Eric Musselman expresses frustration over missed offensive opportunities

Auburn defeated Arkansas 72-59 in a ranked SEC battle on Saturday night, and the Razorbacks’ offensive struggles played a big role in that result. After the game, Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman expressed his frustration over the performance on offense, which stemmed from a poor all-around shooting night.

In the loss, Arkansas shot 33.9 percent from the field and 12.5 percent from three-point range. The Razorbacks made just 19 of their 32 free throw attempts, good for just 59.4 percent from the charity strike.

“Well obviously it’s really frustrating,” Musselman said. “We can’t miss that many foul shots. And then the thing that’s the most amazing is Anthony Black went 13-of-16 from the foul line. So look at the rest of the team. I know you’ve got to get in the gym on your own. That’s part of our culture, guys working relentlessly on their game outside of practice. That’s got to improve for sure.”

Black had a solid day when it was all said and done, shooting 5-for-11 from the floor and finishing with 23 points to go along with seven rebounds and four assists.

Musselman calls for Arkansas to share the ball more on offense

Moving forward, Musselman knows that getting the Arkansas offense back on track will take a collective effort from everybody. He wants the ball to move around more, and he hopes that can open things up to have success elsewhere offensively when one area might not be working.

“We have some guys that need to share the basketball a little bit more from an offensive standpoint because we are struggling to score the ball and everybody knows it,” Musselman added. “I mean the three-point shooting, you’re not just going to miraculously wake up and all of a sudden become a great three-point shooting team. You’ve got to find other ways to try to put points on the board. But I thought Anthony Black was absolutely spectacular offensively. And we didn’t have much else besides that.”

Arkansas now has an overall record of 12-3, which includes a 1-2 start in SEC play. In addition to the loss against Auburn, the Razorbacks have also lost against LSU while picking up a big comeback victory against Missouri.

Next up for Arkansas is yet another tough matchup, with a top ten Alabama team coming to town on Wednesday, Jan. 11. The Razorbacks then hit the road on Saturday, Jan. 14 for a trip to Vanderbilt before heading to Missouri next week for a rematch with the Tigers.