Eric Musselman on Khalif Battle vs. Missouri: 'As great an offensive performance a player could have'

Sitting in a media room at Bud Walton Arena after an 88-73 win over Missouri, Eric Musselman struggled to consider a comparable offensive performance to the one that Khalif Battle had just put on for Arkansas. He nearly scored half of Arkansas’ points on Saturday.

The fifth-year guard poured in 42 points against the Tigers, and did so on just 15 shots — 11-for-15 from the field. To make things even better, he was perfect from the free throw line, make all 14 attempts.

And it had Musselman singing Battle’s praises postgame.

“That’s about as great an offensive performance as a player could have,” Musselman said. “Because when you look at the efficiency of it, only 15 field goals and then to get 42 points, that’s insane. He’s done a great job all year of drawing free throws, 14-of-14 from the foul line. He had six defensive rebounds. That’s probably as good a night as he’s had from a defensive rebounding standpoint.”

Plus, Battle’s scoring super nova helped the Razorbacks follow the game plan that Musselman and coaches had laid out.

But one aspect came down to Battle’s own ability to be controlled, quick and decisive on the offensive end with erring.

“And then the theme coming into the game was we had to get a shot on goal, we couldn’t have live ball turnovers and he did a great job,” Musselman said. “He played 37 minutes and 34 seconds and didn’t have a turnover while he scored 42 points. Kind of unheard of, to be honest.”

Battle was in a bright mood after the performance

The Razorbacks guard shattered his previous career high to pour in 42 points, including a rare four-point play in the second half.

Battle finished 11-of-15 (73.3%) shooting, including 6-of-10 from 3-point range and a perfect 14-of-14 on his free throws. Speaking after the game, the graduate senior exuded the confidence you’d expect from someone coming off the night he had.

“I think coach even said earlier this year, he said if I’ve got a red light I’m still gonna make it green,” Battle said. “The president of the United States could tell me to stop shooting the ball but I’m still gonna shoot the ball. That’s just who I am. That’s just what I do. My grandma always says, ‘when you know who you are, you know what you do.’ So I know who I am and I know what I do. I’m a scorer.”