Eric Musselman shares excitement to play in Little Rock

Ahead of Arkansas‘ trip to Little Rock for a home game vs. Lipscomb, head coach Eric Musselman explained why taking the team on the road within the state is important.

Of course, the Razorbacks typically play their home games in Fayetteville where the actual Arkansas campus is located. But like last season, the Hogs will venture a few hours south to the sprawling metropolis of Little Rock, Arkansas’ most populated city, to give Razorback fans in that region a chance to come see the basketball team play live.

“Yeah, unbelievable. We love playing there,” Eric Musselman said this week of the chance to go and play a game at Simmons Arena in North Little Rock. He then explained why the opportunity is so important for certain fans.

“There’s going to be kids going to that game that are never going to come to Bud Walton. You got to understand that, you got to respect that. You got to understand that there’s people that only watch games on TV and this is their one opportunity.”

Eric Musselman’s one regret about the whole event is that the NCAA won’t count this matchup as a neutral site game. Instead, it’s ruled as a home game for the Hogs.

“The only thing I wish is that this was a neutral site game, because it’s three and a half hours away,” Musselman lamented. “It’s not a neutral site game, it is counted as a home game for us. Which, obviously, we got the home crowd and all that, but there are some other programs that have games similar to this that are counted as neutral site games and not home games.”

Tough sledding for Arkansas in that regard, but they are still pretty close to Little Rock compared to Lipscomb, a mid-major school traveling from Nashville, Tennessee. But beyond all that comes with playing another game in-state, Coach Musselman is anxious to see if his guys can perform well.

“I think it’s a great game for us. Have not played good historically. Last year, we played good, but I think the the the program was 11-9 in their last segment of games there. So you add last year, maybe we’re 12-9 statistically.”

Arkansas avoided the toe-stub in Little Rock last year with a win over Bradley. This year, Lipscomb provides the challenge, but Musselman thinks his group can breeze to victory by mirroring the performance they put on a year ago.

“We need to play like we did last year, which was: great energy, great enthusiasm, great desire to play in front of a fanbase that doesn’t get to see us.”