Eric Musselman not using past turnarounds for optimism through tough stretch

Eric Mussleman doesn’t want to talk about any past Arkansas teams to get this year’s squad going in the right direction.

Make no mistake, the Razorbacks aren’t falling flat on their faces, but at 7-4, it might be short of expectations. Musselman has a history of turning teams around after a slow start.

But this year, it’s a little different and he doesn’t want to use history as an example as to why it’ll definitely happen in 2023-24.

“Every team is different, every team’s got its own personality,” Musselman said. “I’m not going to … say we’re gonna figure it out. I’m not under that mindset, just because it’s happened in the past. You know, we got to play better in so many areas. We’ll keep coaching and then hopefully you get some execution on the floor. 

“I don’t think the narrative of what’s happened in the past, we played really good basketball against Purdue in an exhibition game, we played really good basketball against Duke and then we got to get better in all the other games.”

Musselman referenced a win over Duke, 80-75, on November 29th right after a loss to North Carolina, 87-72. The Razorbacks also lost to Oklahoma earlier this month before returning to the win column with a win over Lipscomb Saturday.

Eric Musselman says this year is different amid struggles

In essence, it’s been inconsistent to say the least.

“Yeah, there’s no traits that our past teams had,” Musselman said.

Even Saturday’s win was a little close for comfort for Musselman.

“In the past we’ve done a really good job of milking the shot clock when we get up like that,” Musselman said. “A lot of people don’t understand it. Tonight’s a great example of why you do it. I let them play. Should have clock-managed better. Again, you think with a veteran team you’ll be able to get good shots on goal. That wasn’t the case tonight.”

Early in the second half, Arkansas boasted a 20-point lead. However, after allowing Libscomb to rattle off 17 unanswered points, the Razorbacks only held a one-point lead with four and a half minutes left in the game.

Although Arkansas pulled out the victory, there wasn’t much to celebrate in the locker room. The Razorbacks committed 14 turnovers compared to Lipscomb’s nine. Additionally, Arkansas lost the battle on the offensive boards, allowing the Bisons to score twice as many second-chance points.

The Razorbacks are back in action Thursday against Abilene Christian.