Eric Musselman 'super proud' of Arkansas' effort in Mississippi State loss

Arkansas fell back below .500 and dropped their ninth conference game in league play on Saturday in Starkville. However, unlike some of the other losses, Eric Musselman was quite proud of the effort that his ‘Hogs gave this weekend.

Musselman expressed that pride in his postgame press conference following the 71-67 defeat to Mississippi State. He made sure to make his appreciation for his player’s attempt clear considering how close that they came inside Humphrey Coliseum on a short turnaround.

“I think, first of all? Super proud of the effort,” said Musselman.

Musselman gave his team credit for coming close considering they were short-handed without players like Trevon Brazile and Jalen Graham. He also acknowledged that they tried for the full game unlike some of their other performances this season, including their last outing versus the Volunteers.

“When you’re without a pretty seasoned, all-league player that’s 6’11? Any team in the league would go through some struggles,” said Musselman.

“Thought we were good against Tennessee in the first half. We played very poorly in the second half against Tennessee. But, tonight, we played 40 minutes,” Musselman added.

It was just that, in the end, Mississippi State was too much for the Razorbacks, especially inside. The Bulldogs outrebounded them by 15, including with 17 alone on the offensive glass, while also scoring 10 more points in the paint, scoring five more on second-chance opportunities, and drawing five more fouls to shoot 13 more free throws with five more makes.

That physicality is what you come to expect from the Bulldogs, regardless of how irritating it is for an opposing coach like Musselman to deal with.

“Look, Mississippi State is an extremely physical team. Coach Jans is a great defensive coach,” Musselman said. “Anybody that has played against Coach Jans’ team? How the free throws are 32 to 19 – I have no idea. We’ve got a limited roster and we’ve got three players foul out.”

With the loss, Arkansas has now fallen to 12-13 and just 3-9 in the SEC. It continued the downward spiral for their season when it comes to record which, coming into the year, was the complete opposite of what they expected.

Still, for as defeated as they all are in Fayetteville right now, Musselman hopes that his team’s intention from this latest outcome doesn’t go unnoticed, even if it came in another loss.

“Super proud of our team,” Musselman reiterated. “I know the fans? I know our locker room, our coaching staff, our players? Super frustrated without coming away with the win. But, with any ball club, can you improve? Do you give it your all and are you played with effort, energy, and enthusiasm?”

“We played as hard as we possibly could tonight,” said Musselman.