falls on coaches. So, we have to do our part as well.”

With the loss, Arkansas fell to 10-8 on the season and 1-4 in SEC play. Next, the Razorbacks will travel to Ole Miss on Wednesday before hosting Kentucky on Saturday. Both of those games will be vital to getting back on track for Arkansas.

Breaking down what has gone wrong for the Razorbacks in 2023-24

Coming into the season, there were high expectations for this Arkansas team. However, to this point, the Razorbacks haven’t quite reached those expectations. That lack of success is something that On3’s Joe Tipton recently broke down.

“Arkansas was kind of a shocker,” Tipton said to On3’s Andy Staples.

“I didn’t anticipate them to lose this many games. We talked about the transfer portal and it did wonders for Tennessee and Dalton Knecht. But, then, a team like Arkansas, they live and breathe off the transfer portal. And they brought in several talented guys, and it’s just not paying out for them as much so far.”